Targeted Philanthropy is a consulting firm dedicated to providing clients with personalized guidance and services related to philanthropy. We have experience serving as professional staff to trusts, private, community and corporate foundations, and nonprofit organizations. Our expertise includes establishing a new foundation or giving program, developing a plan for trust or foundation operations, conducting grant proposal review and management, and convening nonprofits to facilitate learning and the exchange of best practices.

Our Team

Pamela Rubin, Ed.M., President, has more than 15 years of experience in grantmaking and K–12 education and has served a diverse range of family, corporate, and community foundations. Ms. Rubin has served as a Program Officer for foundations including the California Community Foundation, The Eisner Foundation, The Walt Disney Company, and The Weingart Foundation, and as a grant reviewer for the United Way. Ms. Rubin has expertise in designing and implementing grant programs for K-12 education and charter schools, early education, higher education, arts education, youth development, health, housing, aging, and animal welfare. She’s familiar with the Southern California nonprofit sector and has provided grant services to small and large foundations, including grants of up to $2.5 million. She has designed and facilitated peer learning programs, convening nonprofit managers to share ideas and effective strategies, identify and address common challenges, develop collaborative relationships, and learn from experts in the field. Additionally, Ms. Rubin has experience at WestEd Regional Education Lab, the Los Angeles Alliance for Restructuring Now (LEARN), and as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. for teachers’ associations. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in political science and her Master’s degree in education from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Jeff Nelsen, Ph.D., Consultant, has more than 30 years of experience in organizational development and school reform both nationally and internationally. Dr. Nelsen, a Senior Partner at Targeted Leadership Consulting, has expertise in coaching education and nonprofit leaders. Dr. Nelsen is the former co-director of the New England School Management Program in Boston and has provided training and coaching to more than 2,000 principals and school leadership teams over the past decade, helping schools set and meet rigorous student learning goals. Previously, Dr. Nelsen was a teacher and principal for 21 years in California. With a Ph.D. in organization and policy studies, Dr. Nelsen has taught graduate students at several universities over the years, and is the former director of the Harvard/ACSA Principals' Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Amalia Cudeiro, Ed.D., Consultant, has more than 20 years of experience working with schools, districts, and philanthropic foundations to increase student achievement and school district effectiveness. A Senior Partner at Targeted Leadership Consulting, Dr. Cudeiro was most recently one of five deputy superintendents for the Boston Public Schools, where her primary responsibilities included recruitment, selection, training, professional development, supervision, and evaluation of principals, headmasters, directors, and cluster leaders. She completed her doctorate at Harvard University and was one of eight selected for Harvard's Urban Superintendents’ Program, where she has been serving as Adjunct Professor. Dr. Cudeiro was born in Cuba and educated in Spain through high school, completed all of her university work in the U.S., and is bilingual.