Board and Staff

Patricia McFarland, President

McFarland, an instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College since 1979, teaches Early Childhood Education.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s Degree of Education from University of Rochester.  As someone who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960s, she has been a lifelong advocate for social justice causes.

Peter Coffaro, Vice President

Coffaro has worked for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District since 2003 and has held his current position as Procurement and Business Development Manager since 2006.  His duties include coordinating the District’s $800,000 Workforce Development Training and Placement Program, managing procurement services, and overseeing the Small, Women and Minority Business Enterprise Program.

Tim Abler, Treasurer

Abler is the financial reporting senior at Brookdale Senior Living Inc.  There, Abler prepares quarterly and annual financial statements.  Prior to working at Brookdale Senior Living, Abler worked at Deloitte & Touche, LLP for three years as a staff auditor before being promoted to audit in charge.  He has worked with several nonprofit in years past and has served with distinction as CSGM Treasurer for the past four years.

Jeffrey Doss, Secretary

Jeff is a recently retired from his position as Supervisor/Criminal Investigator with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.  While there, he was instrumental in forming a Public Corruption Unit and worked extensively in White Collar Crime Investigations.  He is currently a partner/owner of Milwaukee Private Detectives, LLC. He has served on boards for several profit and non- profit corporations over the past 15 years.

Sarah Blackwell, Immediate Past President

Blackwell is the managing attorney and owner of immigration law firm, Blackwell Law Group, S.C.  She received her certificate in dispute resolution from Marquette University Law School.  Besides practicing immigration law for five years, and prior to becoming a lawyer, she has previous experience in healthcare management that gives her a special interest in working with people living with HIV or victims of domestic violence.

Vel Phillips, Board Director Emeritus

Phillips was the first woman to sit on the City of Milwaukee’s Common Council and later became the first female judge in Milwaukee County, as well as the first African-American judge in Wisconsin.  In 1978, she again made history as the first woman and African-American elected to statewide office as Secretary of the State of Wisconsin.  In 2011, Phillips received Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee’s Commitment to Justice President’s Award for her trailblazing efforts resulting in fair open housing laws in Milwaukee and other historic accomplishments in Greater Milwaukee and beyond.

Donald Albinger

Albinger is the vice president of Global Energy and Sustainability Operations at Johnson Controls, Inc.  Albinger leads a team of Global Program and Operations’ directors that drives energy efficiency, renewable energy, green buildings and sustainability information management projects on a global basis.

Jacquelyn Champagne

Champagne is owner of Jac Consulting, LLC where she works as an attorney, litigating a variety of business cases and counseling individuals on legal issues.  Prior to starting her own business, Champagne worked in Guangzhou, China as a consulting attorney at Guangdong United Intellectus Law Firm, as well as a foreign expert law lecturer at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

David Drew

Drew is project manager of Gannett Fleming, an international planning, design and construction management firm.  He is involved in site infrastructure assessments and upgrades, food and beverage and railroad industry consulting and both private sector and municipal work.  His work includes a particular emphasis in client service management and project delivery, developing differentiating proposal and project strategies and business solutions consulting.  His avid community involvement includes working with the Milwaukee Water Council— he leads the Urban Agricultural track program there as a volunteer.

Lynne Oehlke

Oehlke is the current President/CEO of St. Catherine Residence, a nonprofit providing housing and supportive services primarily to women.  Since 2000, her accomplishments with St. Catherine Residence include a $7.1 million capital campaign and the building of McAuley Apartments.

Leticia Smith

Dr. Smith is president of Lemars Executive Consultants, LLC, a management consulting company serving nonprofit and public organizations in board development, strategic planning, organizational collaboration, process improvement, grant writing, technical communication and program evaluation .  Her professional experience includes university teaching at graduate and undergraduate levels, state government management and court management.  In the past  40 years, she  has served on  numerous boards and committees of nonprofit organizations.

John Jansen
Executive Director

John Jansen, a 11-year veteran of Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee, became Executive Director in February 2009. He served as Interim Executive Director for one year prior to that and was in charge of campaigns and outreach from 2001 – 2008. 

Prior to joining CSGM, John served as a Communications Specialist at Assurant Health in Milwaukee and prior to that as Communications Director at Wisconsin Innkeepers Association.

Elysse Wageman

Development Manager

Elysse has a long-standing commitment to social justice and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she was Program Manager and Director of Evaluation at Public Allies Milwaukee, a program of the UW-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education and a recent Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee member organization. Prior to that, Elysse worked at Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee as Campaign Manager.

Dinah Edelstein

Membership Systems Coordinator

Dinah is responsible for coordinating workplace campaign processes, membership compliance and services, record keeping, office management and staffs the Membership Committee. In 2010, Dinah served in the Americorps program Public Allies Milwaukee. Through Public Allies Milwaukee, she was placed as the Outreach Coordinator at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UW-Milwaukee. Dinah graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 2007.