Building relationships and making meaningful connections are two of my favorite parts of working as a philanthropic advisor. Recently, I collaborated with my colleague Andrea Huff to help her client Peter Jewett develop new contacts that could shape his vision for the future. Andrea is an executive coach who specializes in partnering with people who are making the transition from full-time work to the next stage of their lives, often a very active retirement.

She asked me to connect Peter, co-founder of Farallon Consulting, an environmental consulting and engineering firm, to my contacts in nonprofit organizations. Andrea and I share the goals of helping our clients determine what will be the most satisfying use of their resources in the next stage of life, including their purpose, building a legacy during their retirement and philanthropy. We collaborate through a process that is both holistic and realistic. 

Andrea emphasizes three facets of collaboration when working with clients: accountability, mindset shift and getting to the essence. I go into more detail on them below as well as the services she offers.

Peter, an engineering geologist, was arriving at his retirement after founding, growing and now selling Farallon, where he had worked for the past 20 years. He is also a proponent for the sustainable use of our natural resources and likes to kayak in his leisure time. Andrea and I thought my experience with environmentally focused nonprofits and foundations would be an ideal starting point to make introductions.

His vision was to have an active retirement that could match his former work life in terms of contribution and make the best use of his background. Peter wanted to explore how he could use his time and expertise to consult with a nonprofit meaningfully. The opportunity to demonstrate his experience was key for Peter to open up new relationships and perspectives about the next stage in his life.

I thought about where he would be a great fit and what organizations could benefit from his skills and started with two introductions. After Peter met with my contact at a policy foundation on natural resources, he felt government-related initiatives were of less interest. However, when I was able to identify a leading global scientist on oceans who had a focus on coral reef systems, this piqued his curiosity to meet her. 

The ocean scientist contact, who advises scientists and institutional foundations, responded positively to our introduction. She thoughtfully crafted a vision document on her goal to map all the waterways to better understand up- and downstream impacts on ocean life. She was also immediately open to connect with Peter and determine how they could collaborate.

As we are in the midst of their conversation, their specific outcomes are evolving. But it’s clear their relationship may hold promise for a mutually beneficial engagement. By collaborating, Andrea and I were able to free Peter from extensive research and provide an opportunity to fulfill his aspirations for a purposeful retirement more quickly.

For more information on Andrea’s services, visit her website, AndreaHuff.com, and check out her recent book, Every Night’s Friday Night: Time and Freedom for the Rest of Your Life.

Here are her three facets of collaboration when working with clients:

1. Accountability -  Having a sounding board in transition enables advancement.

2. Mindset Shift - Seeing ideas in new ways supports progress to achieve specific goals.

3. Getting to the Essence - Incisive recommendations save clients from getting stuck.

Why go it alone when making big decisions about how to apply your talent and time in retirement or life transition? Join our personalized consultations and reap quicker and more productive results.