Jennifer Carlson, Vice President, Business Development & Acting Executive Director of the Washington Technology Industry Association Workforce Institute
Bio: I’ve been with the WTIA for one and a half years; it’s my first foray into the non-profit world as an employee, though I’ve sat on a number of c3 and c6 boards. Beginning college originally as a pre-law major, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to be a legislator, i.e., graduate school would be a must to practice law, so I decided to go a different route. I shifted to Technical Journalism, with a concentration in PR, minor in Sociology and followed it up with an MBA from Ohio University. My prior life was spent working in risk management with direct P&L responsibility of $200MM+ in personal lines insurance divisions with AIG and Progressive Insurance on the east coast, and SeaBright Insurance- workers compensation, in Seattle. On the fun side of my career, I’ve also spent time working with MLB and agent Scott Boras plus the NBA representing players for their endorsements, sponsorship retention and operational best practice development.
The great part about this experience has been the approach our CEO has taken, challenging the management team, to think about who the WTIA is as an organization differently. Applying our joint ‘for-profit’ point of view is driving a new direction and new life into the organization. Our members are feeling the winds of change and perception is that we are the industry change makers in Washington.
In addition to general new member acquisition, my focus areas at the WTIA are program underwriting, large account solicitation/management, select board relationship management, and strategic optimization. (I.e., looking for creative funding models we can employee for larger initiatives and ways to expand our reach in the market for low investment.)
What is the most notable change that has impacted your members during your tenure at the WTIA? How has WTIA responded to this challenge/opportunity?
The completion of our ICT Economic Impact Study was by far the most impactful deliverable we’ve generated. It’s unified our sector, offered a mutually agreeable baseline for our conversations with the State’s Department of Commerce whenever we address policy initiatives impacting our sector. Since Michael’s start with the organization two years ago, we’ve spent a lot of time working on/answer the questions “what will the next 10 years of our mission look like”, “what will be our legacy”, “what does our industry need us to be”?
Addressing these meaty issues, with the support of an independent empirical study, is giving us a different lens in how we’re delivering programs and how we prioritize our offerings. It’s driven a significant amount of change in our org over the last six months with much more to come.
What is one event or program you’re most proud of at your organization? Why? The creation of a sister organization, a workforce institute focused on addressing several critical industry needs. I’d love to dive into this more deeply, but it’s too soon. (Would love to be on the agenda for next summer! We’ll have a fully baked product in the market by then.) Stay Tuned….. !
Name one way you’ve changed your work based upon something not going as well as you hoped the first time? In other words, what would you recommend to someone doing similar work so they learn from your previous experience?
Having no prior non-profit experience, only big Fortune 100 and top brand experience, I did not understand the decision dynamics around why companies join. For the benefits received at a nominal annual investment, I was surprised at the challenges I met in building our membership community, typically ROI based.
Our approach prior to my arrival was to offer product benefits to a prospective member’s marketing representative. However, when the product was no longer needed, the membership ended. When I arrived, I continued to approach the same audience, but with an advocacy and program directed message. After a few attempts at getting buy-in from the marketing representative with the changed message, it was clear that we needed to change the entire approach.
In the end, new momentum sparked after changing our target audience and speaking to a group of stakeholders, which took the need for a marketing ROI off the table. Focusing more on ROO, multiple stakeholders being engaged offered a higher perceived value even if not quantifiable; it delivers a platform to discuss multiple value propositions and helps create a relationship depth chart within the organization thus ensuring the renewal.
Name one tool, website, app, etc., that you find very helpful professionally.
The passé answer is LinkedIn, it’s completely invaluable, but I am also really enjoying Sidekick. It’s the add-on to my email, notifying me when my email has been delivered, when it was opened, if/when it’s forwarded, and even who opened it- great for group messages. It’s great for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is to serve as a reminder to me when I see the “opened” notifier pop up on my screen.
When you’re not working diligently on behalf of your members, what do you do for fun in your spare time? When in Seattle I’m a voracious reader – current affairs and politics to fiction and legal thrillers. I’m also a strong ‘green’ advocate and spend time serving on the board as a co-founder of the Green Sports Alliance, a now global organization focused on the greening of sports venues at all levels. Lastly, I’m an adjunct professor at Seattle University teaching graduate level Marketing and Revenue Generation.
When traveling, like I’m doing before I see you all in K.C., I’ll be in Alaska hiking, camping and deep-sea fishing for Salmon and Halibut. If you get your request in early, maybe I’ll ship you some :)