Home: West Palm Beach, FL. Profession: Nonprofit strategy and organizational consulting. Alma mater: University of Pennsylvania (master’s degrees in Nonprofit Leadership and Organizational Dynamics); Villanova University (master’s in the classics, in progress). Pronouns: She/her/hers. Age: Old enough to be on my third master’s degree. What does being a “forever student” mean to you? I decided in my twenties not to anchor myself to any one company, which left me free to keep studying. Three master’s degrees later, I’ve made peace with the label.
Current project: A first-person writing project on financial literacy and sustainability in the nonprofit sector—and a third master’s degree, in classics. What’s been your biggest leap? Choosing financial independence over a conventional career path in my twenties—building enough of a base that I could walk away from any single job. Latest contribution to others: Quiet, ongoing support of a few causes I believe in and consulting help for nonprofit leaders who need it and can’t easily afford it. Hobbies: Hiking, reading philosophy and long-term investing—which I’d argue counts as a hobby. Recent travel or adventure: A long day hike is my idea of an adventure; the trail matters more to me than the destination. What’s always in your backpack? Enough Benadryl and baby wipes for whoever in the group forgot theirs. Preparedness that only protects you isn’t really preparedness.
Personality profile: Measured, deliberate, quietly stubborn. What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Prepared. Moral compass: A hierarchy of giving I take from Maimonides and the Stoic habit of asking what’s actually mine to control. What is your greatest joy? A long trail, good weather and no reason to hurry. How do you relieve stress? Hiking. It’s the rare thing that never asks me to run. What is your favorite place (or way) to spend money? Investing in companies I actually believe in—and gear that keeps a small problem from becoming a big one. What occupation, other than your own, do you most admire? Teachers. The good ones hand people tools they get to keep.
Besides your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life? A handful of wise people I met early on, who taught me to keep my options open long before I read the philosophy that explained why. What’s the best advice you received growing up? Keep your options open. What’s the best advice you received in your career? Don’t confuse being busy with being useful. What company or organization do you most admire? The nonprofit sector as a whole—the well-run organizations quietly filling gaps that government and business have chosen not to. What is your go-to source of news and information? A few things I read regularly rather than an endless feed—I try to consume less, and more slowly.
What is your big idea?
Business Acumen for Nonprofits—a practical, affordable financial-literacy curriculum for nonprofit leaders, so the knowledge arrives before the crisis instead of after it.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field? Making financial discipline part of the mission in the nonprofit sector, not a threat to it. What widely held belief do you reject? That caring about a cause and running a disciplined, financially sound organization are somehow in tension. They aren’t—the second is how you protect the first. What message do you want to send out into the world? Passion is the easy part. Build the operation that can actually deliver on it.
What advice would you give your younger self? Buy your freedom early. Don’t let your identity depend on anyone’s payroll. What title would you choose for the movie about your life? Pack Light, Carry Enough. Who would you like to spend an evening with, in heaven? Seneca. I’d want to know how much of the calm was real. As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? A perpetual student, apparently—I just didn’t have the word for it yet. What period in your life would you do differently, if you could? I’d make the decision to stay financially independent even earlier than I did.
Personal mission: To be a disruptor for the better—mostly by making the nonprofit sector harder to break. Personal motto: Prepare for the unexpected and always carry enough to share. Favorite quote: “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality” (Seneca).
