An innovative business serving small enterprises and non-profits: My Change Agent

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“My Change Agent” founders Carolyn Naseer (right) and Erin Spencer

One very cool part of my consulting practice is getting to network with a diverse set of interesting professionals who are doing innovative and impactful work in a variety of ways. And I continue to enjoy publishing “interview blogs” to highlight these cool people and their work.

In this blog, I interview Carolyn Naseer, co-founder of “My Change Agent,” which is serving non-profits and small businesses that normally don’t have access to this level of excellent strategic and operational management resources.

STAN: Could you tell me a little bit about “My Change Agent?” What is your business all about?

CAROLYN: My Change Agent is a management consulting firm. Our entire mission is to help solve problems for small businesses, nonprofits, and universities. Our teams work across a variety of divisions – everything from Human Resource operations to Public Health Administration, but most recently, our focus has been on supporting nonprofits on diversifying donor streams, building equity and inclusion into their HR policies, and creating business infrastructure.


STAN: I know in the past you’ve worked in academia, as well as in industry – everything from start-ups to large organizations like me (both of us at IBM). What motivated you to now strike out on your own?

CAROLYN: My Change Agent was launched in April 2018 and my business partner, Erin Spencer, and I joke that it was our “brain child”. We realized that we had an opportunity to really impact our communities through a model called a flash organization (also referred to as a “pop-up employer”). Basically, teams are assembled to work on projects, and then disband after a project is completed. We really believe in the power of collaboration and thought that if we could apply this model to organizations that don’t have access to big business resources, we could have a much larger impact (in many ways).


STAN: You are now offering this innovative Capacity Building Consortium. Can you tell me more about what this is?

CAROLYN: The Capacity Building Consortium is a membership-based model for nonprofits of any size and is designed to: 1.) create more efficient business processes; 2.) increase staff health and well being, and 3.) offer training and development opportunities. Examples of what members actively work on include: creating an action plan to diversify donor streams, a documented succession plan, a process for managing volunteers, and compliance with Human Resource regulations. Most importantly though, we are freeing up more time for to proactively serve their mission.


STAN: Why did you decide to offer this Capacity Building Consortium? Is it filling a particular niche or unaddressed need?

CAROLYN: Sound business infrastructure is necessary for any nonprofit to be sustainable. Over time, however, we saw there was a huge gap in affordable resources for nonprofits to continuously work on capacity building. The Capacity Building Consortium grew out of this need, and is a low-commitment, low-cost option. We enroll cohorts quarterly, membership is a month-to-month basis, and members walk away with tangible processes every month.


Carolyn Naseer visiting with the staff of The Farm at Penny Lane, one of the many non-profits Carolyn is involved with. Link to my blog about the farm.

STAN: I also know you are quite an active person. What else are you involved in besides your “My Change Agent” business?

CAROLYN: I’m smiling as my community work is so meaningful to me personally! First, my business partner and I do a lot of philanthropy through our business. We donate time and resources to organizations who we strongly believe in their mission. In addition, I sit on multiple Boards, and am currently the President of the Triangle Society for Human Resource Management and also am on the Board of Directors for CommunityWorx (formerly PTA Thrift Shop in Carrboro, NC). In addition, I am an active volunteer for the American Red Cross and am trained in Disaster Relief Services as well as volunteer in their Services to the Armed Forces Division.

STAN: Thank you, Carolyn. I continue to enjoy our periodic lunches sharing about how our business lives and other pursuits are going. And I wish you and Erin the very best of success in this business venture!


To contact Carolyn and to learn more about My Change Agent:
Website: https://www.mychangeagent.co/
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 919-729-6106

LGBTQ+ Workplace Equity Toolkit Launching February 2020 with a Training of Trainers Session!

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Coming very soon! A turnkey open source LGBTQ+ Workplace Equity Training Solution to empower employees to provide meaningful training and dialogue within their companies.

NOTE: This blog is loaded with links – do explore them.

In January, I wrote a blog (link) about a project coordinated by Pride in the Triangle, a collaboration of Triangle, NC area LGBTQ+ employees and allies from various corporations coming together to share best practices, work together on LGBTQ+ issues in our corporations and in North Carolina, and network with other out employees and allies. You can link to this initial blog to get:
• The history of the project
• The goals of the LGBTQ+ Workplace Equity Toolkit
• The contents of this total turnkey solution which will enable LGBTQ+ employees to set up and provide high quality trainings in their organizations.

We have also been actively soliciting sponsors to underwrite this work, and we thank these 5 generous sponsors:
• GOLD: SAS Institute and RTI International
• SILVER: BlueCross BlueShield NC, Dude Solutions and RW Baird – The Allman Bobbie Group

NOTE: Even though we are “Pride in the Triangle” in North Carolina, corporate sponsorship is welcomed from anywhere and you can still come to our area for the two-day “trainer of trainers.”

And though we have not reached our fundraising goal and still welcome additional sponsors, we have enough to start the work and commit to holding our training of trainers session on the SAS Institute Campus in Cary, North Carolina February 4 – 5, 2020.

Katherine Turner (left) of Global Citizen, LLC and myself from Total Engagement Consulting have been engaged to develop the toolkit and hold the trainer of trainers session.

The Training of Trainers, facilitated by Katherine Turner of Global Citizen, LLC and myself will be a robust 2-day training that will include:
• An overview of effective training skills
• A review of all the materials in the toolkit including going through all the slides
• “Teach backs” where participants will present parts of the presentation and give and receive feedback from other participants
• How to plan a session in your company, including engaging leadership, inviting employees, setting up a session timeline and more.

In addition to seats in the class being provided to the sponsors, we now have opened up registration to everyone. There is a class fee sliding scale from $449 – $849 based on non-profit / profit status and size of company. A $100 early bird discount is offered to all who register by October 31st. Check out the Registration Link for more details.

Space is limited, so do consider becoming a sponsor or enrolling in this training soon!

Please contact me to become a toolkit sponsor, or if you like to fund a scholarship to someone who may be unable to afford the fee. [email protected] 919-787-7315