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Volunteer Profile - Kiz Syed

Current CCT role: Project Manager for Massachusetts Health Quality Partners

Volunteer since: 2019

First CCT project: YouthBuild Boston

MBA: Tuck

How did you discover CCT? Tuck alumni network

Describe your CCT experience: Engaging, impactful, and rewarding! CCT helped me expand my network in Boston, contribute to worthwhile causes, and re-live the MBA study group experience! I’ve served as a project manager so far (what that means is that I’m a show-horse more than a work-horse!). I’m constantly amazed by how CCT teams are able to moonlight as consultants for these organizations and deliver valuable insights. I learn from my teammates on every project and I’ve been able to leverage those learnings for my day-job as well!

What does CCT offer that all the other activities which vie for your limited free time do not? Professionally, you get to test out other industries through the consulting projects if you are considering a career switch. The highlight for me is meeting other MBAs in the Boston area from different industries and schools. Tuckies tend to stick together, so it’s always refreshing meeting folks from other schools.

What don’t we know about you? During quarantine I bought a saxophone and a skateboard. I should have also bought lessons for both since I sound like a worn-out car brake and am covered in bruises from falling constantly.

Volunteer Profile: Peter Sanborn

Now in his 5th year at CCT, Peter Sanborn progressed from first year Team Member for The Philanthropic Initiative project to Project Manager for the MASS Design Group and then a Board member overseeing strategic planning. In the current cycle, he is also Sponsor for the All Hands Volunteers project.

Peter is a Stanford Business School alumnus who works by day as a fund manager investing in international stocks for Oechsle International Advisors. He says that CCT is his antidote for the alienation he feels when reflecting on the world’s many pressing issues. For him, CCT provides the tangible satisfaction of “giving back” more directly through a specific organization’s mission, rather than the usual arm’s length method of writing checks — though that’s important, too!

Along with colleagues on the CCT Board, Peter has thought deeply about what makes for a great volunteer experience. He and the board believe that volunteers are most fulfilled if they can: make an impact on the client’s organization, have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow volunteers, learn and grow personally, and feel they are part of a well-managed, thoughtful organization.

Volunteer Profile: Carolyn McGuire

As we celebrate the start of our 25th project cycle, we highlight honorary board member, Carolyn McGuire of Weston, who has been called the “heart” of the CCT organization. She was a founding member in 1991 and has served in many roles, including 14 years on the Board. After turning over the Board Chair role to the current team, she has stayed involved in special projects and continues to work with the business school relations team.

Carolyn did not imagine when she responded to an intriguing opportunity that it would evolve into a labor of love. “I received a mailing from Tuck about volunteer consulting opportunities at a time when I was at home with small kids. The chance to give back to the Boston community with my business skills was very appealing, and I’ve been involved in CCT ever since.”

Early on, Carolyn saw how powerful CCT projects could be for nonprofits. Her first project was developing a targeted communications strategy for the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. A year later, she learned that the organization credited the work CCT had done with increasing applications by 100% in the targeted segment. Carolyn has continued to invest her time and talent, because she believes, “CCT empowers nonprofits to do what they do better and longer so that they can more fully serve their missions and constituents.”

Volunteer Profile: Ezra Gordon

After two years of working on projects with CCT clients, Ezra Gordon moved behind the scenes into the vital role of Chair of the Infrastructure Committee on the CCT Board.  He and his team have put in place the technology and information systems that project teams and Board committees rely on for online collaboration, accepting applications, maintaining volunteer and client records, and archiving history.

MBA:  The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College

Town of Residence:  Cambridge, MA

Professional Background:  Strategy & Operations, Entrepreneurship, Management Consulting, Marketing

Nonprofit Focus:  Energy, Environment, Health, Arts

Previous CCT Clients:  Springstep, Containers2Clinics, Mass Design, The Genesis Fund

Why did you decide to volunteer for CCT?

I first volunteered for CCT after graduating from Tuck in 2009.  In business school, I led Tuck Student Consulting Services, an organization which served a mission similar to CCT.  Based on that experience, I knew that CCT would be a fun and rewarding way to give back to my community.

What have you found to be the most rewarding aspects of working on a CCT project?  On the CCT Board?

CCT Client Profile: Roca

 

Organization: RocaName: Molly Baldwin, Founder and CEOMission:  Help disengaged and disenfranchised young people move out of violence and povertyLocation(s):  Chelsea and Springfield, MA; expansion plans in and out-of-state 

Please tell us what your organization does.

Roca helps young people between the ages of 17 and 24 move out of poverty and violence. We do this through relentless outreach to first engage them and develop transformative relationships with them. Our model is based on the stages of behavior change, in order to get young people ready, willing, and able to participate in programming around life skills, education and employment.

What are you best known for?

In addition to relentless outreach and relationship building, we are also known for using data like crazy. We use it to find and understand the young people we want to help. We use it to keep learning about what works and what doesn’t, and the level of effort that is required. In part because of this analytical rigor, we were recently chosen to pilot a first-in-the-nation Social Innovation Financing Project in the area of juvenile justice. It is a “pay for success” model, where Massachusetts will pay for reduced incarceration rates among high risk young men formerly involved with the justice system. This will allow us to reach more young people in need, and success with this model will also benefit taxpayers. It is an enormous privilege to be a part of this effort.

What challenges did Community Consulting Teams (CCT) help you resolve?

Volunteer Profile: Elizabeth Atkin

One of CCT’s longtime volunteers is Elizabeth Atkin. Elizabeth has worked on seven CCT client projects…three times as a team member and four times as project manager…more than any other volunteer! She has also served twice on the CCT project development team to help screen and evaluate client applications.

MBA: Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

Town of Residence: Weston, MA

Professional Background: Marketing, Communications, Management Consulting

Nonprofit Focus: Arts, Healthcare

Previous CCT Clients: Indian Hill Orchestra and Music School, MyTown, Improv Boston, Press Pass TV, Beacon Hill Village, Danforth Art, Emerson Umbrella

When did you first hear about CCT?

I moved to Weston in 2001 and was interested in resuming my career in marketing or consulting. A friend recommended I contact Carolyn McGuire who was a founding member of a consulting group comprised of MBA alumni. As fate would have it, Carolyn McGuire lives right around the corner from me! Well, life got busy, and it took a year or two, but I finally asked her about CCT.

Why did you decide to volunteer?

Contribute to CCT When You Shop at Amazon

Did you know that you can contribute to CCT when you shop at Amazon by signing up for Amazon Smile? Just go to smile.amazon.com and select Community Consulting Teams as your charitable organization! Then every time you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a portion to CCT!

Access Your Team Project Site!

1) Read the following instructions before proceeding to your project site:

To access your team’s site, you will need to log in with your cct email account.  Because the team site is based on Google’s platform, there are two sets of instructions, depending on whether you already have a gmail account.

 

 If you have a google (gmail) account, you may see the following screen once you proceed to the project site:

 

Click “Switch Account”

 

Click “Add Account”

 

 

Type in your CCT Username

[yourfirstname].[yourlastname]@cctboston.org 

(eg: John.Smith@cctboston.org)

 

Your Password:

If you are new to CCT, your password is: volunteer

You will be required to change your password once you log in.

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