As part of Pro Bono Week, Bankers without Borders is recognizing some of our outstanding volunteers whose commitment and dedication helps us fulfill our mission to connect the world's poor to their potential.
Andrew Simmons, Technology Project Manager for JPMorgan Chase Ohio, has over 10 years of IT experience in managing complex infrastructure installations and internal optimization efforts such as cost saves and inventory remediation. Additionally, he has substantial experience in financial and data analysis as well as PMO creation, training and resource forecasting and planning. For the past three years, Andrew has repeatedly shown exceptional commitment to see his projects through successfully and has leveraged his in-depth knowledge and specialized technology expertise to assist many social enterprise organizations around the world, including Grameen Foundation.
“My time volunteering with Bankers without Borders has given me experience in different approaches to problem solving and forced me to look for different ways to complete tasks. Each time I have walked away feeling that I was able to make a positive impact on the organizations and help further the important mission of Bankers without Borders,” said Andrew of his experience volunteering. “Working with so many professionals both within the organization and in the client organizations has given me a better perspective and new tools to approach my own career. I have also gotten to partner with great team members both within my company and from other organizations who have become trusted partners. I admire the Grameen Foundation and Bankers without Borders both for their mission and the care with which they run their projects. On every project I had full support from my project manager and very low administration allowing the project team to focus on the deliverables and goals. I look forward to future projects with Bankers without Borders!”
In 2011, Bankers without Borders first leveraged Andrew’s skills to assist Grameen Foundation in the roll-out of an organization-wide Salesforce CRM Implementation strategy. Andrew used his Technology Project Manager experience to define requirements, prioritize the features to be implemented, and provide a strategic roadmap for the implementation. That same year, continuing his work with Grameen Foundation and its use of Salesforce, Andrew completed another assignment to help the organization to analysis the technical requirements of making its volunteer management Salesforce application available to others and to develop a business model and related financial model to inform whether it should pursue this as a revenue-generating venture. Most recently, in 2014, Andrew completed another assignment, this time with a small social enterprise in Detroit, MI, the Detroit Microenterprise Fund (DMEF). Working remotely with a team of other volunteers, Andrew helped oversee a project to assess and provide optimization recommendations for DMEF’s website platform and to help the organization develop coherent communications, marketing, and social media strategies.
“My projects with Bankers without Borders have been highly rewarding experiences. I have supported the roll out of a new salesforce.com tool, helped the Bankers without Borders organization package its application for use by other NGOs and, most recently, I was able to partner with the Detroit Micro-Enterprise Fund to help them create a social media strategy and build a new website,” said Andrew. “With every project I have volunteered for with Bankers without Borders I find myself working with excellent individuals on endeavors I am excited to complete. I always finish projects with new skills that I can bring back to my career.”