636. Sarah Pomeranz, The Consultant’s Guide to Working with Nonprofits

Show Notes:

Sarah Pomeranz, founder of Consultants for Impact, provides an overview of the organization. Sarah explains that Consultants for Impact was born out of her own struggle as an early-career consultant at Accenture during the COVID-19 pandemic. She felt a dissonance between the problems she solved at work and broader societal issues, leading her to explore how her skill set could address global challenges like pandemics, climate crises, and democracy preservation. Sarah took a one-year leave of absence from Accenture to explore opportunities for high-impact work and decided to help other consultants build careers in the public interest. 

What Consultants for Impact Does

The organization offers a peer-to-peer advising approach and matches former corporate consultants with social impact roles. They provide resources like career check-in templates and Career Conversations to help consultants identify their core values and find impactful roles. The process involves self-paced reflection prompts, one-on-one conversations with an advisor, and access to a network of consultants and high-impact organizations.

The Advising Process

Sarah describes the first step in the process: applying for a Career Conversation on their website. Applicants are matched with advisors, who are all former consultants, and are given curated resources based on their interests and background. The Career Conversation involves reflection prompts on values, problem areas, and previous roles, followed by a one-on-one discussion to address uncertainties and challenges. Participants join the Consultants for Impact community, gaining access to opportunities, events, and resources.

Career Guidance for Consultants

Sarah explains that the career guidance is personalized, depending on the individual's starting point and career goals. She uses the example of an independent consultant curious about impact to illustrate the process, emphasizing the importance of career as a tool for making the world better. The organization encourages consultants to think critically about where their skills can have the most impact, using the SELF framework (Significance, Efficacy, Leverage, Fit) to evaluate opportunities. The goal is to find roles that offer high impact, credible interventions, and opportunities for outsized effect.

Job Search in the Impact Sector

Sarah emphasizes the importance of thinking critically about problem areas and interventions, rather than just focusing on personal interests. She discusses the concept of Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) to highlight the importance of choosing roles where you provide more value than the next-best candidate.. The organization encourages consultants to consider unusual organizations and problem areas where their skills can have a significant impact.

Roles for Consultants

Sarah outlines various roles that consultants can transition into, including entrepreneurship, chief of staff roles, policy positions, product management, and grantmaking. She provides examples of successful transitions and the range of compensation levels, from bare-bones salaries to high six-figure earnings. The discussion includes the trade-offs between income and impact, with Sarah sharing her own experience of sacrificing future income increases for a more meaningful career. The organization helps consultants navigate these trade-offs and find roles that align with their non-negotiable values.

Applying to the Impact Sector

The conversation turns to preparing resumes and LinkedIn profiles for the impact sector. Sarah advises being thoughtful about solving core problems for resource-constrained clients and avoiding a salesy approach. She emphasizes the importance of demonstrating impact with metrics and specific examples. The organization coaches consultants on how to portray their experience in a way that builds trust and credibility in the impact sector.

Building Relationships with NonProfits

Sarah discusses how Consultants for Impact has built relationships with nonprofits and foundations around the world and created a reputation for providing high-quality referrals. Early efforts focused on building personal relationships and attending conferences in relevant cause areas. The organization now receives more referrals than they can handle, thanks to their reputation for curating top candidates. They also partner with other ecosystems like Umbrex to reach more consultants and build awareness of their services.

Evaluating the Impact of Nonprofits

Sarah advises evaluating the impact of nonprofits by focusing on the significance of the problem they address and the neglected nature of the issue. She recommends looking for organizations with external evaluators and focusing on real impact metrics rather than vanity metrics. Consultants for Impact works with third-party evaluators and foundations to assess the efficacy of nonprofits and ensure they are having a significant impact. They also provide resources and recommendations for high-impact organizations, helping consultants make informed decisions about their career paths.

Promotion of Services

Sarah explains how Consultants for Impact promotes their services through ads on LinkedIn, Meta, and Reddit, targeting consultants who are interested in self-discovery and career change. They also participate in workshops and events to raise awareness and connect with potential clients. The organization is committed to finding product-market fit and continuously improving their services based on feedback and referrals. Sarah invites listeners to visit their website and attend upcoming workshops to learn more about their offerings and connect with the community.

Timestamps:

02:12: Consultants for Impact's Mission and Services

03:26: The Career Conversation Process

08:01: Personalized Career Guidance and Impact Framework

10:30: Sophisticated Job Search Strategies

15:05: Roles and Compensation in the Impact Sector

22:19: Preparing Collateral for the Impact Sector

24:39: Reaching Out to Nonprofits and Building Reputation

31:14: Evaluating the Impact of Nonprofits

36:17: Promoting Consultants for Impact and Future Plans

Links:

Consultants for Impact’s website

Application for free 1:1 career advising

Consultants for Impact Career Check-In Template 

Understanding your Value Over Replacement Player (VORP): School for Moral Ambition
Consultants for Impact LinkedIn Refresh Guide

Sign up for the Consultants for Impact newsletter, including 10 high-impact jobs every other week

This episode on Umbrex:

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

*AI generated timestamps and show notes.