Utilising an Entire Consultant Skillset for Rainforest Conservation

Interns make a big difference at Rainforest Rescue. Natalie Parma talks about utilising her skillset for Rainforest Conservation.

[Original article posted at Oliver Wyman]

Rainforest Rescue Australia is a nonprofit conservation organization that focuses on protecting and restoring rainforest in Australia and internationally. Rainforest Rescue re-establishes damaged rainforest through planting and restoration programs; they also purchase land with high conservation value and biodiversity ratings to protect it from development. I care deeply about conserving the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland (in which Rainforest Rescue is particularly active) which led me to do my Nonprofit Fellowship with this organization. The incredible, passionate team at Rainforest Rescue were amazing to work with and we learned a lot from each other.

I served as a Nonprofit Fellow at Rainforest Rescue from November 2018 through April 2019 and acted as the right-hand to the CEO and the Office Manager. I helped with key strategic projects that they didn’t have the bandwidth to handle or the necessary skill set to tackle. This broad scope meant that I was able to utilize my consulting skills to work on a wide range of initiatives during my fellowship, including:

Deriving key insights to support new fundraising strategies by analyzing and refreshing the organization’s donor database (CRM)

Creating a digital marketing strategy for growing the organization’s social media audience after helping them move account management in-house

Developing and executing an IT transformation strategy, which resulted in saving time, money, and employee frustration

My biggest takeaway from my time at Rainforest Rescue is that the skills we build at Oliver Wyman are powerful and translatable. It was great to realize that the skills I developed on my Oliver Wyman projects, from client management to data analytics, are applicable in other industries and enabled me to make a positive impact in the world. I also learned invaluable skills at Rainforest Rescue that translate back to consulting, such as how to adapt in and navigate the nonprofit sector more broadly.

My Nonprofit Fellowship at Rainforest Rescue was an invaluable experience. Through the program, I had a chance to sharpen my consulting skills, experience a new culture, and contribute to a cause and an organization that is close to my heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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