Preethi Kumaran
Manager, Consulting
Janelle Paule
Senior Associate, Marketing & Communications
Josh Twisselman
Director, Sustainability Strategies
Bre Onna Mathis
Director, Consulting
Gladys Acosta
Director, Construction Finance
Glady's Story
A Day In the Life of Gladys Acosta
Authored November 16, 2022
Morning
I typically wake up around 7 am (unless I wake up earlier for a very special coffee chat) and help my kids get ready for school. I make my bed, then make myself breakfast: chia seeds in almond milk with some peanut butter, ground cinnamon, ground seeds (either flax or sesame), and lots of berries – raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, whatever I have on hand. I have the same exact thing every day.
My day starts at 8 am and the first order of business is choosing my blazer for the day. In person, I wore a suit almost every day. Now that I am remote and have switched out my suit bottoms for leggings, I still wear my suit jackets and keep them in the closet next to my desk for easy access. Next, I take stock of what meetings I have scheduled for the day. With that, I prioritize my workflow for items that must be completed before my scheduled meetings and get to work.
My role involves managing construction loans throughout the life of the loan, so I could be working on loans still in origination or projects actively building and drawing on the loan. Construction is fulfilling because there’s a physical manifestation of all your hard work – a tangible, finished product that you can experience with all of your senses. What’s even more meaningful at NFF is the fact that these buildings house nonprofits that enrich the communities we serve.
Afternoon
I try to have lunch at 12 pm every day and make myself a good lunch, catch up on the news, and play a round or two of a video game with my friends if I have time. Right now, I’m really into a PC game called Phasmophobia – it’s a horror game where you hunt ghosts and try to figure out what kind of ghost is haunting a place by gathering evidence. You use deductive reasoning to figure out what type of ghost you’re dealing with then leave. No ghosts are harmed in the game, so it’s more like a puzzle game with a spooky element to it.
The flow of my day is pretty standard – juggling meetings, work, emails, and putting out fires until it’s time to hang up my blazer.
Evening
What I’m doing after 5 pm depends on what day it is! I’m currently in school full-time to finish my bachelor’s degree in economics at California State University Sacramento, and almost all classes are in-person. The campus is GORGEOUS and very green, so walking to class feels like walking through a park.
If it’s a Tuesday or Wednesday, my whole day looks a bit different – I have class in the evening, so I’m likely on campus by 5 pm and don’t get home until 10 or 11 pm. I live a little over an hour away from my school, so I use that drive time to catch up on my favorite podcasts. Right now, my favorite podcast is Brown Ambition – it’s a business/finance podcast that talks about career, personal finance, and business for women of color. I also LOVE spooky or history-related podcasts, especially if it’s both combined. One favorite was the series about the Donner Party by Last Podcast on The Left.
Although it’s challenging and the days are long, I’m incredibly thankful for the support and flexibility that my manager and NFF provide so I can work and go to school.
If it’s not a school day, I typically make dinner and hang out with my family. And if the weather’s nice, we’ll go to the park or play Roblox together. My husband and I work out together in our home gym at least three times a week, spotting heavy weights for each other and making sure we don’t throw out our backs with horrible form. Once the kids are in bed, I join our group Discord server and see what games my friends are playing so I can join in or just hang out if I’m working on something, like homework or a construction draw. Then, I go to bed and do it all again the next day.
Kristine Alvarez
Senior Director, Consulting
Kristine's Story
As a right-brain person who avoided business training of any kind in college, I never imagined I would ultimately spend more than a decade working with nonprofit leaders to use financial data to achieve their mission.
I came to the sector because I wanted to be part of programs serving children and families in my hometown of Philadelphia. Early on, I worked with an AmeriCorps program that provided mentorship and tutoring for children in the city’s public schools. In this role with a small program, I wore many different hats—from training volunteers to writing grants to creating outreach materials to coordinating special events. I experienced firsthand how the inaccessible nature of financial jargon created real challenges for people like me, who needed to make well-informed program and operational decisions. I decided to go to business school to bridge the gap between the language of program and the language of finance. After completing my MBA at The George Washington University and spending two years coaching nonprofits on earned income ventures, I found NFF in 2005.
The reason I am here is because I believe that what we do makes a tangible difference to those on the front lines serving communities and to the wider social services sector. I appreciate NFF’s approach as a learning organization to listen first, to take care in meeting our clients where they are, and to be sensitive to their important community, historical, racial, cultural and other contexts. I am proud to be part of an organization that understands the important work of creating a just society—and recognizes its place of privilege to advocate on behalf of the nonprofit sector for better access to capital and to the social currency afforded by financial fluency.
Elise Miller
Senior Director, Community Engagement
Elise's Story
I’m a data nerd and also trained as a social worker, so I love how NFF’s approach is all about translating deep analysis into meaningful discussion to inspire change within leaders, organizations, and sectors—and to ultimately create more good in our society. In Advisory Services, our work is about much more than fixing a one-time problem; it’s about helping organizations develop a culture of data-driven decision-making and build their muscles to adapt.
What makes me most proud in my work is not when I create an intricate financial projections model with a client (though the data nerd in me enjoys that too!), but when I see a real mindset shift within an organization. When an organization goes from shying away from its financial data to using it confidently as a strategic tool. When an executive director tells me, “Now my Board and I speak the same language,” or, “This work has turned me into a balance sheet fan.” And when, at the end of our Financial Leadership Clinics, participants get up and tell their financial stories. After two long days of candid discussion about the challenges of balancing money and mission, and a detailed exploration of financial data, participants– including NFF staff– are often mentally and emotionally exhausted. There are sometimes cheers and sometimes tears. But in hearing each story, never am I more convinced of the commitment, the creativity, the wisdom, and the promise of the nonprofit sector.