San Francisco Bay Area

Background:	Jenn Bonilla has worked in strategy development and market research; currently she is a Project Team Leader accountable for managing the value of a key product at Genentech, Inc.
Taproot Role:	Project Manager
Pro Bono Client:	Meals on Wheels by Senior Outreach Services
Project:	Strategic Planning Prep

"Senior Outreach Services (SOS) seeks to maintain health and wellness safety nets for aging residents in the Contra Costa community. The services they provide are structured to assist seniors to live at home in safety, in comfort, and with dignity for as long as they can. They asked for help with the preparatory work, primarily market research, to inform their strategic plan. They specifically wanted to better understand key stakeholder perceptions of the following questions:

• Are current programs meeting their stated goals?
• How are the community's needs changed?
• How will SOS need to adapt to meet these needs?"

"Besides myself, the project team included four people with experience in strategic planning, technical analysis, running a business, and market research. Despite having many commitments to their day-jobs, the team really came together to deliver a quality analysis for SOS. This involved working closely together and with the SOS management team and board to ensure the analyses and interpretation of data was aligned at every step to addressing the organization's key questions."

"Working on this project enabled us to stretch our respective expertise into a new content area, and for an organization whose mission we deeply respect. Unlike some other volunteer opportunities which often make great use of your time but not your brain, working pro bono via Taproot Foundation allowed us to apply more of our talents to the challenges facing our communities."

"The biggest challenge to this project was the distance. Three of four team members were located in the SF/Peninsula area whereas the client was located in Walnut Creek. This made it more challenging to meet with the client as often as we all wanted to, yet the team came together remotely and met face-to-face as often as possible."

"Businesses can strengthen nonprofits and serve their own interests in offering creative development opportunities to their employees by providing and supporting opportunities for their employees to work with nonprofits. Nonprofits can strengthen business by allowing these volunteers to contribute not only their labor but also their expertise to addressing tough issues facing the organization."

"Our work directly helped SOS secure a grant to perform an in-depth strategic planning project. By showing they had a fundamental understanding of key stakeholder's perceptions and needs, they were able to make a compelling case for funding to carefully examine their opportunities via a strategic planning process. Furthermore, some of the data we collected was featured in a Contra Costa Times newspaper article on the organization, thereby increasing community awareness of the important services SOS provides."

"Working with a nonprofit in this capacity really excited me about the challenges of managing a nonprofit organization in these difficult budgetary times. As a result, I have now joined the board of a nonprofit organization."

"Outside of volunteering, I enjoy playing Frisbee on the beach with my three Sheltie dogs and learning to play golf!"