Elizabeth Orbison - TechSoup, Sr Dir, Operational Excellence

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Work Background

TechSoupSr. Director, Operational Excellence

Feb. 2022San Francisco, California, United States

Self-EmployedBusiness Consultant

Aug. 2020 - Jan. 2022During the pandemic, I consulted and volunteered at various organizations: TechSoup, Invest In Women Entrepreneurs, Sugarlogix, and several Bay Area NGOs. - Lead the operations and logistics teams for virtual events: TechSoup’s first virtual summit (ten days, 1000+ participants); CA Women’s Business Center’s “Women Shaping the New Economy” Event, and weekly zoom services for a local church. Maintained or improved participation numbers and financial contributions. - Formulated strategic plans, evaluated, and improved internal business structures, developed processes and augmented finance, human resources, and project management for start-ups and non-profits. - Chaired recruitment committees/ efforts: two national leadership searches and various other essential roles.

Nelumbo, IncDirector of Internal Operations

Apr. 2019 - May. 2020Hayward, CaliforniaIn the spring of 2019, I jumped feet first into the management team at Nelumbo (a material science startup). I helped define our strategy and played a hands-on role in implementation. I managed the day-to-day operations and worked alongside my business partners to streamline their process improvement and cross-functional collaboration efforts while the globetrotting executive team focused on the Series A raise and sealed future deals. I grew the team from 15 – 20 people and setup the operating plans and infrastructure for our 2020 and beyond growth. • As the BizOps partner (aka the one non-engineer/scientist member of the team), I diagnosed the need for and established strategic frameworks to identify business metrics and resource staffing to ensure short- and long-term goals. I worked across functional teams and identified and planned for new projects and internal R&D innovation, functional team continuous improvement and the demands on our physical space and internal equipment. • I launched the project management function through the implementation of productivity tools and process improvement. We increased collaboration and communication between internal and external stakeholders to meet our aggressive revenue and sustainability milestones. • After the Bay Area’s COVID-19 Shelter in Place, I led Nelumbo’s global response and adaptation to the pandemic and enabled the continuity of business operations. I developed protocols and managed our resource planning to safely open our lab through careful analysis of county and state COVID-19 guidelines. We successfully met critical path milestones while striving for improvement of team’s psychological safety during a global pandemic.

TechSoupDirector, Operations Management

Mar. 2018 - Apr. 2019San Francisco Bay AreaI was attracted to TechSoup for its global impact and leadership team and was thrilled when I had the opportunity to join the CEO’s Office to increase the to increase the executive leadership’s capacity through improving decision-making processes, internal communications, and executive initiatives. • I was an integral part of the growth capital campaign team, in helping develop the $45M+ year-over-year enterprise-wide projection and investment model that enabled the $11.5M Regulation A+ Direct Public Offering. Through this project, I became familiar with every business line and was able to help build connections between departments and skillsets. • Over time, I expanded my role to be the cross-functional lead for a variety of enterprise-wide initiatives: global employee onboarding and journey; monthly in-person and virtual staff meetings; vendor and lease negotiation; Global Summit; Safety Committee (active shooter, earthquake, etc) and several infrastructure/ IT projects, etc. • I find myself at home when I can cultivate enterprise-wide relationships, and advocate for employees needs as well as champion executive team actions and organization initiatives. My experience has taught me that that in the long run, human-centered designs have an impact on product and innovation because it enables teams to understand needs, motivations, and roadblocks.

TechSoupDirector of Operations, Office of the CEO

Apr. 2016 - Mar. 2018San Francisco Bay Area

Georgetown University's McDonough School of BusinessAssociate Director/ Senior Manager of Operations, MBA Career Center

May. 2012 - Mar. 2016Washington D.C. Metro AreaI still remember the day when my MBA program offered me my first opportunity to pivot from law to an operations career. While still an MBA candidate, I created and led the Georgetown McDonough's MBA Career Center operations team. We provided outstanding customer service in support of leadership career transformations for MBA students in full-time, part-time and executive degree programs. • I hired mission-oriented and lifelong learners and together we improved the career center operations by creating an Employee Recruitment Guide, re-engineering our recruitment and logistics processes and supporting the coaching sessions for 1000+ students and 20+ coaches. • With an eye towards SaaS platform improvements and data analytics, we created and transitioned to MBA CareerView (MCV). This first of its kind operating system was a one-stop shop for managing coaching appointments, corporate recruitment (applications, interview scheduling, etc) and provided students historical interview and offer information. Our customers included: students (1000+), coaches (30+), employers (300+) and alumni (10k+).

American College of Obstetricians and GynecologistsParalegal

Jun. 2006 - May. 2012Washington D.C. Metro Area