Steven Klein

Steven grew up in Boston and got his start in the nonprofit sector there working for arts organizations and for Women’s Supported Housing and Empowerment, a battered women’s shelter and counseling program that his mother founded in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Steven started Firefly Fundraising in California, where he has built an expertise in the diverse, entrepreneurial, and leading edge funders that make up the state’s philanthropic community. With several of Los Angeles’ anchor institutions on his client roster – including the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, the Autry Museum, Children’s Hospital, and MLK Community Hospital in South Los Angeles – Steven expanded Firefly Fundraising into a national firm, recruiting Ryan Johnston to head East Coast efforts. To date, Firefly has served clients across the US with its research and writing services.

Steven lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Dr. Kristine Penner, and their daughter, Eliza, and son, Ronen. When he isn’t playing with his family or trying to crack a new way to strengthen a nonprofit’s story, he’s probably busy with his other storytelling venture, Firefly Theater & Films. Steven chairs the board of directors of La Maida Project, vice chairs the board of directors of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center, serves on the board of advisors of Endcrawl, and sits on the School Site Council of LAUSD’s Ivanhoe Elementary. He received his BA from Yale.