Today we’d like to introduce you to Monya Wyatt.
Hi Monya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a single mom of three daughters now: 29, 28, 22, and grandmother of Rylee (5) and Corbin (13 mths). After divorcing in 2001, I finished college via night school and built my Treasury career working at Macy’s Inc. I love numbers and Treasury has been my perfect place to add, subtract, divide, multiply – you name it!
As a newly single parent at the time, I promised my family would not become a statistic. It was then that I dedicated everything I had to ensure my girls would launch successfully. This meant a lot of volunteering at programs they participated in such as The Red Cross Leadership Development Program, Cincinnati Museum Center Youth Programs, Black Achievers, Girl Scouts, golf, tennis, basketball, track, cheerleading, violin, and creative writing to name a few.
During my volunteer hours, I began to realize the disparity of services I had in corporate versus what the nonprofits had access to. It bothered me and over time, I decided to take my 20+ years of corporate experience to work for nonprofits full-time. Initially, I worked in finance departments at The SCPA Fund (2018-20) and the Disabled American Veterans (2021-22); however, it was in 2022 I decided to launch Monya Wyatt Consulting.
I took this solopreneur step because my grandson, Corbin, had fallen ill to an unforeseen brain bleed on 12/26/21.
He’s had 10 surgeries since then, five of which were neurosurgeries, two being life-threatening circumstances. I couldn’t maintain the pace of being at the hospital, working in the office, managing Zoom meetings via the ICU, and keeping my family encouraged. In March 2022, I told the DAV I needed to step down, and instead of letting me leave, they asked if I would be a consultant. I realized then if this 100-year-old nonprofit is willing to work with me, who else can I serve?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road. As my dad would say, “Anything you want in this life, there’s work behind it.” Some struggles have been: finding and retaining clients, pricing your services where you can maintain your quality of life, but be fair, and having to wear all the different hats like legal, hr, IT, accounting, etc.
Remaining encouraged when things are quiet.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Outside of my family, I’m most proud of my efforts to help save The School of Creative and Performing Arts in 2014 (https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/10/27/district-steps-save-scpa/18027563/). It was this experience that confirmed the need for my corporate Treasury background in the nonprofit sector.
Simply put, I help nonprofits protect their biggest asset, cash. I review bank and credit card fees to find savings opportunities, set up cashflow reports to track the daily cash position, work with financial providers to maximize the best banking tools & technology for day-to-day work, establish relationship reviews and help with budgets.
I’m set apart from others because they typically focus on the accounting side. Very few nonprofits don’t know they need my type of work until they need my type of work. Usually, when something goes awry (i.e. theft).
My goal is to be a “smoke detector” for an organization. Meaning, I’m in a place to protect you and if a fire were to happen, you at least have what you need to be safe and accountable.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In the next 5-10 years I see larger firms replicating my model to help nonprofits. Currently, there isn’t much competition when it comes to implementing cash management processes. The focus in these organizations is typically the accounting processes, such as day to day of cutting checks, making deposits, month-end reconciliations, etc. I will bring to the forefront the implementation of internal controls to protect these functions. I can do it before an incident occurs or when annual audits are performed.
As the country continues to hear about nonprofit fraud, services like mine will be in demand. There are more than 2.3M nonprofits in the US-some good and some not so good. The best way for these organizations to remain in business is to have confidence from the donor community. Efforts to protect their money are the best way to do so.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monyawyattconsulting.com
