March 5th: Making your mark - Use your business skills to impact our world

Join the Grameen Foundation's Bankers without Borders, HandsOn Greater DC Cares, ProInspire, and Taproot Foundation in an event for business professionals to learn how to use their business skills to impact our world.

Who should attend? Business professionals in the DC region from consulting, finance, marketing, and IT backgrounds

Why attend? To learn about ways you can use your business skills to support nonprofits through Fellowships, pro bono projects, board service, and skilled volunteering

How to register? RSVP via Eventbrite to reserve your spot: http://makingyourmark.eventbrite.com/ Seats are limited.

Monday, March 5th
6-8 PM
Grameen Foundation offices
1101 15th St. NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-628-3560

Agenda:
6:00-6:30 PM – Networking (including light appetizers)
6:30-7:15 PM – Panel
7:15-7:45 PM – Small group discussions with each organization

Presenting Organizations:

• Grameen Foundation's Bankers without Borders® (BwB) - BwB is a global reserve corps of more than 7,500 business professionals with experience in a variety of fields – from finance and technology to human resources and marketing. By contributing their time and knowledge to short-term, pro-bono assignments, Bankers without Borders volunteers support social enterprises serving the poor around the world.
• HandsOn Greater DC Cares Skilled Volunteering Program - The Skilled Volunteering Program allows volunteers to put their professional expertise to good use by connecting them to DC area nonprofits for capacity building projects. Volunteer projects require technical expertise in fields such as financial management; technology; organizational development; communications/marketing; human resource management; and fundraising.
• HandsOn Greater DC Cares Board Leadership Program - The Board Leadership Program equips corporate executives, senior managers, and rising leaders with the tools necessary to serve as effective members of nonprofit boards of directors. Offering a quarterly training and a year-round matching process, the program introduces highly qualified professionals to nonprofits that match their background, skill set, and issue areas of interest.
• ProInspire - The ProInspire Fellowship recruits outstanding business professionals with 2-5 years of business experience who want to use their skills for social impact. Fellows spend one year working full-time in an analytical or strategic role at a nonprofit organization. This highly competitive program offers targeted positions with leading nonprofits, monthly trainings with a cohort of peers, a coach, and a network to support career growth.
• Taproot Foundation - Taproot Foundation is a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society. Taproot engages marketing, technology, strategy, design, and HR management professionals in pro bono projects, called Service Grants, which benefit local nonprofits. Pro Bono Consultant roles are offered from associate-level through senior account management.

Exploring a Global 'Local' Approach to Impact Investment as a ProInspire Fellow

This is a guest post that Brint Markle, 2011 ProInspire Fellow, wrote for NextBillion.net.

After three great years as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, I decided to explore opportunities in impact investing. While at Bain, I helped start our first global social impact initiative, but felt I was still one step removed from ‘ground level’ impact. Last summer, I learned about the ProInspire Fellowship and discovered it would be a perfect way to increase my impact and develop as a socially-minded business leader. ProInspire is an innovative program that selects top performing young business professionals from leading banks, consulting firms, and corporations for a one-year fellowship at the intersection of business and the social sector. Each fellow is paired with a partner non-profit organization where they spend a full year in a meaningful role targeted to their experience.

ProInspire: Next Generation of Non-Profit Leadership
There are a few key aspects of the fellowship program make it exceptional. First, ProInpsire is defined by the fellowship cohort. All fellows gather regularly to share experiences, ‘crowd solve’ common challenges, and learn more about different segments of the social sector. Fellows come from a cross-section of the business world to serve leading organizations across the non-profit sector including, not only impact investing, but also international development, public health and education. Further, ProInspire has afforded all of us some wonderful opportunities to meet leaders in the field. We have heard from speakers at organizations such as Sustained Dialogue, the Management Center, and StrengthsFinder. Through networking events, we have also had the opportunity to meet inspiring leaders such as Lisa Hall, CEO of Calvert Foundation and Neil Bellefeuille, CEO of the Paradigm Project. The combination of training, mentoring, networking, and the cohort experience, makes ProInspire an ideal program for young professionals looking to increase their impact and leadership experience.

Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF): A Global Impact Investor You Should Get to Know
Through ProInspire I was hired as a business development manager at Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF). SEAF is an impact investor that accelerates the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in frontier markets, investing risk capital and providing business assistance that create development impact as well as financial returns. SEAF was founded more than 20 years ago in Eastern Europe, just as the international development community began to recognize the growing importance of market-based approaches to development after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then, SEAF has grown rapidly, investing in more than 300 SMEs globally that span industries as diverse as agribusiness and clean technology. Today SEAF has roughly $370 million in assets under active management. This exciting growth as well as a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture brought me to SEAF. SEAF’s global track record, local frontier market expertise, and end-to-end entrepreneurial support really set it apart.

Read the rest of Brint's post at http://www.nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=2669

Maurice Matthews (2010 Fellow) on “one of the best experiences of my life”

By Maurice Matthews, 2010 ProInspire Fellow

Working for Year Up as a 2010 ProInspire Fellow was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. I often used the term “I wear many hats” to describe my role at Year Up. While my official title was “Special Projects & Operations Manager,” I helped manage a $6M budget, supervised the allocation of a $5M dollar grant from Venture Philanthropy Partners, planned a $120K site renovation, taught finance courses, and served as an advisor for several students. The responsibilities and opportunities to impact people’s lives was far greater than what I had during my time in the US Army and as an analyst at JP Morgan. At Year Up, every day was new and the people were great. I would do it all over again if I could.

Today, I am involved in an assortment of social innovation projects as usual. In addition to applying to business school, I am a consultant for Mahan Consulting Group and perform strategy work for government agencies. Outside of my day job, I am a founding member of DC Social Innovation Project. We provide quarterly $3K grants and a yearly $10K grant to social entrepreneurs who have new and innovative ideas to attack social ills in the DC community. Last but not least, I am working on a project in Pittsburgh under Propel Schools called Row for Row, which puts 10-12 young men ages 18-23 in a single home and trains them in the field of construction. The goal is to rebuild abandoned homes for each other in a single neighborhood while attending council meetings and becoming upstanding citizens of their communities.

Without ProInspire I would not have thought of the social sector as a long term career goal, but today I am creating my vision of economic mobility in urban communities through much of what ProInspire has taught me. ProInspire’s training and resources have expedited my learning curve and have given me access to great role models who are always willing to provide support. Whether you’re thinking of business school as a next step, looking to become an entrepreneur, or want to have the experience of working in the non-profit sector, ProInspire is the best way to spend your next year.

Tiffany Goh (2010 Fellow) on the perfect marriage of business and passion for social impact

By Tiffany Goh, 2010 ProInspire Fellow

As ProInspire kicks into gear to recruit the next class of fellows, I’m reminded of where I was when I applied myself two years ago. I applied to ProInspire eager to pursue a career that focused on my passion for social impact and international economic development. Unlike some of my peer fellows, I admittedly did not know much at the time about what careers in social impact and nonprofit would entail, and felt that ProInspire provided the perfect opportunity to explore.

As a ProInspire fellow at ACCION International, I found myself working for an organization with incredibly intelligent and inspiring people from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, but who shared my passion for ACCION’s mission of giving people the financial tools they need to work their way out of poverty. I worked specifically with ACCION’s Frontier Investments Group – an impact investing fund targeting financial and social returns on equity investments in early stage companies that are expanding the scale and scope of financial inclusion at the base of the economic pyramid. To my surprise, I found that my new role was very similar to my previous role as an analyst with Credit Suisse’s secondary private equity fund. ACCION was my introduction to the field of impact investing, which requires the same rigor, knowledge and skillset applied in the private sector; it was the perfect marriage of my business background and my passion for social impact. In addition to investing, I also worked on strategic initiatives that focused on setting ourselves up for long term success as a fund.

ProInspire was hugely helpful in my transition to the nonprofit sector. As I familiarized myself in a new city, it was great to have a network of peer fellows who became fast friends. The ProInspire trainings, coaching calls and other fellows helped ease my transition and develop leadership abilities that will make me more effective in social impact. ProInspire also provided the unique opportunity to meet some incredible guest speakers and learn about career paths in education, health and other areas across the nonprofit sector.

After ProInspire, I moved to Philadelphia where I’m currently pursuing my MBA at The Wharton School. As I reflect on my year with ProInspire, I am amazed by how my perspective has evolved and how much I learned – about nonprofits in general, investing in developing markets, and the breadth of career opportunities that allow me to apply my business-oriented mindset to exciting roles in social impact. My experience has confirmed my commitment to a social impact-related career, and my time at Wharton is focused on exploring these opportunities while continuing to build a network, skillset and perspective that will help me be an effective leader in social impact. ProInspire has been a transformative experience for me, and while the fellowship itself is only a year, I look forward to the expanding, life-long network of peers and friends that I will have.

Teja Padma (2010 Fellow) pursuing her passion for international development

By Teja Padma (2010 Fellow)

Nearly a year and a half ago, I left Mercer Consulting to join the Business Planning & Strategy team as a ProInspire Fellow at FHI 360, (formerly known as Family Health International). I learned more in the one year that I spent at FHI 360 than in the nearly three years that I spent at Mercer. Having the unique opportunity to work on a strategy team and interact closely with senior leadership and multiple departments taught me a tremendous amount about being successful in an organization, not just a nonprofit. I learned that soft skills, such as being able to adapt to change and learning how to be collaborative, are critical in any organization that brings together individuals with multiple agendas who need to work together towards a common goal. Some of the projects that I worked on during my fellowship year included spearheading an unprecedented landscape analysis across 15 global health and development areas by leading a 4-person research team. I also had the opportunity to interview Directors from different parts of the organization to design a partnership management toolkit and equip our staff members with the guidance and tools to effectively engage public and private partners. I was especially excited to work with a couple of our country offices in Africa by guiding them through their strategic business plans during my fellowship year.

The ProInspire Fellows program was instrumental in contributing to my personal and professional growth during my fellowship as I developed friendships with other Fellows who understood both the rewarding and challenging aspects of my role at FHI 360. Being able to reflect with others on the challenges I faced helped me maintain my morale and enthusiasm at work, especially when I had a difficult period transitioning from the private to the nonprofit sector. I also found it inspiring to meet peers who shared my passion for making an impact in the social sector. I always looked forward to ProInspire trainings and coaching calls as these aspects of the program allowed me to learn from nonprofit leaders and kept me in check in terms of my professional and personal goals.

After completing my fellowship, I’ve been fortunate to continue working with FHI 360 and have stayed active with the Fellows community. I loved meeting the current class of Fellows, two of which have joined the Business Planning & Strategy team at FHI 360! Since I became a ProInspire Fellow, I have built a strong network of international development professionals, received admission to business school, and now I’m excited to pursue short-term opportunities abroad working for a local nonprofit or startup before going to business school in the Fall.

Introducing 2011 ProInspire Fellow: Meaghan Casey

Name: Meaghan Casey
Hometown: Bristol, CT
Organization: FHI 360
Previous Employer: Dynamics Research Corporation

What inspired you to make the switch into the nonprofit sector?
I decided to switch into the nonprofit sector because I would like my career path to continuously challenge me to develop as an evolving, thoughtful and reflective person who is kind to others and myself. It was not a perfect decision; one lucky day, I stumbled upon a quote that illustrates the complex mix of reservations, sentiment, and inspiration I felt in making the switch: "If you come here to help me, you're wasting your time. If you come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." -Lilla Watson, Australian Aborigine.

What is your current position, and a typical day like?
I am a Business Planning and Strategy Analyst at FHI 360, a global development non-profit.

Today, my morning began with a phone call to one of our sixty country offices, this one in Zambia, to discuss an important foundation client. The conversation was one of more than twenty interviews that will collectively inform FHI 360’s strategy to grow funding that focuses on low-cost, innovative solutions to global development problems.

In the afternoon, I switched gears to another task entirely; as the Country Strategic Planning Project Manager, I am charged with developing and maintaining the work plan for a strategic initiative that supports country-owned, country-driven business planning efforts. Today, I incorporated updates from key stakeholders to track our progress to-date in transitioning strategic planning duties to the country office.

Where did you work prior to making the switch?
I began my career as a Senior Consultant at Dynamics Research Corporation, where I worked to strengthen the financial systems at the Transportation Security Administration and led a business process re-engineering effort for agricultural imports at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

What is your professional background and areas of expertise?
My professional background is in management consulting, and my areas of expertise include training development and delivery, strategic planning, business-process re-engineering, and project management.

What are you involved in outside of work?
I definitely derive energy from finding and pursuing projects about which I am passionate.

Last year, a social enterprise, Journeys for Change, asked me to develop a business plan to determine the feasibility of a 7-day site-visit in India to educate and encourage impact investments in social enterprises.

I serve on the leadership team for DC+Acumen in order to raise funds and awareness for Acumen Fund as well as to promote social enterprise dialogue in the greater DC area.

When I find a free Tuesday evening, which seems hard these days(!), I really enjoy volunteering at Women for Women International, a nonprofit that empowers women in nine conflict and post-conflict countries worldwide.

I also enjoy creating functional (and sometimes funky) pottery, gardening in the Ledroit Park community garden, and commuting around the city by bike – it’s freeing to avoid waiting for a metro or bus!

Tell us about your past leadership experiences and how they are helping you in your current role.
One leadership experience that is very close to my heart is my time as co-Captain of the Women’s Varsity Ski Team at Brown University. My team taught me the value of a positive group environment and the importance of leveraging individual strengths.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead role?
Diane Keaton!

If your friends and enemies had to describe you in three words, what would they be?
Positive, curious, passionate.

What is your favorite book?
I thought that following books were beautiful to read: Immortality by Milan Kundera, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

Where else have you lived?
So far, I have lived in Bristol, CT; West Dover, VT; Providence, RI; Prague, Czech Republic; and Washington, DC.

ProInspire is accepting applications for our 2012 Fellowship!

I am thrilled to announce that we are now accepting applications for the 2012 ProInspire Fellowship! This year we will have two classes of Fellows in Washington D.C. - Spring Fellows starting in April and Fall Fellows starting in August.

We are looking for outstanding young business professionals who want to have a life changing experience - spending one year using their skills working for a leading nonprofit. We need your help to find the most talented young business professionals with passion for social impact in the country!

You can help by doing these three things:
1. Forward this email to friends, colleagues, alumni networks, professional groups, and more. We need to spread the word to find the absolute best!
2. Update your status on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter: Interested in transitioning to the nonprofit sector? Apply to be a @ProInspire Fellow! (Due 2/8) http://bit.ly/A46zRC
3. Recommend a nonprofit that may be interested in hiring a ProInspire Fellow. Our Fellows bring a passion for social impact and skills in analysis, finance, marketing, project management, and strategy.
Sincerely,

Monisha Kapila
Founder and CEO

ProInspire is building the next generation of nonprofit leaders by expanding the talent pipeline, developing professionals, and increasing diversity in the sector. We are passionate about accelerating social impact and being catalysts of outstanding performance.

Our flagship program, the ProInspire Fellowship, recruits top business professionals with 2-5 years of business experience who want to use their skills for social impact and to invest in a growing community of ProInspire fellows. Fellows spend one year working in an analytical or strategic role at a nonprofit organization. After the Fellowship, Fellows engage with our community of alumni to continue investing in the sector.

This highly competitive program offers targeted positions with leading nonprofits, monthly trainings with a cohort of peers, a coach, and a network to support career growth. Previous ProInspire Fellows come from across the U.S. with experience at Bain, Credit Suisse, General Mills, J.P. Morgan, Microsoft, Parthenon Capital, and other leading companies. Fellows work with top nonprofits based in the Washington D.C. area.

Learn More
- Check out our video: http://www.proinspire.org/#video
- Join us for an information call: http://proinspire2012infocalls.eventbrite.com/
- “Like” us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ProInspire) and follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/proinspire) to get updates
- Read what others are saying about us: http://www.proinspire.org/about-us/news-media/

Program Overview
The Fellowship program runs for 12 months, with start dates in April 2012 and August 2012. Hiring partners include organizations focused on community development, education, international development, health, microfinance, social investing, and youth development. Roles for 2011 ProInspire Fellows included:
ACCION International: Impact Investing Analyst
Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy: Marketing Manager
City First Enterprises: Program Manager

Fellows participate in a 2-day Orientation, a mandatory Fellows retreat, monthly workshops, coaching, and leadership development projects. Fellows also receive career/graduate school support. After the program, Fellows stay in the social sector, find other career opportunities, or attend graduate school. Annual compensation of $42,000 and health benefits are provided by the hiring organization.

Selection Criteria
ProInspire conducts a rigorous selection process based on the selection criteria and needs of hiring organizations. Successful candidates will have:
- A minimum of two years of business experience by August 2012
- Passion for using their business skills to have a positive impact on society
- Humility and eagerness to learn
- Demonstrated initiative, self-direction and a “can-do” attitude
- Adaptability in ambiguous situations and demonstrated ability to learn quickly
- Strong analytical, problem solving, and project management skills
- Willingness to live in Washington D.C. for the program

To Apply
Candidates applying for April 1st start dates or priority consideration for the August start dates should submit their resume and cover letter through our website by Wednesday, February 8th, 2012. Apply online at http://www.proinspire.org/fellows/apply/.