Maria Mottola is one of the most thoughtful, strategic, collaborative, and humble leaders I’ve encountered. Maria has a rare ability to bring people together to work toward—and achieve—shared goals; identify what organizations truly need to grow into effective forces for change and provide the support to do it; and synthesize complex information and communicate it clearly to diverse audiences. Above all, she embodies a philanthropic approach grounded in genuine partnership with the people most affected by the issues.
Few people possess Maria’s depth of knowledge, networks, and experience with New York nonprofits—and the same is true of her equally esteemed colleague, Lisa Cowan. Together, they bring decades of insight and an unparalleled understanding of the field. Any funder seeking thoughtful, effective guidance would be hard-pressed to find a stronger team.
— Cythnia Gibson, founder and principal Cynthesis Consulting
Pavitra facilitated our organization’s Equity Task Force, which resulted in a multi-year equity roadmap that needed to both sit beside and complement our existing strategic plan. In this capacity, she navigated complex power dynamics by engaging, listening to, and drawing out essential perspectives from a diverse set of stakeholders. Deftly balancing core values, tangible goals, and practical constraints, Pavitra led an effort that resulted in an achievable and aspirational framework for advancing our organization’s equity efforts. Pavitra was a joy to work with and brought her expertise in organizational strategy, along with a deep commitment to values-driven work, to this important project.
— Christopher Wisniewski, Executive Director Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
We enthusiastically recommend working with Pavitra Menon. Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) retained Pavitra to help us revamp our organizational structure during a critical time of scaling. Pavitra leveraged her deep experience in the non-profit sector and provided immeasurable support to this work. She provided insights into operationalizing our scaling efforts informed by her work as a leader in the field. Pavitra immersed herself in the work of IJC and was able to assemble key insights through tactical engagement across the organization and the sector. She was fluent in assessing the realities of the work and built on her strong programmatic skills to inform her recommendations. She was always accessible, helping us to articulate our needs while inviting feedback and working collaboratively with the senior leadership team. She was also adept at managing partner relationships while driving towards results. She engaged extensively with our strategic planning consultant, Board and others lending strategic insights, and was able to quickly assimilate this into a meaningful product. We eagerly implemented Pavitra’s recommendations and her proposed structure continues to support the organizational functions over the past three years.
— Jojo Annobil, CEO and Christa Stewart, COO Immigrant Justice Corps
Lisa Cowan is an experienced strategic advisor who brings a rare combination of strategic insight, deep sector knowledge, and genuine partnership to all the work she does. Her passion for distilling complex challenges into actionable strategies is matched by a deep understanding of the philanthropic landscape. And Lisa’s approach to her work is rooted in trust, equity, and respect—values she brings not only to advising funders, but also in how she engages and supports grantees.
— Erica Hamilton, CEO, The Memo I Never Got (MING)
Lisa may be the most effective funder organizer in NYC, or perhaps even the US.
She sees around corners and gets key actors aligned on what actions they can take. Lisa is both deeply visionary, refusing to accept today's injustices, and profoundly pragmatic. If you want to get a collaborative, ambitious project moving in NYC, you need Lisa in your corner.
- Laura Clancy, former ED of The Bridge Project at The Monarch Foundation & COO of Samvid Ventures
Congratulations to each of you for teaming up to keep making the world a better place. I feel like this is akin to the Avengers assembling!
— Morgan Monaco, President, Prospect Park Alliance
Thank you for modeling collectivity in a field that is known for individualism.
— Mandy Van Deven, co-lead Elemental and founder Both/And Solutions