Usha Menon
Usha Menon is Director of =mc | Asia. Usha Menon is recognised as one of very few Asian non-profit (NPO) management and fundraising experts with experience and expertise in both fundraising and training with multi-national and multi-cultural exposure.
Usha has inspired and motivated individuals, corporate and institutional donors as well as Board, management, staff and volunteers of charities and has helped transform the management and fundraising performance of NPOs in Asia and the Pacific.
With a unique background in developing successful fundraising programs across different countries and cultures in the Asian region, Usha is a celebrated speaker, consultant and trainer on these topics. She has presented at various forum in Holland, U.K, U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Fiji, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Usha has over 20 years experience in the non-profit sector having held leadership positions at the National Council of Social Services in Singapore/Community Chest and most recently with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) as the Asia-Pacific Director of Resource Development and Regional Programs covering 26 countries.
HFH's work in Asia-Pacific transformed from being dependent on funding from USA/Europe to being a donor region to the work of Habitat globally. This transformation was owed to Usha's work on HFHI's new-market entry and local resource mobilization strategies together with her efforts in skills development, enhancing systems and changing the mindset of leaders and implementers.
Usha is also part of the faculty for the National University of Singapore's Business School Certificate in Volunteer Service Management Program, a collaboration with the YMCA in Singapore. ‘Youth for Causes' a program conceptualized by Usha, is presently a benchmark in innovations in fundraising and social enterprise in Singapore. Her contribution as a member of the Workgroup on Fundraising helped in the drafting of the Code of Governance by the Charity Council in Singapore.
Usha Menon's passions for developing domestic resource mobilization capacity led her to volunteer with The Resource Alliance in 1992. Her involvement grew such that she was Chair of its Asia-Pacific committee and was invited to the International Board of the Resource Alliance in 1998. She was elected Chairperson of the International Board in 2004 and completed her 3 year term as Chair in October 2007. She was Chair of the 9th International Workshop for Resource Mobilization, a flagship event of the Resource Alliance held in India in June 2009 that attracted delegates from 250 nonprofit organisations from around the globe.
She currently serves on the panel of judges for the Nonprofit Awards by the National Volunteer and Philanthropic Council (NVPC) of Singapore. She is also on the judging panel of the "2009 Australasian Marketing/Fundraising Executive of the Year" organized by The Fundraising and Philanthropy Australasia Magazine.
Usha is presently based in Singapore. Prior to Singapore, she lived in Indonesia and in India. She is fluent in English, Hindi and speaks a range of South and South-east Asian languages.
Mahatma Gandhi's "We must be the change we want in the world" is her guiding principle. She also believes that ‘no time' is never a factor of time but that of intention. It is that passion that gives her the energy to be daughter, wife, mom of three, friend, mentor, trainer, volunteer, board member of charities and a successful NPO management and fundraising consultant all in one.
Find out more about the organsiations Usha has helped to transform.
