Introducing 2012 ProInspire Fellow: Kanae Mori
Name: Kanae Mori
Hometown: Cupertino, CA
Previous Employer: Simply Hired
Current Organization: Share Our Strength
What inspired you to make the switch into the nonprofit sector?
I've had many positive volunteer experiences in the past and I knew I wanted to continue to stay engaged in mission driven activities. During my time at Simply Hired, I became a volunteer mentor at Upwardly Global where I had the opportunity to utilize my job industry background to help immigrants rebuild their careers in the U.S. This experience in connecting business skills with social impact work inspired me to make the switch into the nonprofit sector.
What is your current position and a typical day like?
I am currently an HR Coordinator at Share Our Strength. While there is hardly a typical day in HR due to the variety of tasks that arise throughout the day, the majority of my time is spent on recruitment/hiring efforts, helping develop employee programs, and organizing events to increase employee satisfaction.
What is your professional background and areas of expertise?
I come from a client services background in recruitment advertising. My main responsibilities were pay-per-click campaign analysis and client relationship management.
What are you involved in outside of work?
Since I am still fairly new to the city, I’ve been busy exploring DC and all that it has to offer – I enjoy live music events and good food spots, and I’ve also been taking knitting lessons at Looped Yarn Works. I am currently looking into the wide range of volunteer opportunities in DC and hope to become involved in an organization outside of work as well.
Tell us about your past leadership experiences and how they are helping you in your current role.
Working in a startup environment at Simply Hired gave me the opportunity to learn how to handle constant change in priorities and execute projects with limited resources. When a process needed to be streamlined or an issue needed to be resolved, you had to be creative, resourceful, and take the initiative in making improvements. This habit of quickly adapting to change and contributing to the team has helped with the transition into my current role at Share Our Strength.
What blogs or websites do you read on a daily basis?
My go-to sites are New York Times, the Atlantic, and Tech Crunch. I’m also addicted to food blogs and I browse sites like TasteSpotting or Smitten Kitchen for recipe ideas.
What are you some of the myths surrounding working in the nonprofit sector that have been debunked by your experience?
Myth: Nonprofits are inefficient.
I am constantly impressed by the ambitious goals that are set at Share Our Strength and the pace at which everyone delivers quality results. Share Our Strength is a results-driven organization that strategically tackles the mission to end childhood hunger – whether it’s determining the impact of school breakfast programs or measuring donor support, there are a variety of ways that success is defined and measured.
What book are you reading right now or what is your favorite book?
I am currently rereading East of Eden. It’s one of my favorite books and I’m appreciating it more now compared to the first time I read it in high school.