Valerie M. Jones, CFRE, has addressed audiences from Baltimore to Beijing, including many AFP conferences. She has raised more than $175 million for nonprofits, both as a staff fundraiser and a consultant. Jones has taught more than 5,000 volunteer and professional fundraisers to ask comfortably, authentically, and successfully. Amazon named her book, Nonprofit Hero, Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising, (Rowman & Littlefield) one of its Top Ten Hot New Releases for Nonprofits and it made Book Authority’s List of the Best Fundraising Books of All Time. Jones is adept at both nonprofit and for-profit fundraising. Her appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank’s 2021 season finale secured a $500,000 investment for her husband’s dinosaur business.