Meet the Team...

We are a dedicated and enthusiastic team, with over three decades of experience in the “art and science” of peer-to-peer fundraising.

Our sole focus is to make sure every cause harnesses the power and potential of peer-to-peer fundraising.

Our History

Our founder, Jillian, always had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a child she would pick wild onions in the forest and sell them door to door to the neighbours.

After a couple of years working in fundraising, she became passionate about peer-to-peer. And in 2014 her inner entrepreneur came knocking on the door, so she started her own business, Peerworks Consulting, based in The Netherlands. A foreign country with new markets.

Since then, we’ve been helping non-profit agencies by creating more opportunities to inspire and empower people all over the world to raise funds and awareness for the causes they are passionate about.

Nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Jillian. Consultant & CEO.

In 2001, I found my passion for events (and fundraising) when I registered for the Alaska AIDSVaccine Ride…a 6-day cycle tour through Alaska that raised money for AIDS Vaccine research. To participate, I needed to fundraise $3200 and train to ride 500 miles in 6 days in the mountains. But, I lived in (flat) Chicago, didn’t have any fundraising experience and didn’t even own a bike. Despite that, I still registered. Not because I was personally involved in the struggle of people facing HIV/AIDS, but because I cared and wanted to do something that would really make a difference.

The experience of participating in the ride and crossing the finish line in Anchorage really moved me. So much so, that I decided to make fundraising events my career and started working at Pallotta TeamWorks, the creator and producer of the AIDSRides. Seen by many as the pioneer of event fundraising in the USA, Pallotta provided me with an opportunity to learn from and work alongside the people who started it all. In the two years I was with them, we raised a record-breaking $115 million for charity.

When some of my former colleagues asked me to join them with the start up of a new event fundraising company in 2003, I jumped at the opportunity. At Event 360, I found myself surrounded by the best and brightest in the business, challenging each other to investigate, innovate and inspire. The Event 360 team became my second family over the 9 years I spent with them. A time during which I worked on some incredibly important causes for the top charities in the USA, being inspired and motivated by the people I met along the way whose lives were being changed (and saved!).

In 2005 my professional work got personal when my dad was diagnosed with a rare lung disease – Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). A disease with no known cause and no cure. No drugs. No treatment plan. No hope. My dad fought as best as he could for 9 months, but on May 2, 2006 we lost him. Ever since, I have become an advocate for lung charities and have personally raised $17,000 by running, cycling and mountain climbing. I will not stop until a cure for IPF is found and I strongly feel that no family should ever be told there’s no hope. My firm belief is that by helping charities, diseases like IPF can become a thing of the past.

In 2012, I found it was time to leave Event 360 and spread my wings in Europe to help non-profits achieve the benefits and revenue that events have brought in the USA. I was hired by Emolife Events & Consultancy to train their staff working in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy and help them optimise the revenue and impact of their events.

In March 2014, I started Peerworks Consulting in order to make peer-to-peer expertise accessible to all non-profits all over the world.
How can we help you change the world using the power of peer-to-peer?

Paola. Consultant & CTO.

After studying European Law in the Netherlands, I decided it was time to stir things up and do something completely different. In 2009 I moved to Amman, Jordan, to work for the international student organisation AIESEC. My job was to get to know local charities and convince them to create internship opportunities for AIESEC university students from all over the world. Getting to know these charities and organisations and learning about their mission left a deep impression on me.

So, in 2011, when I got the opportunity to join Alvarum–a peer-to-peer fundraising platform–I decided it was time to re-pack my things and move to their headquarters in Paris, France. First I served as the Business Development Manager for the Netherlands, which allowed me to learn a great deal about the peer-to-peer fundraising concept. A few years later, I became an Event Manager for French events. Together with my team we developed several fundraising events and programs such as the Course des Héros, a multi-charity walk that raised more than €2 million in 2013. That year we also launched the new event Marche des Lumières, a 4km night walk in Paris and Lyon, partnering with two of the most important cancer research institutions in the country to raise funds in order to beat cancer.

I stood at the finish line for all these events and the joy I felt there was palpable. It moved me to see the positive impact that fundraising had on the lives of participants…how they would all go above and beyond to do something to support the mission they felt strongly about. It was clear that a community could actually make a change by joining forces. I soon realised that what had first been an interest had, in fact, become a passion.

In the spring of 2015, I met Jillian in the Netherlands and recognised in her the same passion I had for peer-to-peer fundraising. So, joining Peerworks Consulting was simply the next logical step. I strongly believe all charities deserve the opportunity to discover the power of peer-to-peer fundraising. At Peerworks we make this happen.

Meet the Team...

We are a dedicated and enthusiastic team, with over three decades of experience in the “art and science” of peer-to-peer fundraising.

Our sole focus is to make sure every cause harnesses the power and potential of peer-to-peer fundraising.

Our History

Jillian. Consultant & CEO.

Paola. Consultant & CTO.

Keiron. Consultant & COO.

Ili. Program Manager.

Valentina. Business Development Manager.

Benny. Chief Networker.