Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Forbin.
Judy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I realized recently that I have always been on the path to entrepreneurship. I guess it started with me watching my dad, who for as long as I knew him, carved his own path as an entrepreneur. I even helped him with one of his businesses, and so the seed was planted.
After college, I began teaching high school Biology and Chemistry while earning a Master’s degree in Health Administration & Policy. Five years into teaching, I transitioned into a new and rewarding career in healthcare administration.
I worked for several highly impactful organizations managing clinical and community health programs in needy areas and managing the day to day operations of clinical departments. I even had the opportunity to work abroad, spending almost three years in the Caribbean, where I ran a specialty hospital and oversaw the opening of Trinidad & Tobago’s first dedicated breast health clinic.
On my return to the states, I was out of work and despondent in a difficult post-recession job market. After wallowing for a bit as job leads grew scarce and the bills mounted, I made the tough decision to return to teaching. Yet, the burgeoning entrepreneur in me yearned to do more.
Back in 2008-2009, I had begun to play with the idea of starting my own consulting agency. I incorporated as Edgepoint Consulting, had a logo made, even a website! Not long after, I was offered the role abroad and the business was on ice.
By 2016, I was ready to leave teaching a second time so I slowly began to reach out to contacts, honing and refreshing my hard skills before finally moved into consulting full time. I knew that my wide range of experience could benefit nonprofits who struggled to grow capacity and secure funding. This has been my mission and focus for the past few years.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth! No way! Working for yourself is hard work, and trust me I have held some difficult positions in dynamic organizations over the years.
In 2018 with my business still in its infancy, I moved with my family from NYC to the suburbs of Atlanta. Here I was in a new state, immersed in a new culture and now I needed to establish myself and my business. For the first three months after the move, I pretty much sat and wondered what on earth I had been thinking. But things were about to take shape.
I attended a nonprofit convention at the Foundation Center (now called Candid) in Atlanta and became inspired that I could find my mojo here and got to work reconnecting with old friends, networking to meet new people and cultivating new relationships and collaborations. While I am still learning the lay of the land, I’ve learned to embrace the process.
Another challenge has been navigating the world of social media as a business. I realized early on that in this new world of business, as a small business owner an online presence was essential to your success. How else would people know you existed?
As a consultant who has carved a unique niche, i.e., helping nonprofits grow and prosper, potential clients must feel comfortable with my level of expertise. Consequently, my social media has become a bit of a proving ground where I share resources, teach followers about the ins and outs of securing grants, growing organizational capacity and even tips to follow if they are starting a nonprofit of their own. It has been instrumental in building my brand and finding out more about local nonprofits and their needs.
This has led to fielding clients from around the country who are enthusiastic about their mission, passionate about serving their target populations and in need of the right tools, tweaks, and strategies to remain successful, impactful and competitive in the nonprofit funding arena.
Edgepoint Consulting – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Edgepoint Consulting is a boutique professional services firm dedicated to helping nonprofits grow and prosper. Nonprofits do important work that requires an arsenal of special skills and resources. We use our considerable knowledge and expertise in Grant Writing, Program Development & Implementation, and Grant Readiness to help organizations fulfill their missions, build capacity and apply and secure grants.
I am known for and work mostly with new, small and medium-sized nonprofits who run highly impactful programs and are looking to develop grant funding campaigns or expand their services.
I soon realized that more than anything else, organizations such as these needed a deep dive in grant readiness before they could attract and win grants. Though they were delivering services, collaborating with others and effecting change, they were not always able to translate that on paper. So, the thing I think I am most proud of is our ability to help those organizations audit and optimize their systems and craft compelling data-backed narratives of their organization’s work. The capstone is rejoicing with them when they are awarded funding to propel their missions forward.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would have to say that the opening of the first breast cancer clinic in Trinidad and Tobago would be my career highlight to date. It affirmed for me that with the right team, the right attitude and a lot of determined grit, I could do anything I put my heart and head to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.edgepointconsult.com
- Email: judy@edgepointconsult.com
- Instagram: @theedgyconsultant
- Facebook: @theedgyconsultant
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