Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Allison Quintanilla Plattsmier.
Hi Dr. Allison, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have known I wanted to dedicate my life to serving others since I was sixteen years old. After a revelation about my purpose in life, I began volunteering for every opportunity I could get my hands on. I decided to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and study Nonprofit Management. While a student there, I held numerous fundraising positions and worked on honing my craft. After graduating, I entered Vanderbilt’s Master’s of Education in Community Development and Action at Peabody College and conducted much of my research on food deserts and food insecurity throughout Nashville. Right before graduating, I was hired in my first Executive Director role, leading an organization that provided free prostheses to children affected by limb loss. Simultaneously, I embarked on Trevecca’s Leadership and Professional Practice doctoral program. I studied how age and gender discrimination affected hiring, retention, and upward mobility in the sector. For the next few years, I continued to hold Executive Director roles in small shop nonprofits looking to scale. However, these organizations did not provide the best protection for employees, and I was let go when I was seven months pregnant. This led me to start my consulting practice, AQP Consulting. Through AQP, I have the opportunity to help small organizations scale to sustainability without having to be in-house and constantly worried about the lack of stability or lack of employee protections. I can provide sliding-fee scale services that allow nonprofits to access the expertise they need without breaking the bank. I have also recently begun pursuing my law degree to provide pro-bono or contingency-based legal services to discriminate against employees in the sector. Over the last year, I have also been Executive Director of Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership (ENP). ENP represents the culmination of my areas of interest, including eradicating food insecurity, advocating for affordable housing, and providing quality education and leadership development opportunities for all youth. I am excited to see how ENP continues to grow over the next few years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As I’ve alluded, there have been quite a few bumps in the road. When I decided to work in the nonprofit sector, I believed it would be full of people with kind hearts who genuinely want to help others. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. More people were interested in advancing their own self-interests or lining their own pockets than those who genuinely had a heart for service. I have a strong moral compass and am always dedicated to speaking up when I perceive people are being unethical or there is injustice. I have often been punished for that. Those instances, coupled with a general lack of stability for small shop nonprofits that frequently merge or downsize, have made for a tumultuous career path that has been the source of a lot of stress. I have also navigated numerous physical and mental challenges that have required mental fortitude to persevere. That is why being a business owner is probably the best thing I could have done because I now know the only person I have to rely on is myself.
We’ve been impressed with AQP Consulting/Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At AQP Consulting, we do a little bit of everything, but our most popular areas are fundraising strategy, grant writing, board development, and strategic planning. I have assisted with social media marketing, capital campaign planning and implementation, program piloting and evaluation, and more. One of the unique things that I provide is custom packages—tailored to each organization’s unique needs because there is so much variety in the sector. I also provide sliding-fee scale services so that no nonprofit is unable to access services due to a lack of resources. The mission of ENP is to work for justice and equity with our neighbors in Nashville, Tennessee, through building relationships, community action, service, and empowerment. ENP’s motto is ‘Neighbors doing what neighbors do,’ helping each other to strengthen our community. We seek innovative approaches to education, community co-ops, and affordable housing to build a more vital community where we get to live, work and play.
To that end, ENP manages 3 programs:
1. The Spot is an after-school program for 7th – 12th-grade students, supporting them to become their best selves.
2. The FreeStore is a community cooperative where neighbors share a meal and “shop” for household, personal and cleaning items not eligible for Food Stamps.
3. As the affordable housing sub-zone captain of the Nashville Promise Zone, ENP engages in community action by supporting resident tenants to self-advocate for affordable housing and addresses development, gentrification, transportation, and safety issues.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am driven and believe in striving for excellence in everything I do. I want everyone I work with to walk away with utmost satisfaction that they received everything they believed they would.
Pricing:
- $50/hr for coaching
- $1,000/month minimum retainer for ongoing projects
- $5,000 for 8-week Nonprofit Accelerator
- $1,000 flat fee for incorporation assistance
Contact Info:
- Website: edgehillpartnership.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aqpnonprofitconsulting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AQPConsulting
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/aqp_consulting
