Strengthening Leaders, Building Effective Organizations
MonaSanders.com
STRATEGIC CAPACITY-BUILDING CONSULTING
Mona Sandersprovides strategic guidance and support to leaders of nonprofit, philanthropic, public and private sector organizations seeking to plan, deliver, and/or fund innovative, high-‐impact programs in the education and social sectors. An
excellent diagnostician and problem solver, with more than fifteen years
of experience in the non-‐profit and public arenas, she has a keen
understanding of the requirements and operating styles of each.
Mona helps organizational
leaders to design and implement creative solutions to persistent problems; ensures alignment of their missions, programs and capacity; and assists them in identifying and maximizing opportunities to increase the impact of their work.
With an approach that often blends consulting and coaching, Mona helps clients to see their work in new ways and enables them to engage in and navigate the complex work of change and improvement with confidence. Translating ideas into action and making strategic connections between people, programs, and resources are key strengths that she engages to advance clients’ work.
Based in Washington, DC, Mona works with organizational leaders in the US and abroad, with a special focus on those who are pursuing innovative approaches to addressing social inequality and enabling less-‐advantaged individuals -‐-‐ especially girls and women – to realize their full potential.
Client Services
Strategic and Business Planning
Philanthropy Advisory Services
Program Design and Development
Fundraising and Resource Development
Operations and Process Improvement
Building and Engaging Effective Boards of Directors
Executive Coaching
Meeting Facilitation
To ensure that an organization experiences the full benefit of her consultancy, Mona typically helps ensure that new processes and programs are established before concluding an engagement.
Mona has worked with nonprofits, public agencies and corporations on projects focusing on education, child advocacy, mentoring and youth development, civil rights, environmental protection, girls rights, livelihood development, and fair trade, and health.
Professional Background
Mona
is the former Executive Director
of Mentors, Inc., a 20 year-old high school mentoring organization in
Washington DC, where she successfully built the organization's
operating infrastructure, increased the rigor of its programs and
visibility in the community, and doubled its funding base. She served
as
Director of Policy Development and Special Assistant to the
Superintendent of the D.C. Public Schools, where she created a policy
office and facilitated multi-sector collaboration around school-based social
service delivery. She has also served as
Director of Research and Information Services for the Public Education
Network, as Assistant Director of the Southern Education Foundation's Initiative on Higher Education Desegregation, and on the staff at
Kronley
& Associates, an Atlanta-based consulting
and philanthropy advisory service firm focused on education.
Mona is a volunteer mentor, has served on several nonprofit boards,
and was a founding
member of both the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates and EDActionDC, a
grassroots organization dedicated to promoting public education reform
by increasing the participation of progressive citizens in local
government. She is a member of the 2007
class of
Leadership Greater Washington. In 2008, she spent several months
traveling and working in India, where she had the opportunity to visit and engage with leaders of entrepreneurial NGOs.
She holds a Master's in Public Administration from
Harvard's Kennedy School, with with concentrations in social policy, strategic planning for public sector organizations, and business-‐government partnerships.
Ongoing personal and professional
interests include improving access to quality education for children in poverty, women's empowerment, and strengthening the nonprofit sector.