Monday, May 11, 2015

New Adventures for Steve Heye!

The Steve Heye you know today is not the same as the Steve Heye from years past. I owe my revival of passion, motivation and tech skills to The Cara Program. I have never worked with such an inspiring, innovative, genuine and dedicated group of people. If you have never heard of The Cara Program, You NEED to visit them here in Chicago, simply amazing org. (www.thecaraprogram.org)

The Steve of the early 2000's was jaded and had a sort of lack luster passion. I was at an org I had dedicated my career to, and they laid me off twice. At times during these years my involvement in the #NPTech community was restricted by my job, I was not able to contribute the way I wanted to. But the leadership at The Cara Program embraced my love for and engagement in the #NPTech community. This allowed me to write blog posts, present webinars, speak at six different conferences in a year, contribute to an encyclopedia, and so much more, which I love because I got to share what I learned back to the community!

While at The Cara Program I got to be a part of challenging and rewarding work led by an innovative, visionary CEO, Maria Kim. The Cara Program is impact and metrics driven so technology was a critical element in the strategic plan. With the help of the unstoppable skills of Andrea Cote we made magic happen by changing process and implementing solutions which was eagerly adopted by staff and the org. So much fun! My job was so much easier with the support of my boss, the CFO, Carla Denison-Bickett. Carla helped me refine my approach to fit the culture of Cara, which I needed help with because it was very different than I was used to. There are countless other staff I could thank, like Erwin Delfin for keeping the actual tech running, but this post would get out of control quickly.

I also found a rejuvenation of mission driven passion at The Cara Program. I have never felt so close to the impact on the people we serve. In nonprofit technology we can often feel removed from impact and mission, but not at The Cara Program. I was able to be a part of the magic on a regular basis! I have never been the one to share "emotions" or go out of my way to affirm colleagues, but now I just can't help myself. Just like the Grinch, my heart has grown three sizes, but luckily did not explode out of my chest.

But it is time for a change, as of June 2015, I will be joining a new team at NetSuite! I will be joining the NetSuite Social Impact team as a Solutions Consultant! My role will be focused on working with small to mid size nonprofits interested in getting the NetSuite solution donated to them! NetSuite provides a core set of their technology free to nonprofits under $5 Million in budget and I get to help giving it away! Booyah. But not only will I get to be a part of helping nonprofits and giving them technology, I will also be a part of a team creating a model to ensure the nonprofits are successful in their adoption of the solution! Double Booyah.

NetSuite is a great fit for me because of its strength as an ERP, getting me back to my Finance days (my Finance degree). The opportunity will leverage my experience in software development, implementation, planning, adoption, change management and so much more. Not to mention my long background in nonprofits and technology, long live #NPTech! Leaving The Cara Program is bittersweet. I will miss all (and I mean all) of the staff, such a wicked smart, fantastic team. But this new opportunity seems to be basically built for my seemingly random resume and experience.

This is lucky for all of you though because my position at The Cara Program is open! Yes, you can take my job and join an amazing team, org and mission. The Manager of Technology position is posted on our Jobs Page, APPLY NOW or feel free to contact me about it as well.

I am excited to begin my adventure with the NetSuite Social Impact team, I have already met a few of them and I can't wait to get started making a difference with them! But don't worry we will all still see each around the interwebs and since I will be working from home, I will still be around in Chicagoland!