The Power of Giving Back

MODERATOR
Sona Shah
CEO & Founder
My Private Professor, LLC

Sona Shah is the CEO and founder of My Private Professor, an impact-driven, educational services company that partners with individual and institutional clients to provide a critical academic resource to students across the country and gives back with every hour to support youth in underserved communities.

Shah graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law and practiced business litigation for many years before shifting gears to create a sustainable business model that leverages innovation and social responsibility to increase access to educational support for all.

Shah has served as a board leader in the nonprofit space in Southern California for over a decade, including with the Orange County Community Foundation, Orangewood Foundation and President of the Tustin Public Schools Foundation.

Sue Grant
Founder & Volunteer CEO
The Literary Project

Sue Grant has cultivated an impactful career within the nonprofit industry that has spanned more than two decades. A proud Latina, she is passionate about closing the gap of inequity culturally, which begins with providing youth with the foundational tools they need, such as reading and writing, so that they can build successful lives. Prior to launching The Literacy Project, Grant founded OC Public Relations, which represented dozens of nonprofits in Orange County with PR, cause marketing and special event planning. Her foresight and execution helped raise collectively over $10.6 million for causes.

Grant has earned recognition in the “20 Most Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs 2022” from Women Leaders Magazine, an “Impact in Community Award” from Internet Marketing Association (IMA), “125 Most Influential People” Honoree from the Orange County Register and “Women in Business” Honoree from the Orange County Business Journal.

Susan B. Parks
President & CEO
Orange County United Way

As president and CEO of Orange County United Way, Susan B. Parks leads the nonprofit organization’s mission to improve lives and strengthen the Orange County community. Under her leadership, the organization launched three key initiatives (United to End HomelessnessSM, United for Financial SecuritySM and United for Student SuccessSM), which tackled the Orange County community’s most critical issues and sought to provide longterm solutions that break the cycle.

Prior to joining United Way, Parks held executive roles in several Fortune 500 and 1000 companies, in addition to being an entrepreneur. She also currently serves on the Commission to End Homelessness and is a member of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Chief Executive Roundtable.

Parks has received numerous accolades including a 2023 L.A. Times B2B Publishing Inspirational Women Leadership Award, the 2021 Excellence in Executive Leadership Honoree Award by the CSU Fullerton’s Center for Leadership, 2020 Woman of the Year Award from Congressman Lou Correa, the Impact 2020 CEO of the Year Award and many others.

Shared Insights from the Event

On identifying charitable needs within an organization and within a community:

Susan B. Parks: Orange County United Way, many of you have probably heard of us, but we are focused totally on improving lives in Orange County. And many of you might not know that one-third of the people in Orange County - that means a million people - are struggling every day to get by. Those are the folks that we serve and that we help. In 2012 and 2013, we really took a step back and said, “What is really needed in Orange County?” That was developed with business leaders, academic leaders, nonprofit leaders, philanthropy leaders - we wanted to all come together and hear what were the biggest gaps and what we could.

Sue Grant: The Literacy Project was really the idea that came out of the California governor’s office when they recognized a growing illiteracy rate in California. The UC Regents of California brought in the brightest minds and reading specialists and said, “Let’s make a product where we could actually parallel what happens in the classroom and give it to the students that just don’t quite grasp instruction in the classroom.” There’s always about 5% of students that perform below proficiency, because their style of learning is not perfectly aligned in the classroom - that’s our kid.

On the pivotal moments of success within a nonprofit: What contributes to success when giving back to the community?

Grant: We started in after-school programs and we were able to reach kids. We did so well after our first five years that we went back to the Orange County Department of Education and we said, “Take us into the classroom.” We had variables that affected our performance. Kids after school are angry and they’re tired and it’s not a set educational environment. And so they did a pilot program in one school district, and we improved their statistics by 25%. That was when everything opened up.

Parks: I’m thinking about the pandemic. On that Thursday evening we all learned that everything was going to close down, we realized that for the folks that we serve and that our mission is to support, they were going to need more than anyone because they were going to be able to go to the service jobs to put food on the table. In a very short period of time we said we need to do something, and we can move more nimbly - and probably faster - than the government can.

On data-driven metrics for success in the nonprofit sector:

Grant: We are data- and evidence-based, and we started our organization by having to prove the data on the kids that are performing below 25%. Everything that we do is aligned with the U.S. Department of Education and California Department of Education. We made a sampler pre- and post-testing based on how all of our children do in school. We were very fortunate to collaborate with PIMCO. Chapman University, UCI and Concordia - they came in and structured our data and our input. It was a blessing for us to have these institutions come on board and work with our raw data. That’s our backbone, because at the end of the day, we can 100% prove what we’re doing.

On finding a call to serve in the world of nonprofits:

Parks: I was in corporate America, and I was there for a long time. We were starting a women’s giving circle at OC United Way and they asked if I would help get it started. I thought, I don’t know: I travel all the time for work. I don’t know people. I don’t know if I can help. But then I thought, “You know what? What a wonderful way to say ‘yes’ and get involved in the community.” I’ve never looked back. The people I’ve met through volunteering in that particular time are still some of my closest friends. You meet the most amazing people that have hearts that care. And if you’ve lived and worked and been successful in Orange County, get involved in the nonprofit community. It will make your heart filled with joy.