The Serendipity of Life

On October 19, 1987, the day the stock market crashed, the Ford Foundation sent a Western Union telegram offering me a job. My new title: archives assistant. I knew little about what foundations or archivists did, but I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and the Ford Foundation fit the bill for what I wanted in my next job: it was a large nonprofit that was international in scope that was trying to make the world a better place. I’ll work a year or two, I figured, and then join the US Foreign Service. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

After five years as archives assistant, I was itching to learn more. An assistant grants manager position in Ford’s Urban Poverty Program opened up, but admins rarely made the leap to programming jobs. Fortunately, a program person took a shining to me and I found myself again in a role that was foreign to me. My new boss pointed to a stack of grant reports outside her office and said, “Take a handful and start reviewing.” Thus began my journey as a grants manager.

I’d assumed this role was particular to Ford and had no idea there were people outside of the foundation’s walls who had similar titles. Fortunately, a fellow grants administrator, Joan Hall, let me tag along to a New York regional meeting of the Grants Managers Network (GMN). This was the beginning of my relationship with what is now PEAK Grantmaking, which led to serving on—and chairing—the New York chapter board and then joining and eventually becoming co-chair of the national board at a time of monumental change for the organization.

Job number one for me and Adin Miller, another new national board member, was to organize GMN’s first annual conference. Neither of us had any idea about how to go about it. Up to that point, roughly 50 to 75 people would normally attend GMN’s annual meeting, which was held in conjunction with the Council on Foundations annual conference. And thus when more than 200 people registered for the conference, we knew we were part of an organization that was quickly gaining momentum. Fifteen years later, PEAK’s is some 6,000 members strong and last month I attended my 16th annual conference. I’m proud to say that I am one of a handful of individuals who have attended all of them.

During my time as co-chair of GMN’s board, I worked with my fellow directors to steer GMN through a series of critical milestones. We established a stand-alone conference, became an independent 501(c)(3), doubled GMN’s membership and budget, and hired the organization’s first executive director, Michelle Greanias.

A quarter century after I’d first entered one of the most beautiful buildings in New York City, I traveled to 320 East 43rd Street for the last time. Malcolm Gladwell says we get good at what we do through practice. The “10,000-hour rule,” he calls it, meaning that you begin to master something after you’ve been working at it for at least 10,000 hours. By that score, I think I mastered the Ford Foundation, having clocked nearly 20,000 hours. While at Ford, I managed to get involved in nearly every aspect of grantmaking. Under four presidents, I held more than a dozen roles in program, operations, and administration. I wrote my last three job descriptions, traveled the world, and worked with hundreds of some of the most inspiring, justice-focused humans you will meet. But I knew it was time to leverage my experience in a different setting. And when TechSoup’s dynamic CEO, Rebecca Masisak, suggested over lunch that I write the job description for a role I might assume there, I knew I’d found my new home.

What have I learned from my roles at Ford, TechSoup, and GMN? First, always keep growing while letting fate guide your journey. Second, surround yourself with and be thankful for the awesome people you find in your life. Third, most roles in life, whether grants manager or something else, are fluid. Even if not officially invited to do so, write your own job description, do what needs to be done, embrace serendipity, surround yourself with great people, and have fun!