Rhonda Zapatka joined Trickle Up in 2009 and is the Vice President of Development where she oversees major donor and individual giving fundraising strategy and portfolio.

Rhonda has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, communications, policy, and management. Prior to Trickle Up, Rhonda was Vice President of Institutional Advancement at The After-School Corporation, Associate Director of Development at Prep for Prep, a NYC educational nonprofit, and Senior Program and Resource Development Officer for Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the nation's largest community development intermediary. She started her career as an analyst at the Boston law/consulting firm Mintz, Levin/ML Strategies, and she was an Editorial Researcher at Reader’s Digest magazine.

Rhonda is a former faculty member of the Albright Institute of Wellesley College and has spoken on numerous nonprofit fundraising-related panels in New York City and Cambridge sponsored by Williams College, the Association for Fundraising Professionals, Ellevate, and the Effective Altruism movement.

Rhonda earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Urban Studies from Wellesley College, and an MPA from the National Urban Fellows Program, where she was class valedictorian and received the Capstone award for her thesis on low-income housing tax credit legislation. In her spare time, Rhonda is an avid writer, enjoys all aspects of life in New York City, and is an devoted follower of Boston's sports teams, a nod to her Massachusetts roots.