We’re operators, systems architects, and practitioners.
We rebuild the systems that make nonprofits work.
Our team designs practical, human-first infrastructure that holds under pressure and gives leaders back the time and clarity to lead well.
Meet the people behind the work:
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Janie is the founder and systems architect behind Elevé. Before she was a systems architect, she was an operator. Before she led teams, she studied how people work. Before she built Elevé, she rebuilt organizations from the inside.
Janie has led operational rebuilds in Los Angeles, New York, and everywhere systems are stretched past their limits. She’s worked through growth surges, leadership turnover, and crisis response, steadying teams and redesigning the internal mechanics that make stability possible.
Fluent in all layers of an organization, she moves easily between executive strategy and daily execution. Her background in organizational psychology shapes how she works: clear structure, calm authority, and deep respect for the people doing the work.
She believes strong systems protect people, not replace them. Through Elevé, she builds the operational backbones that let nonprofits work better without losing what makes them human.
Janie Judd
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Ryan brings more than twenty-five years of experience at the intersection of finance and operations. He’s led organizations through growth, recovery, and transformation—directing multi-million-dollar budgets, managing full P&L oversight, and building the systems that keep both teams and finances on track.
Before joining Elevé, Ryan served as Vice President of Operations for a California-based firm where he implemented cost-control systems that reduced overhead while supporting sustained growth. His career spans leadership roles across hospitality, construction, and business development, where he earned a reputation for financial precision, steady execution, and the ability to bring structure to complex operations.
An Army veteran and ICF-accredited life coach, Ryan pairs disciplined analysis with a human-first approach to leadership. At Elevé, he partners with executives and boards to build financial and operational systems that protect both people and performance.
Ryan Judd
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Nathan helps organizations find their footing when things get complicated, helping teams make the most of what they already have and find their first steps out of strategic or operational gridlock.
He is a small business owner and nonprofit leader with more than twenty years of experience in leading teams to break down big challenges and get moving. He led teams in South Sudan that restarted vaccination programs and provided women’s health care, built a successful hospitality business in Brooklyn with multiple brands and locations, and helped to rapidly stand up and scale an emergency food network that delivered more than 10M meals during the pandemic.
He gets what it takes to build in the face of uncertainty and worked at all levels of organizations of all sizes. He’s done inventory alone in the middle of the night, and built systems that kept multimillion-dollar programs in compliance and on budget. He has worked shoulder to shoulder with dishwashers and with board members. And he has personally felt the difference made by small improvements - and setbacks.
He believes effective teams make successful leaders, good stewardship is always rewarded, and well-built systems outlive individuals.
Nathan Ricke
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Bio coming soon
Amy Eubank
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Since her career began 10 years ago, Kathleen has worked at the intersection of the public and private sector — working to advance policy and effect positive change across the nonprofit, foodservice and hospitality sectors. Kathleen’s post-graduate career began in fine dining and small scale agriculture. She subsequently spent nearly 6 years of her career in nonprofit management at Rethink Food in programs, operations and most recently in government relations and advocacy. She liaised between program and community partners, amplifying their voices to inform policy-making efforts and actionable change, plus managing their government funding and external relationships. Most recently, Kathleen served as the Director of Strategy at Hot Bread Kitchen, facilitating the organization's strategic plan, managing cross organizational growth projects and government relations and advocacy. She currently is the Head of Contract Services at Promise Hospitality Group, a New York City based hospitality and foodservice company and passionate about improving the quality of institutional foodservice across the public sector.
Kathleen holds a BPS in Applied Food Studies and a BBA in Food Business Business Management with a concentration in Italian Cuisine from The Culinary Institute of America, and was recognized in 2022 by Hunter College Food Policy Center for the 40 Under 40: The Rising Stars in NYC Food Policy. She currently resides in New York City, and outside of work, you will find her gardening with her mom or at her local community garden, playing with her niece and nephew under the pseudonym “Aunt Kitty”, and cooking and laughing with her friends.