The Collective
Thinking Leaders Collective is just that; a collective of thinkers, partners in leadership. With Thinking Leaders Collective as your thinking partner, you can Level Up.
What we do:
The Collective was born out of a fundamental desire to come together. At TLC, we’ve always been fascinated by honey bees and their devotion to their hive. Honey bees cannot operate in isolation; They work together to achieve common goals through self-organizing, decision-making, and communication.
Like a beehive, we recognize that true strength lies in relationships.
How we do it:
Inspired by honeycombs, our mission is to empower leaders and organizations to achieve transformative growth through collaborative expertise and strategic partnerships, fostering a collective intelligence that drives innovation and sustainable success.
Our approach is to foster a network of diverse experts, each bringing unique insights and specialized knowledge to the table. By working in tandem with these partners, we amplify our collective capabilities and deliver comprehensive solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of each client. This collaborative ecosystem allows us to tackle complex challenges from multiple angles, ensuring a holistic and effective outcome for your organization.
Gary L. Klein
Senior Consultant
Gary Klein is a senior advancement professional with more than three decades of experience leading transformational philanthropy in higher education.
Gary joins Thinking Leaders Collective, LLC, where he partners with mission-driven organizations to advance transformational philanthropy, leadership development, and strategic campaign planning.
Gary has held executive advancement roles—primarily at private, religious-based institutions of higher education—where he has played a central role in eight comprehensive campaigns totaling over $540 million, serving as lead strategist and architect for six of those efforts. His work has resulted in record-setting fundraising outcomes, including multiple eight-figure gifts, and the development of high-performing advancement teams grounded in mission, metrics, and meaning.
He holds a Master of Arts in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Gary Kelsey, Ed.D
Senior Contributing Faculty
Gary Kelsey, Ed.D, has 49 years of experience within the non-profit, government, and education sectors. Prior to beginning his consulting work, Gary held several staff positions within a variety of nonprofit organizations.
As an organizational development consultant, Gary has provided non-profit board development, program development, strategic planning, fundraising, collaboration, team-building, qualitative research, leadership coaching and other organizational development assistance and training to over 400 non-profit, philanthropic, education and government organizations.
Dr. Kelsey is currently Senior Contributing Faculty and Faculty Emeritus in the School of Public Health and Public Policy and Administration at Walden University. Gary is also a Professor and Former Program Director of the MA in Philanthropy and Development Program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Gary also teaches courses and seminars at the University of St. Thomas, and previously taught at Concordia University and St. Cloud State University.
Gary holds a B.A. Degree in Social Work from St. Cloud State University and an M.A. in Human and Health Service Administration from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. In 2001, Gary completed a Doctorate of Education in Leadership degree from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Gary is currently a member of the St. Croix Valley Foundation and is Chair of the Community Impact Committee. With other Valley area consultants, he served as a pro-bono consultant with the Foundation’s former Consultants in Service (CIS) program.
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