Ivory Rose Chambeshi

IVORY ROSE CHAMBESHI, MPA, MPL
Founder and Chief Champion

Competing demands and deliverables from grantmakers and stakeholders. The anxiety associated with an upcoming audit of program files! A great opportunity not pursued because you just can’t eek out time to research and execute. The emotional highs, lows and overwhelm of being a small business owner.

Ivory is intimately aware of these struggles and more gained from her decade of experience as a servant leader, facilitator, planner and community advocate in the areas of nonprofit organizations, small business services and education.

She has interacted with individuals from various sectors that are challenged by dwindling resources, overflowing start-up task lists and learning curve, yet keep charging forward compelled by serving people in need, charting their own destiny and embracing the opportunities afforded by the technological age.

From the start of her career in 2004 as a research and strategic planning process co-facilitator for Izandla Zothando, an HIV/AIDS organization in South Africa to directing the volunteer/internship programs at Watts Labor Community Action Committee where she grew the nascent program into one bustling with over 250 volunteers, Ivory has played a key role in developing resources and programs that meet ambitious goals, comply with contract and grant requirements, and most importantly, change people’s lives.

In 2007, she served as Project Manager of seven education, health and enrichment projects for FORGE, an international NGO and United Nations Refugee Agency Operating Partner based in Zambia. In 2009, she served as Program Administrator for Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation, operator of the City of Los Angeles BusinessSource Center, South Region. In this role, she provided technical assistance services to over 100 businesses in marketing, operations, certification, licensing and other areas. More recently, Ivory has served as Outreach and Compliance Manager for USC’s Small Business Diversity Office to procure services from certified local, small, women and veteran owned businesses.

In addition to program and grants management roles, Ivory has also led strategic fund and resource development including grantwriting, individual giving, and social enterprise ventures for the maintenance and growth of multi-million dollars organizational budgets.

However, as you probably guessed, this work sure wasn’t easy! She definitely needed a champion along the way. Urban Rising Group was founded in order to help leaders by providing the strategic thinking, and project and coaching support needed to overcome kinks in the chain of impact. Ivory excels in this area and embraces problem-solving with gusto and creativity.

A strong believer in community, equality and economic empowerment, Ivory credits her success and life’s calling to her mother and grandparents who emphasized serving the “least of these” among us. She is the proud partner to a dynamic, albeit Bruin husband, ecstatic mommy to a sweet and spunky girl and Goodwill’s most dedicated customer.

 

Education and Honors:

  • Proud Trojan: Master of Public Administration, Master of Planning, Certificate of Nonprofit Management and Policy from the University of Southern California
  • Prouder Highlander: Bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Riverside
  • Humbled Honoree: Named as 2013 Catlin/Long Scholar by the American Planning Association’s Planning in the Black Community Division;  Ronald E. McNair Scholar (Claremont Graduate University); Ralph Bunche Scholar (Duke University)

 

Affiliations and Specialized Training:

APACalifornia Logo
Center for Nonprofit Management
ASE Logo
Annenberg Foundation

 

Powerhouse, Purpose-filled Associate team

In addition to the experience and knowledge of URG’s fearless (and enthusiastic) leader, Urban Rising Group relies upon the expertise and skill of professionals and strategists from a variety of fields. Depending on the specific needs of your organization, your project will drawn upon URG’s associate team which includes:

  • Urban planner
  • Community organizer
  • Digital marketer
  • Graphic designer
  • Certified event planner and designer
  • Non-profit management leader (fund development, program management, Board governance)
  • Data/policy analyst
  • Industrial engineer
  • Environmental sustainability specialist