Fellowship Profile: Elisa Chen

Name: Elisa Chen

Hometown: Duncan, OK

Fellowship Year: 2012

Fellowship Role: Strategy Fellow with FHI 360’s Strategic Planning and Analysis Team in Washington, DC

Pre-Fellowship: Manager, Talent and Organizational Performance Practice Area, with Accenture LLP in Houston, TX

Education: BS, Sociology and Managerial Studies, Rice University, 2005.

Areas of Expertise:

• Data Analysis
• Change Management
• Operations
• Project Management
• Strategy

“The ProInspire Fellowship opened my eyes to the depth and complexity of the social sector and helped me navigate the cultural shift from my corporate career.”

My Background

My parents emigrated from Taiwan to rural Oklahoma (talk about a culture shift!), where they strived to balance an American lifestyle with our Chinese heritage. Despite their university educations, my parents worked service jobs to support our family until they could start their own business. They worked long hours, seven days a week, to give my sister and me a good education and a comfortable life. Their work ethic humbled and inspired me.

I studied abroad in college, which opened my eyes to new worlds and opportunities in international development. This curiosity persisted through my initial years at Accenture; I took a leave of absence and went to Kenya, where I first saw how my management consulting skills could make a greater impact on the world. I stayed at Accenture for two more years to hone my skill set before making my move to the social sector.

My Fellowship

Working closely with FHI 360’s Director of Strategy, I had responsibility for the East and Southern Africa business unit. My role was to understand their landscape (e.g. competitors, funding trends, human development needs) through market analyses and to help them develop their initial strategy as they opened their first office. I traveled to South Africa to meet and interact with the business unit with which I worked.

I also supported FHI 360’s organizational Business Performance Management process.  In the wake of a merger that occurred shortly before my arrival, I helped to streamline the legacy organizations’ strategic planning, annual planning, budgeting, and performance management processes.

My Impact

I‘d say I made the biggest impact by invoking the discipline I gained in the private sector to help FHI 360 develop a more client-centric mindset. The Strategic Planning and Analysis Team acts as an internal consulting resource, and I brought my Accenture knowledge base to help formalize processes and increase the team’s capacity to help other stakeholders in the organization.

I’m also proud of my role in helping provide strategic direction with the opening of FHI 360’s East and South Africa regional office, which is now one of FHI 360’s fastest growing regions.

My Next

I’m now a Senior Strategy Analyst at FHI 360 where I manage our support to our operation-facing side of our practice. I manage two strategy analysts in providing market analyses and strategies for eight operational business units. In both my professional and my personal life, I enjoy helping others create positive social impact. I still love what I do; despite the challenges of lean resources and progress that sometimes comes too slowly, I’m constantly humbled by the efforts of so many in this industry and often reflect on this African proverb as a source of inspiration: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”