Lori Tsuruda

Lori Tsuruda is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization People Making a Difference® (PMD), which organizes one-time, hands-on volunteer projects for individuals, partners with businesses to promote effective community involvement, and trains and assists nonprofit leaders in quality volunteer management. She earned a bachelor of science degree in applied biology from MIT in 1989, followed by a master’s of science from the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University in 1995.

Building on her extensive volunteer leadership experiences from Key Club while in high school in San Jose, California, and Alpha Phi Omega (APO) while at MIT, plus experience as a "buddy" volunteer for several AIDS service organizations, Lori's first paid position in the nonprofit sector was as volunteer coordinator for the former Cambridge Cares About AIDS. She quickly became known for her problem solving abilities in the sector, and went on to work in development, communications, and grant writing at St. Francis House day shelter and the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She also served as the regional director of Earth Share of New England. Although she founded PMD in 1992, she ran PMD part-time while unpaid from 1992 until 2000, and then transitioned to full-time, paid work in 2002.

Lori currently serves as president of the Directors of Volunteer Administration (DOVA), a professional organization for volunteer managers in Greater Boston; and formerly served as a co-chair of her 25th and 20th college reunion gift committees, chair of her 20th college reunion, on the board of directors of Hawthorne Youth & Community Center, and as a member of the Friends of HEARTH. Lori also volunteers for the Museum of Science, and co-advises the MIT chapter of APO. For many years, she visited frail elders weekly with her late pet therapy dog, through FriendshipWorks. When not working or volunteering, she herds sheep with her border collie.