From Volunteer to Full-Time Employee: Jeannie’s Story
Catchafire celebrates the power of volunteering to transform the effectiveness of nonprofits, and the lives of those involved.
Meet Jeannie Freeman, a talented, Michigan-based accounting professional whose Catchafire match transformed into a long-term, working relationship with MitoAction — a Boston-based nonprofit whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children, adults, and families living with mitochondrial disease (a chronic, genetic disorder that occurs when the mitochondria of the cell fail to produce enough energy for cell or organ function) through support, education, outreach, advocacy, and clinical research initiatives.
What brought her to Catchafire
In 2012, Jeannie left her role at Plante Moran, one of the nation’s largest certified public accounting and business advisory firms, to stay home and raise her two sons. However, she knew that once her youngest son started preschool, she would have a bit more time on her hands — and she wanted to channel that for good. A quick google search led her to Catchafire, which opened the door for her to get back into the working mindset by connecting her with nonprofits looking for pro-bono accounting help.
She matched with multiple nonprofits in the Catchafire community to assist with their QuickBooks needs. “It’s good because it was a step back into working but not necessarily a long-term commitment,” Jeannie said. “Every organization I have come into contact with has been super grateful and happy to have someone on board to help.”
Working with MitoAction as a volunteer
MitoAction needed to recreate their instance of QuickBooks online and was looking for someone who had experience dealing with the software on a day-to-day basis. Jeannie saw the post and was confident she could help with this, so she applied and matched with them on an Accounting System project. After an in-person kick-off meeting with the CEO, who also lives in Michigan, she learned there had been an issue with their migration from QuickBooks desktop to online, and additional work beyond the scope of the project would be required to get the organization to a good place in time for an upcoming audit. Since MitoAction didn’t have a dedicated accountant on staff, Jeannie offered to dive in. “I worked from June through October of that year (2017), putting in 15 to 20 hours per week, if not more,” Jeannie said. “It was a lot and I could have said no, but it was so much fun! It got me back into the working mode.” And MitoAction’s CEO, Kira Mann, was astonished by her above-and-beyond contributions:
“I can’t even put into words the value that Jeannie brought to our organization. She was amazing!!! Our financial records needed a lot of work and thanks to Jeannie, we are now organized and up and running in Quickbooks. Jeannie is my hero!!!” — Kira Mann, CEO of MitoAction
Within weeks of working with her, Kira knew that she would love to have Jeannie on her staff full-time.
Joining the organization full-time
Jeannie continually let MitoAction know that having a dedicated accountant on staff was crucial to their work, and when a staff member left this past January, she took the leap and let them know that she would love to fill that gap full-time. “I just felt like I didn’t have anything to lose,” Jeannie said. “If I don’t put this out there, then maybe they don’t know I’m interested or know that I want to continue working.” Since MitoAction finally had the resources to do it, they happily brought her on to their small team as their Finance and Operations Manager.
Jeannie has made a tremendous impact on the organization since joining full-time:
“Her skill level was so far beyond just the finance piece, and she has been so open to really getting engaged,” Kira said. “She’s all in. If I could have a whole organization full of Jeannies, it would be incredible how productive to be. Whatever it is, she’s right there and willing to learn.”
And Jeannie has loved joining the MitoAction family in an official capacity: “I love the community that MitoAction is encompassed in,” Jeannie said. “You read these patient stories and they’re saying I couldn’t have done this. I love that the organization makes a true difference in people’s lives.” Now that she’s on the team, she’s even thinking about ways to connect with skilled volunteers on Catchafire to help the organization even further. “I think Catchafire is amazing — I’m thinking about getting some help with grant writing and redesigning some logos.”
