How did your career journey lead you to Geneva Global?
Although it’s hard for me to believe now, I was on a pre-med track when I went into college, because the only thing I knew I wanted to do was “help people.” Luckily my pre-med dreams lasted less than a semester, and I quickly realized that helping people can take many shapes. After college, I worked as a freshwater ecology researcher, followed by six years working in nonprofit fundraising. In both careers, the thing that most interested me was how my work was affecting people. How was the data I collected informing decisions made by local governments? How were the grants I was writing benefiting local communities? In my current role on the Donor Advising Team, I “help people help people.” I know this sounds esoteric, but for me, it accomplishes something that I’ve always wanted — to equip others (in this case: philanthropists, foundations, nonprofits) with the tools and resources necessary to do their best work and have the most impact to achieve our shared goal of helping others.
How has your role at Geneva Global evolved?
My first project at Geneva Global was building the data sections of an annual report for one of the largest global health focused donor collaboratives. I analyzed and visualized grantee data, culminating with a print report that is issued to the fund’s donors to illustrate the impact of their contributions and where continued support is needed most. Now, two years later, I am working with a large foundation to support its Program Officers to be better partners to their grantees — providing them with the tools to find more proximal partners.
What fulfills you most about your role?
I’ll have to admit that I sort of stumbled upon Geneva Global, and it couldn’t be a better fit. I get to combine many of my interests and skills including research, writing, and data analysis — but instead of focusing on one topic or mission, I’m learning something new each day — from global education to neglected tropical diseases to donor collaboratives. The Donor Advising Team strikes the perfect balance of being fast-paced and challenging, while also offering a supportive and encouraging environment. I feel grateful to work alongside colleagues who are extremely thoughtful — both in the strategic and considerate sense. I’m constantly in awe of the breadth of experiences our team brings to the table — we all have different backgrounds, which makes our team nimble and capable of addressing any challenge.
What are you most excited about for the future of philanthropy?
While the philanthropy sector has seen many recent innovations and new practices, like donor collaboratives and trust-based philanthropy, there is still lots of room to grow. The movement towards equitable grantmaking practices, such as unrestricted and general operations funding, is positive — by limiting barriers within the grantmaking process, we can better leverage the capacity of proximal organizations to increase impact. I hope that the future of the philanthropy sector continues to be bold and dynamic, offering creative responses to uncertain and ever-changing government funding, and advocating for their peers to direct funding to the areas of most need. I look forward to seeing how the philanthropy sector adapts in the next few years, and I’m proud to be a part of the philanthropy advising space at this moment.
