C06 Session: Social Enterprise Consulting

Social Enterprise Consulting: Tools and Methods to Advance the Field

Thursday, August 3, 2:15pm - 5:30pm

Track:  Capacity Building Models and Strategies

Presenters

Jennifer Li Shen and Way-Ting Chen, Blue Garnet Associates

Description

More and more nonprofits are starting business ventures to support their mission.  This workshop for capacity builders will cover assessing organizational readiness for social enterprise, principles and strategies for market research, and how to integrate social enterprise into long-range planning.  The workshop will also include ways to help nonprofits collaborate and develop peer sharing around social enterprise ventures.

About the Presenters

Jennifer Li Shen, Blue Garnet Associates

As a partner of Blue Garnet, Jennifer Li Shen brings a unique combination of expertise in business strategy and organizational change with experience in nonprofit, private foundation and for profit arenas to realize her passion for social entrepreneurship and innovation. She works with her clients to create lasting and sustainable social change. Recent clients include College Summit, Families Forward, and Community Development Technologies Center.

Previously, Jennifer served Fortune 100 clients as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, where she developed and implemented business and market strategies, as well as organizational change. She worked in entertainment and media, consumer goods, and pharmaceutical industries focusing on sales and marketing, pricing, organizational optimization and mergers/integration. Jennifer also managed grantmaking at Fannie Mae Foundation in housing and community development, and worked at TCC Group as a consultant to nonprofits, foundations and corporate philanthropy.

She is a founding partner of Los Angeles Social Venture Partners and active member of its Investment Committee. She also serves as a community funding board member of Liberty Hill Foundation and a business plan evaluator for Yale-Goldman Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures. Jennifer previously served as a Board Member for Asian Professional Exchange, leading the organization through its first strategic planning process. Jennifer holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Political Science with concentration in Public Policy from Swarthmore College.

Way-Ting Chen, Blue Garnet Associates

As a partner of Blue Garnet Associates, Way-Ting Chen bridges nonprofit, for profit and government sectors to work closely with individuals at all levels of social-purpose organizations to identify strategic challenges, understand their fundamental causes and devise effective and practical solutions. Recent clients include USC External Relations, Warner Bros. and Fulfillment Fund.

Prior to this, she served as engagement manager at Booz Allen Hamilton in New York, where she led projects involving business strategy and organizational design and transformation for Fortune 500 clients. She did so in marketing, customer service, human resources, collections and other functional areas of organizations across sectors. Way-Ting also worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she conducted economic development research and assessed country risk for the Federal Reserve System.

Currently, Way-Ting serves as Vice-Chair of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN), and sits on the Advisory Board for CREATE NOW!. Way-Ting is a founding member of Los Angeles Social Venture Partners and graudate of Leadership Southern California Class of XIV. Way-Ting received an International MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and graduated with a BA with honors in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College.