"Quantitative assessment is very important for us. We have a performance insight team, and for each program, there are common metrics. The primary objective is that everyone should be at grade level competency, so we have control groups (before and after our programs are put into place) to measure the impact of our programs. This helps figure out funding for these projects, and new ones. 

 

I was motivated by wanting to do something more impactful. When I got into it, the nonprofit world was very different to the corproate world. Now, there is more overlap. This blend is where I derive the most satisfaction. Rather than simply a charity, finding market-based solutions create agency for customers to choose. Initially, I met someone who was starting a micro finance fund and thought it was very intriguing. 

My advice or lessons-learnt would be to figure out how to best use your skillsets to reconcile doing good with individual financial return. There’s always a way to apply yourself to finding the middle ground - and the middle ground may be different for different people.