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The
GivingWorks team is at the forefront of devising and employing
innovative approaches and evidence-based strategy tools to help public
service organizations (non-profits, philanthropies and certain
international and public sector organizations) more effectively deliver
on their missions. Motivated by a passion for public service, the
professionals at GivingWorks offer not only independent judgement but
also a unique methodology – melding creativity, analytical rigor
and organizational savvy – to help clients tackle complex and
systemic issues.
Nazir
Ahmad, President
Prior to launching GivingWorks, Mr. Ahmad
was a senior partner and practice leader at Strategic Decisions
Group, advising global automotive, technology, financial services,
and media companies. He has founded and served on boards of several
national and international organizations, and speaks incisively
on the strategic choices facing business, philanthropic, and other
public service enterprises. Since 2000, he has advised the World
Bank on issues of organizational strategy and effectiveness, risk
management, resource management, communications, and capacity building.
He has also advised the World Bank on its strategies in health,
education, disability, and investment promotion. Mr. Ahmad has a
BA magna cum laude from Amherst College and an MA and MBA
from Stanford University.
Timothy Smythe, Senior Consultant
Mr. Smythe joined GivingWorks in 2004, after working for four years as a strategy
consultant with Dean & Company, a firm specializing in fact-based, quantitative problem
solving for Fortune 500 corporations and technology start-ups. At Dean, he advised
senior executives on business strategy issues in the telecommunications, utility, and
private equity industries. Since joining GivingWorks, he has worked closely with
large non-profits and international development organizations to enhance the quality and
evidence-base of strategic plans, to design structures and systems that more efficiently and effectively support the organization’s mission, and to develop results-based
management methodologies and tools that drive ongoing performance improvement.
Mr. Smythe holds a BS in Finance from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School
of Commerce.
Vera Krimnus, Consultant
Since joining GivingWorks in 2005, Ms. Krimnus
has been actively involved in the firm’s work to improve the effectiveness
and efficiency of social impact organizations. For the past year, Vera has
been deeply engaged in all aspects of the Organizational Review of UNICEF.
Major responsibilities for this project included the completion of intensive
and desk research, synthesis of a wide array of data, strategic analysis of the key
issues and solution alternatives, and the development of presentation materials.
In addition, Ms. Krimnus has recently assisted a large nonprofit in developing its
organizational strategy for engagement with the growing Hispanic/Latino population in the United States.
Ms.Krimnus has also collaborated with the same organization to develop its social
impact strategy and roadmap for the next decade. Prior to joining GivingWorks, she
assisted a New York-based microfinance organization in analyzing the feasibility of
expanding its products and services to new underserved markets. This entailed primary
grassroots and secondary market research and developing an evaluation of customer needs,
product positioning, and media outreach options.
Ms. Krimnus graduated with honors from the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.
She is skilled in advanced conversational Russian.
Allison Schwartz, Consultant
Prior to joining GivingWorks in 2007,
Ms.Schwartz worked with the University of Michigan’s Ross School of
Business, where she was the principal author of a case study on a
US-based social enterprise with a unique hybrid structure. Earlier,
while serving with the German aid agency GTZ in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,
she conducted extensive field interviews to develop indicators to
measure the impact of the nation’s new anti-domestic violence law.
While pursuing her advanced degree in public policy, Allison co-authored
an evaluation of Juntos, a conditional cash transfer program intended to
promote the long-term development of poor women and their families
living in Peru. This evaluation, which was informed both by a review of
the international evidence on conditional cash transfers and firsthand
interviews with experts on the ground in Peru, was ultimately shared
with a range of stakeholders, including Juntos staff.
Ms.Schwartz holds an MPP with a concentration in international politics
and development from the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public
Policy and a BA in government from Cornell University.
In
addition to our core consulting staff, we have a large network
of highly experienced consultants and practitioners who we can involve
on specific assignments.
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