USA Leadership Corps - Ashish Mehta

Ashish's Story

Ashish Mehta is currently a project manager for Sun Microsystems. In his role, he is responsible for a number of leadership duties including selling technology to corporate clients, developing modifications for Sun's major products, and leading various other initiatives. Ashish earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering from State University of New York, Buffalo.

Earlier this year, Ashish was looking for a way he could continue his involvement with non-profits. In 1998, he co-founded an organization whose mission was to increase the access of non-profits to technology (www.charityfocus.org). Additionally, Ashish had applied to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business the year before and was 'wait-listed' (along with other stellar candidates). As such, he was also looking for opportunities to improve his business school application for the coming year.

Ashish Learns About The Corps

One day while visiting Craig's List to research consulting careers and opportunities, Ashish noticed a posting for a volunteer opportunity. The posting was titled, "Boost Your Career/MBA: Consult Non-Profits and Small Biz."

Ashish read the posting, visited the Corps website and thought, "Wow, this is perfect! Not only will this experience get me a step closer to my short term goal of providing consulting services to non-profits, but it will also strengthen my leadership skills."


	Ashish Mehta

Next, he applied and received his Corps online training materials. As he reviewed approximately 100 pages of information he thought, "A lot of thought has been put into creating the Corps' consulting approach. It is extremely practical and presented in a step-by-step manner.".

Finally he had a phone interview with a Corps Project Coach. After two rigorous sessions, Ashish passed the interview and received admission into the Corps. "I was excited at the prospect of beginning my first assignment. My Project Coach provided very insightful feedback that helped me to communicate my background effectively to a potential client."

Ashish's Client

Four weeks later, the Corps matched Ashish with a non-profit within 15 minutes of his home. His client was Junior Achievement of New Jersey. When Ashish met the Executive Director of the agency he thought, "I am very fortunate to have been matched with such a great non-profit... I look forward to adding value to their efforts."

"I was looking for opportunities to improve my business school application for the coming year."

It turns out that the Director had been dealing with a significant challenge related to her organization's fundraising. She had many ideas for how she and her team could achieve their goals, but was unclear on how to proceed. Therefore, Ashish's objective was to refine the agency's strategy (so that they could continue to provide great educational programs to the youth of New Jersey)..

Over the next three months, Ashish met with his client every other week to advance the project. His team consisted of 4 client members. "Our project was very challenging because we had to spend a lot of time defining their needs very specifically," Ashish explains. "At the same time, they were a great group to work with. They were so passionate about what they did and very enthusiastic about participating in the consulting exercises."

Ashish's Success

Ashish and his team developed an improved process by which they could better recruit corporate partners. They also created a very specific action plan for achieving the organization's short and long-term fundraising goals..

"I was very fortunate to have been matched with such a great non-profit... I looked forward to adding value to their efforts."

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His client was very pleased with the outcome. "Ashish dutifully listened to our needs and helped us to define them very specifically," the agency's Director reflects. "He was extremely professional, positive, and enthusiastic... He was one of the best consultants I have ever worked with."
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As for Ashish, he was equally satisfied with the experience. "I learned that there is an acute need for people who can apply analytical skills to the challenges faced by non-profits... Plus, the experience of working with people who are so passionate about what they do has broadened my horizons tremendously."

Because of his Corps experience, Ashish could provide more specific examples of his leadership talents on his business school application. (He will find out the results of his application within a few months, so let's keep our fingers crossed!)

Story Update - Dec. 21, 2006:

Ashish received an acceptance letter from Wharton MBA today! Congratulations Ashish!