Today we’d like to introduce you to Manjima Bose.
Manjima, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I knew early on that I wanted to work with nonprofits. It was important to me that if I was going to spend so much of my day working, and away from family and other interests, that my work be meaningful. The way I got my foot in the door in the nonprofit industry was as a grant writer. As an English major, I had taken a grant writing course in undergrad and had the opportunity to help put together a grant template for a small healthcare focused nonprofit here in Chicago. After undergrad, I joined the AmeriCorps VISTA program where I was placed with a local nonprofit loan fund that provided small business loans to low-income, minority, and women-owned businesses throughout Chicago. It was through this position that I learned about and fell in love with the CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions) industry. It was amazing to learn about the impact these loans can have on a business and the larger community. I was hooked.
I had been introduced to FUND Consulting during my work at that nonprofit and after 4 years when I was looking for new opportunities, I was lucky enough to learn about an open position at FUND through a former boss. Eight years later they haven’t been able to get rid of me yet! I’ve gone from Consultant to Partner in that time and honestly don’t think I have been bored one day. I continue to learn every day. I get to work with a truly fantastic and dynamic team and remarkable clients. As a consultant, it’s been amazing to support CDFIs across the country and see the great work they are doing in their community – whether rural, urban, or in between – including organizations working with Native Communities. I am lucky that I can say that I truly enjoy the work we do at FUND.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road but overall I’ve been pretty lucky. Working in the nonprofit industry, there were times early on where financial struggles at the organization meant I wasn’t sure if a paycheck would come through. That was one of the appeals of joining FUND Consulting – having the chance to work with mission driven organizations while also having the benefits of working at a for-profit organization. And honestly, the transition to FUND wasn’t necessarily smooth at first but I am thankful for those bumpy moments as I learned a lot about myself. And I enjoy the fact that I can take those experiences and hopefully make things smoother for the next person.
FUND Consulting – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
FUND Consulting is a women-owned firm that works to support mission driven organizations. Our approach is two pronged: we help organizations increase their capacity to keep doing what they are doing by helping them raise funds and we ensure their work is efficient and effective by helping with strategic and business planning, market studies, and impact tracking. We specialize in and have earned a reputation for our successes working with CDFIs nationwide in terms of helping them achieve and maintain their certification, access government grants, and understand their market and positioning through market studies and strategic planning.
There are a few things I think I and the other partners are proud of:
• We continue to grow every year.
• We have worked with over 350 organizations and raised over $430 million in government and local grants, investments, and tax credits for CDFIs since our founding in 2000.
• We have gone from a very small shop in the early years to employing a team of nine dedicated, intelligent, and hard-working individuals who also make work fun!
What sets us apart is that we have diverse team with extensive backgrounds in community development. When CDFIs work with us, they are getting a team made of individuals who have worked in the industry since it started or much of their careers and so the knowledge and expertise we have built up in house is second to none.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
Well, I’ve been pretty lucky overall in life. But more so, I think the strong women role models I’ve had throughout my life have played a bigger role. From my mother who worked full-time all my life and was very successful, to all that I learned from my dance teacher growing up, to seeing the amazing work many of my friends do on a daily basis in their professional and family lives, and to having had very strong and successful female bosses and mentors throughout my career. I have learned so much about work, life, and myself because of these women and have had so many opportunities because of them. And I can’t not mention my dad who continues to do so much for our family. His success building up his career, family, and life here in the U.S. after moving from India with not very much in hand and his care for people he knows and even doesn’t know is something to look up to. So I have been very lucky to be surrounded by so many inspiring people all my life.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1165 N Clark St
Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60610 - Website: www.fundconsulting.com
- Phone: 773.281.8845
- Email: mbose@fundconsulting.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FUNDConsulting/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fundconsulting
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