MELANIE R. CAWTHON Co-Founder, Executive Director disABILITYsa San Antonio, TX https://www.disabilitysa.org/ Ms. Cawthon leverages two decades of expertise in nonprofit management and fundraising. Since 2007, she has found much success as the co-founder and executive director of disABILITYsa, a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate, advance and engage individuals with disabilities by building connections, exchanging information, creating opportunities and strengthening the disability community in the greater San Antonio area. In this capacity, she is responsible for various operations, as well as the financial and strategic planning of the organization. During this time, Ms. Cawthon also served as the director of education and development at Reaching Maximum Independence from 2011 to 2017, after working as a director of development services at SAMMinistries from 2010 to 2011. Ms. Cawthon initially began her career as a fundraising coordinator and an administrative assistant at Alpha Home Inc. in San Antonio, Texas, where she served from 1999 to 2002. Following this post, she was active as director of communications at Baptist Child and Family Services from 2002 until 2003. Between 2003 and 2005, she garnered expertise as a community relations director at Providence Place, formerly known as the Methodist Mission Home, and was further associated with Mission Road Ministries as an associate development director from 2005 to 2010. Ms. Cawthon also contributed to the ChildSafe organization as a development director from 2009 until 2010 and subsequently served as an independent nonprofit consultant between 2010 and 2017. Before beginning her professional journey, Ms. Cawthon pursued an education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in business management, with an emphasis in leadership and administration, in 1998. She continued her academic efforts at Our Lady of the Lake University, earning a Master of Science in nonprofit management in 2009. As a commitment to her field, she attained the American Humanics Certificate in nonprofit management and leadership via the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2002 and has been certified as a nonprofit professional, as well as a festival and events associate. It is really about building those connections and asking for help and support because doors open here and there outside the scope of anything I could do by myself.
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