Natanya Blackwell: Climbing the Nonprofit Ladder
Natanya Blackwell
Systems Strategy Manager, The Nature Conservancy
M.S. in MIT ’07
“The program enables you to get your head out of the sand and realize the impact your work has on an entire organization.”
When Natanya Blackwell (M.S. in MIT ’07) started out at The Nature Conservancy, she worked almost exclusively on the business side of the organization. As her career there progressed, however, she found herself shifting more and more into IT. With most of her IT training coming on-the-job, Blackwell felt that she needed to formalize her IT education. That’s when she found McIntire’s M.S. in MIT Program.
When she entered the program, Blackwell’s work at The Nature Conservancy had largely been focused on data warehousing and service-orientated architecture. During the program’s Module 3, she had the opportunity not only to strengthen her skill sets in those areas, but also to change her perspective on how to approach the work.
“I now think about projects in a more holistic way, not just project by project,” Blackwell says. “How does a project tie into our competitive advantage? What efficiencies can be gained across departments? These are the sorts of questions I started asking. The program enables you to get your head out of the sand and realize the impact your work has on an entire organization. “
As her knowledge of the business value of IT increased, Blackwell began to be able to integrate the two elements at work. “I was working on an operations project, and the operations guy thought I was the project manager because of the way I was running things. He said, ‘I really like working with you as a project manager on this.’ And I said, ‘Well I’m not actually a project manager. ‘And it was just really funny to me, because I think people were a little thrown off by having someone who is well versed in project management, operations, and strategic management.” Beyond that, Blackwell says, “it instills a lot of confidence in your team when you can speak so knowledgably about what needs to happen, and are able to consider the larger impact of the project on the organization. “
Blackwell says her experience in the program made her better able to fulfill the mission of The Nature Conservancy. “For me,” Blackwell says, “the return on investment has been a lot more success in my position. For example, I worked on a project to institute a new expense reporting system, which really cut down on our operating costs. That means we put more of every dollar we fundraise toward conservation.”