More About The Team
Rod Miller
Founder, CEO & Board Member
Executive Sales Computing Industry,
Youngstown University (1954-1963) B.S. in B.A.
Night school Full 9 1/2 year night school "scholarship" via City Loan and Household Finance loans
Picking coal fallen off railroad cards & shovel snow age 8-10
Country Club Caddy, Greenskeeper, age 10 - 18
GMAC accounting Clerk.
Direct sales, top producer
United States Marine Corps Active and Reserve 1954-1963
Northwestern Mutual Life insurance sales
Chamber of Commerce workshop leader (1954-1963)
Secretary, Fire Dept. assistant
Public office candidate
IBM 1964 first real job post college. Systems Engineering Trainee.
Software Industry Pioneer and serial Entrepreneur
CEO, Computer Data Sciences, sold to UCC, (NYSE)
American Legion & Elks
Author of Spirit of Freedom: Capitalism vs. Socialism, Baskets of Mulligans, & Short Stories on Kindle Vella. All on Amazon.com.
Founder, Spirt of Freedom Foundation, CEO 2001-2021
100% Feedback Ratings, eBay 18 years & Etsy 8 years settling estate before Plan B goes into effect.
Thomas McKrill
Board Member
Assistant Principal and Dean of Students, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, Akron Ohio
Notre Dame College B.A., International Business Administration/International Business.
Ursuline College, M.A. , Educational Administration, & pursuing his Superintendents License.
His career includes teaching Theology, serving as a Campus Minister, Assistant Director of Admissions at Lake Catholic High School and Enrollment Management at Notre Dame College.
While completing his internship in Bangalore, India, Mr. McKrill realized his passion was to work in non-profit and mission-based environments.
Tom is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Budgeting, Event Planning, Customer Service, and Coaching.
Tom is a strong educational professional handling issues impacting families including those created by social media. His daily interaction with students brings a special perspective to the board.
Claire A. Scott Miller
Board Member
President, C Scott Miller & Associates
Adjunct Faculty and Master-Mentor Coach at Weatherhead School of Management, Executive Education
BA from Denison Univ.,
M.Ed. from Bowling Green State University,
Studied at Case Western Reserve University
Continuing education at Harvard and Radcliff
Advanced training from the National Assoc. of Business Coaches (NABC).
Ms. Miller is a Board Certified Executive Coach
Yoga Teacher at Soul Stretch Mobile Yoga
Claire has extensive experience conducting workshops, coaching and consulting assisting organizations in maximizing the effectiveness of their key employees and enhancing their career-life satisfaction.
Clients include professional services firms, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies across the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.
Erika M. Yates, CPA
Business Development Officer
Independent Consultant
Elon University - Martha and Spencer Love School of Business
University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business Master of Science Accounting
Ernst & Young Your Master Plan Program
Jefferson Pilot Business Fellows, honors business program and Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows, 4 year leadership development program
Studied abroad in London followed by seven years of increasingly responsible positions with Ernst & Young in the UK.
Business Development Manager - Financial Advisory Accounting Services
EMEIA Assurance Market Operations Leader / Business Development Manager
Business Development Leader - Financial Services Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS)
Board Member, Vice-Chair of Finance, non-profit volunteer
PWC Global Strategic Account Management, Senior Manager - Sales and Marketing
Mrs. Yates business experience includes seven years dealing with top level executives inclusive of UK's Members of Parliament. Frequently appearing on BBC and Skye News for interviews, she
holds American and British citizenship,
Mrs. Yates is an innovative strategic thinker, high impact leader in business development and market strategy as well as a financial services consultant.
An Independent Consultant, Mrs. Yates provides expertise to help organizations solve problems to reach their goals more efficiently and effectively.
Arun Singh
Chief Information Officer
CEO, Compu360 LLC
Masters of Accountancy, 1992, University of Montana
Web developer with over 15 years of experience in designing and developing websites
Database developer and programmer with experience in C++, Ruby on Rails and Python
Our board of directors are community leaders, dedicated to creating immediate and lasting growth for children who lost a first responder or healthcare worker to Covid-19. Our work with partners is aimed at helping those children find comfort, success and happiness.
Driven by gratitude for our own good fortune, our primary objective is to help children maintain strong mental health.
We have great admiration and respect for two charities, The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is the inspirational model we plan to emulate ... worldwide. And the First Responders Children's Foundation serving America's safety forces.
AUGUST 31, 2021
A Microsoft survey of more than 30,000 global workers showed that 41% of workers were considering quitting or changing professions this year. Full survey is here.
The way Americans are working is changing. Many professionals and high-level employees find working at home saves time, is less stressful and family friendly. It is from this talent pool we expect to find exceptional people for the following present and future full-time, work from anywhere positions.
Alternatively, top performing volunteers can demonstrate excellence and earn the opportunity to be considered for the following staff positions either now or in the future. Equal Employment Opportunity asserts all people should have the right to work and advance on the bases of merit and ability, regardless of their race, sex, color, religion, disability, national origin, or age. Bluebird Awards agrees.
Performance is our equal opportunity criteria. Volunteers are accepted into the Volunteer Registry without question or face to face interviews. Once registered, all we know is your name, email address, location and a brief message. Success is at the discretion of each volunteer.
Secretary-Treasurer, (Position filled by Charles A. Miller)
The position of secretary and treasurer are both important. The funding for a nonprofit organization comes from donations, grants and fundraisers. In order to maintain the status of a nonprofit business, the organization must make sure someone's in place who keeps track of all of the money that comes in, where it comes from and where it goes
Executive Director, Board Member
Our Executive Director will be the face of the organization communicating with donors, staff members, volunteers, the board of directors, or anyone else who is interested in what the nonprofit does.
Fundraising Director/Development Director
Our Fundraising Director is one of the most important positions in our organization because it’s responsible for securing money to fund projects and programs. Working with donors to identify their philanthropic goals and find out how the nonprofit can help them achieve those requires a lot of networking, which is why we a person with exceptional people skills to serve as an effective Fundraising Director/Development Director.
Director of Community Engagement (Outreach)
Our Director of Community Engagement will be responsible for connecting the organization to the public and vice-versa. They will be creating and implementing community engagement plans that take a strategy from theory to execution.
Our Finance & Accounting Manager will be responsible for the financial wellbeing of our nonprofit organization who will work with other board members, directors, and staff to create budgets and identify gaps in funding sources as well as areas where more funds are needed.
Director of Programs & Services
Our Director of Programs & Services will be responsible for the management, development, and evaluation of programs in order to support our mission.
Our Director of Communications identifies program needs, writes grant proposals, manages budgets and works with other departments (such as marketing) or board members on developing new programs and initiatives that will expand our reach inclusive of developing new partnerships with other organizations or conducting research to support the Bluebird Awards program.
Our Special Events Manager will be responsible for developing and executing the event-planning strategy. These events may have different goals and audiences, from raising awareness of our mission to fundraising, recruitment and also be responsible for managing the budget allocated for these events.
Our Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for recruiting and managing volunteers. This may involve creating volunteer positions, assessing individuals’ skills to match them with the appropriate opportunity or program; developing a training plan to ensure that people are qualified before they work on behalf of our organization.
Our Program Manager will be responsible for managing our organization’s program-specific objectives. These may include fundraising, education and outreach, advocacy, or any other specific programs that are set up to meet our mission.
This is different than our Director of Programs & Services who designs and evaluates program outcomes. The program manager is responsible for the execution of the designed program.
Chief Information Officer (Position filled by Arun Singh)
Our Chief Information Officer is responsible for overseeing our technology needs. Arun Singh is in charge of acquiring and implementing new technologies as well as maintaining existing systems; ensuring that all aspects related to information are secure, appropriately backed up and accessible.
Corporate Giving & Grants Coordinator
Our Corporate Giving& Grants Coordinator will be responsible for writing grant proposals and donor letters, as well as ensuring that all documentation related to grants meets our organization’s needs.
Maintaining a grant funding and reporting calendar is an example of crucial details needed in this role.
Our Human Resources Director will oversee our human capital needs. This person may be in charge of recruiting, hiring, and training executive staff and employees as well as administering benefits packages; ensuring that HR practices comply with federal and state regulations.
Our Board Members are responsible for guiding our organization’s strategy, its supporting policies and overseeing management to make sure it aligns with our nonprofit mission. New Bluebird Awards board members will come from a variety of experiences and interests. They could start as volunteers.