My Transition From Management Consulting to International Development

By Elisa Chen, 2012 ProInspire Fellow

My transition into the nonprofit sector seemed like it took a lifetime yet happened so quickly at the same time. My placement at FHI 360 happened in less than a week – I had a phone interview on Monday, flew into DC for an in-person interview on a Wednesday and decided by Friday to move to DC to pursue a career in nonprofit. Though I've always had an interest in pursuing international development, I did so more as a hobby outside of my career for six years before I finally decided to make the "big leap." I realized that there was never going to be a "perfect time" for a transition and that life was too short to not be fully passionate about working towards something that I felt contributed to a greater good and was socially impactful.

I transitioned from Management Consulting at Accenture to FHI 360's Strategic Planning and Analysis (SPA) team. Being a SPA team member had similarities to Management Consulting, in that we functioned somewhat as an internal consulting arm for the organization where we took high-level issues, analyzed the current state and defined options for a future state (potential solutions) to address them. This included defining/refining internal business processes given a recent acquisition as well as creating country landscape (market) analyses to understand the current funding environment for a country/region and recommending a strategic plan. My first 90 days at FHI 360 (and in DC) was a time of 110% immersion and learning, which I delighted in. At FHI 360, I had the opportunity to conduct my own learning curriculum by interviewing various personnel throughout the organization to better understand their role, their department's role and how they interacted with the SPA team. I also worked alongside the Asia Pacific Regional Office team to conduct a market/landscape analysis for the Cambodia country office.

While working Management Consulting, we typically had been provided a tried and true, packaged solutions, frameworks or thought leadership on how to address certain organizational issues. However, after transitioning into my new role at FHI 360, I was now taking on the responsibility to define original thought framework and to develop solutions to take on similar organizational issues but in a completely different context. I no longer had the "safety net" of using pre-defined solutions that had been used at hundreds of other clients. This challenge was exhilarating, and my learning soared during these first few weeks. While applying my business/project management skills, I was also learning about "on the ground" international development issues and learning to speak "development lingo" and furthering my point of view on international development.

Forward looking, I am thrilled to continue kindling this upward and independent learning as I discover new and refine current interests in the pursuit of my new career path.