Leaders
Ellen Collins
Ellen Collins serves as executive director for The Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy where she is responsible for the overall strategic and operational responsibilities for the organization's staff, programs, and execution of its mission, which is to serve, build capacity, and foster collaboration among and between Mississippi's nonprofit and philanthropic communities. Her work involves interaction with nonprofit organizations, foundations, United Ways, public sector entities, and businesses throughout the state.
Ellen has served in various roles in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, most recently as the director of The Prosperity Center for Midtown Partners, Inc.in Jackson, MS. She also served as a senior program officer for the Chicago-based McCormick Foundation and director of programs for the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson (now the Community Foundation for Mississippi) where she was instrumental in helping launch the Women's Fund of Mississippi (now the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi), the only nonprofit foundation in the state that focuses primarily on women and girls' issues.
A native of Starkville, MS, Ellen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Mississippi Valley State University and a Master of Science in Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc., and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Jackson. Ellen is passionate about creating a world where all children can achieve their fullest potential.
Melisa Galasso
Melisa F. Galasso, Charlotte, NC
Melisa Galasso is the founder of Galasso Learning Solutions, LLC. She has nearly 15 years of experience in the accounting profession including in public accounting, education and industry. She specializes in creating custom training courses that promote genuine learning and drive improved outcomes. Melisa teaches courses in advanced technical accounting and auditing, including not for profit and governmental accounting, as well as courses dealing with essential professional and soft skills. Her goal is to customize each course to deliver exceptional return on investment by leaving each participant with actionable takeaways and clear means to apply what was learned. Melisa monitors regulatory bodies for changes in auditing and accounting guidance and serves as a subject matter expert in implementing the updated guidance. She is a member of and frequent instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA), and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA). Melisa served as Past-President of the Board of NCACPA's Charlotte Chapter and is Past-Chair of the A&A Committee for the NCACPA. She was appointed in 2016 to the AICPA's Technical Issues Committee (TIC) which is responsible for monitoring the activities of the various accounting and attestation standard setting boards and submitting comments and recommendations during the due process phase. She was recognized as a Super CPA by Virginia Business Magazine in 2007 and received the 2013 Women to Watch - Emerging Leader Award from the NCACPA and AICPA. She is also a graduate of the 2014 class of the AICPA's Leadership Academy. In 2016, Melisa was honored as one of the 50 Most Influential Women by the Mecklenburg Times and received the Top 5 Under 35 Award from the VSCPA. She received a 5.0 Speaker award from the NCACPA in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, Melisa received the Don Farmer Award from the NCACPA for the highest combined average scores on knowledge, skills, and materials from participant evaluations for all courses taught in a technical area. Melisa received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and International Business from Georgetown University. Melisa has also completed the Association for Talent Development (ATD) Master Trainer™ Program.
John Kmiec
Dr. Kmiec is a Professor of Practice of Human Capital Development at Southern Miss. He teaches courses in Advanced Workforce Analysis, Competency Models, Change Leadership, Foundations of Human Capital Development, and Workforce Development Models in the Human Capital Development Doctoral and Master of Science Programs. He has nearly 30 years of experience analyzing, designing, developing, delivering, evaluating, and managing workforce development, education, and training for the federal and state government, as well as the military, industry, and academia. He is also a 27-year veteran of the United States Air Force, having retired as a Chief Master Sergeant while serving as the Commandant of the Keesler Air Force Base Noncommissioned Officer Academy, located in beautiful Biloxi, MS.
Dr. Kmiec is married 42 years to the former Dawn Lynne Wolfe of Satellite Beach, FL., and they have three grown children: Gabriel, Melissa, and Heather. He enjoys working out, playing guitar, and traveling.
Charles R. Lindsay
Charles is a shareholder in Matthews, Cutrer & Lindsay, P.A. located in the Metro Jackson area. He provides both tax and audit services to a variety of clients. He directs the firm's not-for-profit practice.
He helped organized and has served as Chairman of the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) committee on non-profit accounting for nearly a decade. Previously, he served on the AICPA's Not-For Profit Conference committee and has been an instructor for the AICPA.
Charles earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. He was recently recognized by the MSCPA as the Community Service Award winner for 2019.
Charles is involved in many civic and community organizations. He is a Past President of the Board of Trustees of the Jackson Public School District. He served as the Treasurer of the Andrew Jackson Council of the Boy Scouts of America and is actively involved in the North Jackson Rotary Club. He is Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the MS Alliance for Nonprofits and Philanthropy and a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Belhaven Foundation.
Charles and his wife, Virgi, claim Jackson's historic Belhaven neighborhood as their home. They have two grown children who have returned to Jackson and live in Belhaven. Charles and his wife are long-time members of St. Richard's Catholic Church.
Bob Mims
Bob Mims, CPA, is a financial consultant and VP Finance for promising enterprises. For 20 years, Robert has worked with numerous startup ventures and nonprofits in the roles of Strategic Planning, Business Modeling, Controller and CFO. His focus is understanding the fundamentals of profitability. Robert worked ten years as a Big Four Senior Assurance Manager, earning National Instructor of the Year on three occasions. Robert has served on FASB Advisory committees and is based in Memphis, TN.
Steven Mulhollen
Steve Mulhollen,
While obtaining his B.A. in Christian studies, his M.B.A., and his Certificate in Accounting from Mississippi College, Mulhollen embarked on a diverse career. Steve began his career working in the Investor Relations mailroom at WorldCom and worked his way up as a Financial Analyst while completing his M.B.A. at Mississippi College. After a short stint at Georgia Pacific as a Wood and Fiber Procurement accountant, Steve entered public accounting to pursue his passion for serving Not-for-Profit organizations. After a successful tenure at HORNE, he left to serve his clients, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa Foundation as the chief financial officer. While serving as the finance committee chair, his home church, Broadmoor Baptist Church, asked him to serve as the Executive Pastor and Treasurer.
Mulhollen was first introduced to teaching adjunct at the collegiate level in the early 2000s at Mississippi College. His desire and joy for teaching have never left him. He is currently an Instructor of Accounting at Mississippi College, where he teaches principles, intermediate, and cost accounting. Steve, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, continues to serve the Not for Profit and Governmental community through his consulting services company Poiema L.L.C. Steve is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the SHRM-CP designation.
Ricky Rayborn
Ricky Rayborn came to RTS in 2022 as the Director of Human Resources. He has over 35 years of experience in human resources, risk management, and organizational development. Ricky has provided human resource and risk management consulting to a wide range of industries, from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. He attended Mississippi State University on an athletic scholarship before serving in the United States Marine Corps and later earning a B.S. in liberal arts from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is also the co-founder of Little Acorns Child Development Center in the Dr. A.H. McCoy Federal Building in downtown Jackson, Mississippi.
Rayborn and his wife Janie have three adult children and attend Pinelake Church in Brandon, Mississippi.
Allison B. Rooker
Allison Rooker is the Senior Director of Finance for Canopy Children's Solutions. In this role, Allison is responsible for monitoring the business activities and operations of the organization that includes preparing and examining budget estimates, performing advanced accounting functions in the management of Canopy's business affairs, providing support to leadership and program supervisors with financial planning, forecasting and budget management.
As a licensed Certified Public Accountant, she began her career at KPMG LLP in Jackson. Her career led her to the West Coast but ultimately she returned to her home state of Mississippi where she has spent the past 17 years. Allison joined the Canopy team following more than a decade of service in not-for-profit private higher education as the Controller for both Millsaps College and Mississippi College.
A native of Jackson and alumna of the University of Southern Mississippi, Allison is a resident of Brandon where she lives with her husband Derek and their two children, Bennett and Collins. They are active in their children's various sports activities and are members of Pinelake Church. Allison is an active member of the Junior League of Jackson.
Angela Sumrall
Angie brings more than 30 years of accounting experience to Canopy's executive leadership. Angie's primary role is to uphold the fiscal integrity of the company by overseeing financial matters including federal, state and local grants management; budgeting; financial reporting; tax and audit functions; capital campaign fiscal management and planning; financial compliance management; forecasting and special projects. In addition to finance, she also oversees the direction of Canopy's Facilities, Training, Admissions and Human Resources departments. Angie joined Canopy in 1999. Before that, she ran the Small Business Division for a Jackson-area CPA firm. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Mississippi College with emphasis in accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Senior Professional in Human Resources.
John T. Williams
John Williams is an Account Director for LeaseCrunch, the leading lease accounting solutions provider in America. He has spent his 25-year career working in the financial services and accounting industries including positions at multiple Fortune 500 companies.
A lifelong resident of Hernando, Mississippi, John attended Hernando High School where he graduated with honors. He received his B.A. in Accountancy from Ole Miss and completed his post-graduate studies at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.
John has two daughters and one granddaughter. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, woodworking, and flying.
