by Anna Staritsina
Leap years, new years and the changing of seasons often prompt us to consider the pursuit of new challenges and opportunities. One such challenge is shifting careers. Though it can feel overwhelming, more and more professionals embark on this journey each year. As the business world shifts from a focus on the “bottom line” to an emphasis on creating shared value, the topic of re-inventing our professional lives for a greater good takes center stage.
After going through such a career transition myself, I find joy and fulfillment in working within the socially conscious space. I also recognize that the years spent at a traditional corporation provided an excellent training ground at the beginning of my career. The structured approach to projects, rigorous professional development programs and fierce competition allowed me to set a strong foundation of valuable skills. I am grateful to use and build upon the skillsets I developed there while also contributing to causes I am passionate about.
Professionals across all industries are shifting their perspective from dollar-centric to socially conscious enterprises. Social Enterprises in the US represent approximately 3.5 percent of GDP and employ 10 million people 1. There is also an increase in capital pledged towards “impact investing”; according to a 2013 JPMorgan/GIIN report, impact investors committed nearly $11 billion across 4,900 deals in 2013, up 250% from 2011, a number that is only increasing. To better understand this transition, I asked a few of my colleagues to share their experiences and what they’ve learned along the way.
Motivation for moving into a mission-driven organization can come from a variety of factors: passion for a cause, seeing the need for a particular solution in the marketplace, personal life events such as illness or birth, workforce reductions, completion of graduate education and many more. “I always wanted to feel more involved, to be the one helping make big decisions and guiding the ships in a fresh direction”, said Kejal Macdonald, who, after a 10 year career in traditional advertising, took on a VP of Marketing role at THINX – a social venture that aims to eliminate taboo and shame about the female body, while empowering women and girls around the world. “As someone passionate about brands, I wanted to help bring more human voices saying important things to the world, and as a new mother who was awakened to the universality of this crazy life we're living, I wanted to do more to help other women and make the world a better place for my daughter.”
Leap years, new years and the changing of seasons often prompt us to consider the pursuit of new challenges and opportunities. One such challenge is shifting careers. Though it can feel overwhelming, more and more professionals embark on this journey each year. As the business world shifts from a focus on the “bottom line” to an emphasis on creating shared value, the topic of re-inventing our professional lives for a greater good takes center stage.
After going through such a career transition myself, I find joy and fulfillment in working within the socially conscious space. I also recognize that the years spent at a traditional corporation provided an excellent training ground at the beginning of my career. The structured approach to projects, rigorous professional development programs and fierce competition allowed me to set a strong foundation of valuable skills. I am grateful to use and build upon the skillsets I developed there while also contributing to causes I am passionate about.
Professionals across all industries are shifting their perspective from dollar-centric to socially conscious enterprises. Social Enterprises in the US represent approximately 3.5 percent of GDP and employ 10 million people 1. There is also an increase in capital pledged towards “impact investing”; according to a 2013 JPMorgan/GIIN report, impact investors committed nearly $11 billion across 4,900 deals in 2013, up 250% from 2011, a number that is only increasing. To better understand this transition, I asked a few of my colleagues to share their experiences and what they’ve learned along the way.
Motivation for moving into a mission-driven organization can come from a variety of factors: passion for a cause, seeing the need for a particular solution in the marketplace, personal life events such as illness or birth, workforce reductions, completion of graduate education and many more. “I always wanted to feel more involved, to be the one helping make big decisions and guiding the ships in a fresh direction”, said Kejal Macdonald, who, after a 10 year career in traditional advertising, took on a VP of Marketing role at THINX – a social venture that aims to eliminate taboo and shame about the female body, while empowering women and girls around the world. “As someone passionate about brands, I wanted to help bring more human voices saying important things to the world, and as a new mother who was awakened to the universality of this crazy life we're living, I wanted to do more to help other women and make the world a better place for my daughter.”
As I began to transform my own career, I aimed to identify a role and company culture that would not only allow me a to make a difference, but also leverage my background and approach to problem solving. Raj Thakkar, founder and CEO of CSBM and FOREsight – Certified B Corporations that provide a full suite of financial and business management services to charter schools and other nonprofits, launched his companies after a career in engineering and finance. He mentioned “being frustrated by the statistic that 1 in 7 charter schools are forced to shut down and 80% of closures are due to financial mismanagement.” To Raj that was a solvable problem; he and his staff actively leverage their technical expertise in addressing this need. Raj noted that his prior experience of working within startups and larger corporations “gave him the ability to be comfortable with creating new structures and processes while going through rapid expansions.”’.
Helene Rude, who spent the bulk of her career at a Fortune 50 company, is now a Director at a college and works “with small businesses to provide low-cost access to computing talent and resources to help support the local economy.” Helene noted, “I have been able to leverage my technological, sales and program management background into my new role. The skills translate fairly easily, however you do need to pay attention to the cultural differences - and be respectful of them.”
When considering a career change into a socially impactful organization, you often hear feedback around lower pay and the fact that “no job is perfect.” While that may be true, it is also a great reason to pay particular attention to finding an organization that is a right fit. “I would advise those interested in switching to a social enterprise to do a lot of soul-searching about the impact they would like to make in the world that aligns naturally with their skill sets, interests and education,” Raj suggested. Helene further added, “Be honest with yourself about why you want to make this change, what is truly important to you, what is - or is not – negotiable.”
At The Opportunity Lab, we are fortunate to cross paths with people of all backgrounds and interests. What makes our collaborations especially meaningful and effective are the shared ideals of a better world and business. While some of the tangible aspects of working at a social enterprise may be challenging at times, the intangible alignment of one’s work as a reflection of who they are, not just a job, is truly inspiring and satisfying. Kejal highlighted, “[At THINX] I have been surprised by how easy it is to get things done when there's not layer upon layer of red tape. In a scrappy social enterprise environment you can have an idea, make it, and share it with the world in the same afternoon. That type of freedom and productivity is really exciting and regenerative!”
As I joined OppLab and the dynamic environment of the Centre for Social Innovation, I re-confirmed that redirecting one’s career does not have to mean starting over. I continuously tap into my business and financial expertise while guiding our clients to live out their organizations’ social missions. As a team, we are able to support our clients in more creative ways specifically because our backgrounds are quite diverse and our approaches often differ. As we hire into the social enterprise space, I find that versatility of skills, flexibility and passion are key to success of this growing area. The new impact economy is truly an opportunity for many to take the leap and apply their expertise while inspiring meaningful change.
1 The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin, 2014
Helene Rude, who spent the bulk of her career at a Fortune 50 company, is now a Director at a college and works “with small businesses to provide low-cost access to computing talent and resources to help support the local economy.” Helene noted, “I have been able to leverage my technological, sales and program management background into my new role. The skills translate fairly easily, however you do need to pay attention to the cultural differences - and be respectful of them.”
When considering a career change into a socially impactful organization, you often hear feedback around lower pay and the fact that “no job is perfect.” While that may be true, it is also a great reason to pay particular attention to finding an organization that is a right fit. “I would advise those interested in switching to a social enterprise to do a lot of soul-searching about the impact they would like to make in the world that aligns naturally with their skill sets, interests and education,” Raj suggested. Helene further added, “Be honest with yourself about why you want to make this change, what is truly important to you, what is - or is not – negotiable.”
At The Opportunity Lab, we are fortunate to cross paths with people of all backgrounds and interests. What makes our collaborations especially meaningful and effective are the shared ideals of a better world and business. While some of the tangible aspects of working at a social enterprise may be challenging at times, the intangible alignment of one’s work as a reflection of who they are, not just a job, is truly inspiring and satisfying. Kejal highlighted, “[At THINX] I have been surprised by how easy it is to get things done when there's not layer upon layer of red tape. In a scrappy social enterprise environment you can have an idea, make it, and share it with the world in the same afternoon. That type of freedom and productivity is really exciting and regenerative!”
As I joined OppLab and the dynamic environment of the Centre for Social Innovation, I re-confirmed that redirecting one’s career does not have to mean starting over. I continuously tap into my business and financial expertise while guiding our clients to live out their organizations’ social missions. As a team, we are able to support our clients in more creative ways specifically because our backgrounds are quite diverse and our approaches often differ. As we hire into the social enterprise space, I find that versatility of skills, flexibility and passion are key to success of this growing area. The new impact economy is truly an opportunity for many to take the leap and apply their expertise while inspiring meaningful change.
1 The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin, 2014