December Resilience Exchange

Cari Cullen directs the Midwest Early Recovery Fund. She leads the CDP’s early recovery work and the Native American and Tribal Recovery Program. In 15-plus years of managing nonprofits, Cari has managed volunteers, fostered sustainable partnerships, developed curricula and training, coordinated multi-state projects and led national and international initiatives. 

In 2012, Cari became the senior program manager for Camp Noah, where she helped communities understand and meet the needs of children affected by disasters. Cari has also been a disaster case manager, state recovery coordinator, and project manager for the Midwest Consortium for Disaster Services. Through these roles, Cari developed expertise in children’s post-disaster needs, spiritual and emotional care, mid-to long-term disaster recovery, rural recovery and community needs assessment. 

Cari is a sought-after speaker on recovery from low-attention disasters. She has presented to RuralLISC, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, and the Cedar Rapids Area Community Foundation.  

LaKendra McNair is an experienced banking professional, thought leader, diversity and inclusion advocate, and curator of equitable engagement in the community. LaKendra is enthusiastic about building communities of practice with community stakeholders to scale, activate, and sustain equitable community-centric ecosystems. LaKendra has over 25 years of retail, business, government banking, and marketing activation experience in the banking industry. 

LaKendra is currently Senior Vice President, Head of Climate Resilient Communities at M&T Bank where she developed and executes the bank’s strategy to play a key role in preparing communities for and helping them through- the impacts of climate change and the economic transition to a low-carbon economy. LaKendra partners with internal and external stakeholders to execute and scale this strategy by supporting awareness, preparedness, and response adaption for community climate resilience.  

LaKendra currently serves on the board for FH Faunteroy Enrichment Center, the nation’s capital first resilience hub; The Resilience Incubator @ FH Faunteroy. LaKendra previously served as the Co-Chair of the DC Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking DC REACh Initiative Credit Counseling and Repair Workstream under the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency REACh initiative. LaKendra is curator and convenor of shared experiences through inclusive diverse engagement in the workplace and in the community. LaKendra is a highly effective connector of people, resources, and social capital with a purpose-driven passion to drive change in social economic disparities, innovative community collaboration and change, and inclusionary community activation. 

Sally Ray has worked with nonprofits for over 30 years. At CDP, she oversees grants for recovery from Atlantic hurricanes, wildfires in Hawaii, California, and Colorado, and more. 

Sally speaks often on funding long-term recovery, trauma-informed care, funding grassroots community resilience, and building the capacity to recover after a disaster. She has been a speaker for National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), the Federal Emergency Management Association and local, state and regional disaster-related conferences and training.  

Sally's nonprofit career began in Houston at South Texas College of Law. In Oklahoma, Sally found her true calling in social services. At the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City, she was the vice president of financial development. She worked with the Red Cross in 2011 and joined the Oklahoma City Community Foundation in 2014. 

With the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, she helped groups address families’ mental health needs after the Moore tornado and other disasters. This experience and others made her keenly aware of the long struggle to return to "normal." 

Veronica Colón Rosario is a strong advocate for gender and racial justice. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico (The Women's Foundation in Puerto Rico). With a background in healthcare and a master's degree in Latin American Studies and Democracy from Georgetown University, she has contributed to various initiatives in Puerto Rico and globally, promoting economic mobility and gender equity. She is also involved in non-profit organizations and fellowships that empower women and girls. Verónica is a SOAR Women and Girls Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Líderes fellow with Hispanics in Philanthropy. These fellowships allow her to collaborate with other visionary leaders committed to transforming the systems and structures that affect the lives of women and girls worldwide. Verónica serves as a board member at the Women's Funding Network, a global community of gender equity funders, and True Self, a non-profit organization in Puerto Rico that works with the LGBTQ+ communities, providing them with education and economic mobility. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Haitian Women's Collective and Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción (Puerto Rican Minds in Action).