People in Fundraising, Season 1, Ep. 35: Steve Grimes, Data Insights, NYC

Originally recorded and aired in early 2023: Happy new year! I am excited to start the first full year of the People in Fundraising webcast series with Steve Grimes.

Steve talks about his current role with The Helen Brown Group, which he joined in 14 months ago. He also describes the challenges, emotions, and honor of serving as the Assistant Director of Data Analytics in New York City’s Mayor’s Office, as well as other roles he has held across his more than 15 years in prospect development.

Other highlights:

*Steve’s love of sociology, the idea of doing social research, the conceptuals of doing data analysis, the difference between things getting easier vs. seeing things from a 30,000-foot level

*Starting at the 16-minute mark, Steve describes in detail working in his beloved NYC in the Mayor’s Office during the earliest period of the Covid pandemic

*His "return" to the nonprofit sector – what motivated him to come back, connect and reconnect with nonprofit leaders, friends, and organizations

*Frustrations about DEI, private equity, and other issues within the nonprofit world – what are we adding to change and innovate our profession?

*Creating new structures in our roles to allow us to think more like data professionals

*At the 35-minute mark, the importance of aligning and compartmentalizing work and life, instead of rushing to decompress after work

We get really meta on numerous topics, including David Bowie and the flow of life, plus our commitment to continue our conversation in a second conversation!