Who We Are

Lisa J. Poller

Lisa is a nonprofit strategy and fundraising consultant specializing in agile innovation design. She helps entrepreneurial leaders build their capacity for innovation and funding by supporting them to take bold actions within their field. 

Lisa has worked with a variety of high-potential nonprofits and startups, particularly in the education space, including Facing History and Ourselves, iThrive Games Foundation, Intelitek CoderZ, TrueFiktion, and Stanford Schwab Center for Learning.  Prior to launching her consulting business, she held leadership and fundraising roles at a variety of nonprofit organizations including New England Baptist Hospital, the Danforth Museum of Art, and CAST.  Lisa has been involved in technology innovation for more than three decades including her work in education technology and in venture capital-backed start-ups in a variety of fields. 

At CAST, a not-for-profit education innovation organization, Lisa served in leadership roles for two decades including Co-President and Chief Strategy Officer, and Director of Strategic Advancement that fundamentally transformed CAST from a local to a national leader of a dynamic new field of Universal Design for Learning.  She spearheaded a culture of collaboration and innovation that increased mission impact, $100 million in funding, and partnerships with over 100 leading organizations.

She is also the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, for Potentia Institute 21, a social impact enterprise, that develops technology to help young adults and adults thrive by understanding how they best learn and work.

She holds a Master’s in Education with a focus on Museum Education from Tufts University and a Bachelors in American Studies from Brandeis University.