Lori Tiller

Lori Tiller is a nonprofit scholar and practitioner whose work focuses on building the leadership and operational capacity of nonprofit organizations. As the director of the M.A. in Nonprofit Management and Leadership (MA NML) program in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia, she applies her expertise that spans board governance, strategic planning, volunteer management, and nonprofit leadership development, with a particular emphasis on human-centered design theory. 

Lori also serves as the Director of Research and Evaluation for the Embark Georgia Center in the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, where she leads statewide research initiatives to strengthen the systems that support students who have experienced foster care or homelessness. Her work enhances resources and collaboration among higher education, child welfare, and K-12 leaders who serve this population. Embark Georgia advances its mission through three core strategies: fostering collaborative relationships, facilitating information sharing, and building capacity across state agencies, nonprofits, and higher education institutions. 

She joined Fanning in 2008 after serving for seven years with UGA’s Office of Performing Arts. Throughout her seven years in arts administration she worked with professional artists, community schools and administration, in addition to managing community volunteers, facilities and events.

Lori earned her master’s degree in nonprofit management from the University of Georgia’s Nonprofit Institute in 2007 and her bachelor’s degree in music education from UGA in 2001. Her research interests include college access for underrepresented populations (specifically youth experiencing homelessness or foster care) and how interventions at the post-secondary level can improve retention and completion for some of these small sub populations of students; specifically, summer interventions in early high school and bridge programs the summer between high school and post-secondary acceptance.