About Finch Network
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
-Spoken by Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird
"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”
-Charles Darwin
Finch Network is named in honor of a great literary figure, Atticus Finch, and famed biologist Charles Darwin.
Their words reflect our firm’s philosophy and vision for social justice and change. We believe sustainable change should be a collaborative endeavor and we always seek to understand and appreciate the wisdom and experience of our clients and the diverse communities they work with and for.
We’ve added network to our name to show our connection to the people and organizations we work and our long-term commitment to creating and sustaining social change.
Our People
Finch Network is committed to helping non-profits and government organizations find sustainable solutions to challenging social justice issues. Finch has a network of talented experts across the country who lend their experience and expertise to Finch projects.
Amy Bonn
Founder & Principal
Amy has worked with and for nonprofits for over 20 years as a practitioner, researcher, and consultant. She oversees the creative direction at Finch Network as well as business development.
Amy has worked with local, regional and national organizations including the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the Corporation for National and Community Service and United Way of Tompkins County. She specializes in grant writing, program planning, fund development, and qualitative research. Notable projects include a fellowship she completed for the Corporation for National Service where she conducted an evaluation of program sustainability of AmeriCorps*VISTA projects, coordinating an allocation process that invested $1.3 million dollars annually to health and human service nonprofits in Tompkins County and leading the qualitative research portion for two evaluations conducted for City Harvest.
Amy has a strong commitment to her own community and serves on the board of Plattsburgh Housing Authority, and the Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Task Force.
Amy holds a B.A.in American Studies and a teaching certificate from the University of Rochester and a graduate degree in Community and Rural Development from Cornell University.
Jennifer Miller
Associate
Jennifer Miller has sixteen years experience working with educators to implement and sustain school programs, policies and practices that help promote academic success, prevent risky behaviors, and build social and emotional skills.
Currently, she is working with the United Way of Greater Toledo and Toledo Public Schools to create more caring learning environments and integrate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in the curriculum. She has presented and published her work nationally. She provided consultation to schools throughout Ohio and has worked with organizations including, Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association, Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Parent Teacher Association, Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, and Ohio State University’s Center for Learning Excellence.
Jenn developed and taught four online courses for the Prevention Network at the University of Cincinnati. She is two-time nominee for the Joseph Zins Purpose Award for Young Professionals of Social and Emotional Learning Practice.
Stacey Murphy
Associate
Stacey Murphy has an extensive background in nonprofit fund development. She has served as the Director of Energy Services for Tompkins Community Action and is the past Executive Director for Better Housing for Tompkins County.
Stacey has successfully secured local, regional and national grants for organizations she has worked with including a $400,000 Housing Rehabilitation Program for the Town of Ulysses from the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $208,000 for an Access to Home grant from New York State Dept. of Homes & Community Renewal (DHCR) and a $323,000 grant for Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers from the US Dept. of Energy.
Stacey is a national member of Grant Professionals Association, on the Steering Committee of Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative, a past Board member of the New York State Rural Housing Coalition, past Treasurer for the Brooktondale Community Center and past honorary Campaign Co-Chair for United Way of Tompkins County.
Stacey holds a B.S. in Human Development & Family Studies from Penn State.
Julia Reich
Associate
Julia Reich of Stone Soup Creative is a branding consultant, graphic designer and graphic recorder.
She communicates brands and ideas, using words and pictures – on a big scale, on a small scale, digital and analog, online and offline. She helps people and organizations distill complex messages and concepts, so they are engaging, meaningful and shareable.
Applications of her work include logo design, infographics and brand strategy – for nonprofits, higher ed and other organizations with a social mission.
She enjoys spending time with her husband, 7 cats, and 2 dogs – and on her mountain bike.
We at the Finch Network are listeners, observers, and organizers. We believe that the best projects are those where community members are engaged in the process and are partners in charting change. We believe this for ourselves, for our firm and for the work we conduct. Therefore, we strive to reflect the communities we serve by being inclusive of age, gender, creed, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, immigration or citizenship status, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or weight. We are a firm inspired by past work and motivated by the opportunities for change we see before us.
