Hi, I’m Uma!
capacity building coach and founder of Devi consults
I work with nonprofits to create strategic vision and equip leaders, particularly women and trans leaders of color, with the skills they need to grow their organizations.
I work with nonprofits to create strategic vision and equip leaders, particularly women and trans leaders of color, with the skills they need to grow their organizations.
Are you looking for unbiased feedback from your grantees, partners or stakeholders? Do you need support identifying areas of success and growth? Together we will set priorities, focus your energy and resources and if needed, guide your implementation of the plan to achieve your goals. I bring tools and skills needed to talk to your stakeholders, compile their feedback to assess your organization’s strengths and challenges and help you make a plan to address them, such as:
I believe every leader can raise funds and it is my job to help you feel confident that you can do this. I specialize in training leaders and groups to raise funds from individuals, create targeted campaigns and steward donors to commitment, and other types of coaching such as:
Having served on six boards (to date) of varying sizes and requirements, I know how challenging it can be to volunteer time toward such an important and powerful role in an organization. I can help your board assess and plan for deep impact, whether that be advising in:
This is a small, boutique consulting firm, I understand that ‘capacity building’ looks so many different ways and can change in the duration of our contract.
Is your organization in transition and in need of support? Are you looking for strategic advice? Do your managers need a little bit of coaching on staff support & feedback?
Let’s talk about what’s going on for you and see if I can help. If not, I can refer you to other excellent colleagues to meet your needs.
Are you looking for unbiased feedback from your grantees, partners or stakeholders? Do you need support identifying areas of success and growth? Together we will set priorities, focus your energy and resources and if needed, guide your implementation of the plan to achieve your goals. I bring tools and skills needed to talk to your stakeholders, compile their feedback to assess your organization’s strengths and challenges and help you make a plan to address them, such as:
I believe every leader can raise funds and it is my job to help you feel confident that you can do this. I specialize in training leaders and groups to raise funds from individuals, create targeted campaigns and steward donors to commitment, and other types of coaching such as:
Having served on six boards (to date) of varying sizes and requirements, I know how challenging it can be to volunteer time toward such an important and powerful role in an organization. I can help your board assess and plan for deep impact, whether that be advising in:
This is a small, boutique consulting firm, I understand that ‘capacity building’ looks so many different ways and can change in the duration of our contract.
Is your organization in transition and in need of support? Are you looking for strategic advice? Do your managers need a little bit of coaching on staff support & feedback?
Let’s talk about what’s going on for you and see if I can help. If not, I can refer you to other excellent colleagues to meet your needs.
I am the founder of Devi Consults; a fierce feminist applying a trauma-informed and intersectional lens in my approach, I currently work with nonprofits to create strategic vision and equip leaders with the skills they need to grow their organizations. My experience in the anti-violence and social justice movements, working in the nonprofit field for 20 years at every level–advocate, board member, fundraiser, community organizer, volunteer, consultant, interim executive director–has informed my methodology in how to best assess and support an organization, its leadership and staff. I am flexible and organized in my approach, recognizing that organizational needs and assumptions can change and evolve during the consulting process. As a skilled facilitator, I work with nonprofits in their strategic planning, organizational needs assessments, board development, fundraising strategy and leadership coaching.
Throughout my career, I have helped create a new model for democratic philanthropy, raised millions for organizations and trained over 2,000 professionals on how to fundraise, with a focus on Black, Indigenous and other communities of color (BIPOC communities). I have worked in and for community to pass marriage equality in WA state, develop partnerships between the tech sector and public education to excel BIPOC students, and innovate community-based advocacy models for immigrant survivors of domestic violence. I have and continue to serve on the boards of several Washington nonprofits. I previously served on the board of directors of the Coalition Ending Gender Based Violence (2006-2011), the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (2009-2011), the Western States Center (2011-2013) , the Social Justice Fund NW (2017-2020) and Surge Reproductive Justice (2015-2021). I currently serve on the board of the National Network of Abortion Funds (2022-present).
I consider myself a lifelong learner. A favorite text I return to often is adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. I have also been published, including writing about race, identity and advocacy in the nonprofit sector. In 2018, I had the honor of directing the nation’s first full LGBTQ cast from the South Asian community in Tasveer’s Yoni Ki Baat (adaptation of Vagina Monologues). Outside of consulting and serving community, some of my favorite things to do include obsessing over my dog, finding the best french fries in Seattle, and playing out my rock star fantasies through karaoke.