My first 30 days as Managing Director at Panorama Strategy have flown by. I am honored to be among a mighty team of professionals dedicated to social impact, and it’s been a wonderful month of learning and engaging with the entire Panorama enterprise.
Panorama Strategy is a social purpose consultancy that accelerates progress for clients through audacious thinking. The firm is an affiliate of The Panorama Group, a platform for social change comprised of a community of organizations that take on big, hairy, global challenges!
I met Gabrielle Fitzgerald, CEO and Founder of Panorama, nearly 10 years ago when she led the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s strategy and investments to combat Ebola and I supported those efforts as director of corporate responsibility at Silicon Valley Community Foundation. I was impressed by her expertise and background, and we remained in touch after our careers went in different directions. When I saw the opportunity to join as Managing Director under Panorama, which she founded in 2017, I was intrigued. Fast forward to June 2023 and I am pleased to work side by side with Gabrielle and a host of amazing leaders in our industry.
Panorama Strategy delivers practical recommendations, innovative solutions, and customized guidance, all rooted in lessons learned and innovative thinking. As Managing Director, I am committed to driving the strategic direction and growth of our organization, as well as overseeing its day-to-day management. Our team collaborates with leaders and changemakers to codevelop creative solutions to pressing social problems, and it’s rewarding for me to think both in the big picture and get into the details of client work to advance social change around the world.
Prior to joining as a full-time employee, I had the opportunity to attend a Panorama Group all-staff retreat. Getting to meet many members of the enterprise in this setting was a huge benefit before coming onboard officially in June. It was special to get the early visibility, and I found everyone to be welcoming, excited, and motivated by the work we do every day. Once I started, I hit the ground running with dedicated onboarding and information gathering. I’ve learned a great deal in this time that will equip me to move our organization forward. Here is an example of our work that gets me pumped about the future:
In 2022, with seed funding from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Panorama Group developed and launched The Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Community Fund to support community-based organizations around the world that serve individuals and families impacted by type 1 diabetes. The T1D Community Fund is powered by Panorama Global, our social impact nonprofit, and its initial design and approach was shaped by Panorama Strategy, which led a consultative process that leveraged the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s deep experience and ecosystem knowledge alongside our team’s firsthand knowledge of health systems, advocacy, and frontline care delivery. The resulting strategy supports community-driven solutions by funding direct service programs, catalyzing connections between groups, and amplifying the voices of community-based leaders in low- and middle-income countries to inform systems change. In 2023, The T1D Community Fund awarded two-year grants totaling $961,000 to 16 community-based organizations working across 14 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
You can read more about us in Panorama’s Global Action Report here and I encourage you to follow our LinkedIn page to stay connected. Be on the lookout for insightful pieces from my colleagues like Julia Roper, our director and global health lead, and Reena Gupta, our program officer with former roles at Mathematica, the UN Foundation and CDC. Truly the best of the best.
Thanks to my friends and colleagues who I’ve worked with along the way. I am proud to have had such a long and rewarding career thus far and excited for this next step in my journey. I can’t wait to connect with you in this new role – time to get to work!
