J. Courtney Bourns

Courtney Bourns is vice president of programs at Grantmakers of Effective Organizations. She oversees the development and implementation of programs for GEO members and the wider field that will facilitate change in grantmaker practices that support nonprofit results.

Courtney joined GEO in 2007 as director of programs, bringing more than twelve years of experience leading and facilitating collaborative change processes for organizations and coalitions. She has worked with community groups, nonprofit organizations and foundation-nonprofit collaboratives committed to social change. Courtney's background includes experience in leadership training, facilitation and consulting in organizational and strategy development.

Prior to GEO, Courtney served as the director of organizational development and training with Conservation International, where she worked with CI's management teams around the world to enhance the organization's overall effectiveness. She also spent six years as a senior associate at the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) in Cambridge, MA, where she served in the lead consulting role on GEO's Change Agent project. Courtney holds a bachelors degree in International Relations with a focus on International Mediation and Negotiation from Brown University and a masters degree in Theology and Ethics from Union Theological Seminary.