What's next after BCG? Building partnerships in evidence-based global health

We caught up with Sarah Xu, a BCG alum who found her way to global health through a thoughtful exploration of impact. After working in consulting, Sarah joined Taimaka, a nonprofit that treats children suffering from acute malnutrition in Nigeria. Together, we discuss Sarah's journey and how she balanced her desire to build skills with the drive to make a meaningful difference in global health.

To start, can you walk me backward through the last six months of your career? 

At the beginning of those six months, I was at BCG. To me, consulting was a way to build skills to make an impact. I was thinking a lot about how the job wasn't feeling great for me personally and that I wanted to make more of an impact sooner. I was lucky to come across the job listing to work in partnerships at Taimaka around three months ago. I was excited by the job description of supporting a global health nonprofit with communications and fundraising. 

Were you actively on a job hunt? Before you found that job, how were you feeling?

I felt like I would love to get another job, but I wasn't sure if I'd have time or energy to do so while in consulting. It was fortunate that when I applied to Taimaka, I happened to be working on business development, which is more relaxed than being on a case. I was open to staying in consulting but excited about trying to go somewhere else.

Were there other paths you were considering but ultimately didn't pursue?

Honestly, not really. This was one of the first jobs I applied for. I feel really lucky.

What about this role in particular stood out?

I read the job description and I wanted to do the tasks listed, things like setting strategic priorities for fundraising, building new relationships with donors, crafting and executing our communications strategy, and overseeing grant management. What’s really helped me over the last few years has been paying attention to what I wanted rather than what I ‘should do.’ Some people think the consultant skillset is best matched for operations, but I looked at those tasks and wasn't excited by them.

I'm curious about your current role and how your consulting skills transferred or overlapped. What was that experience?

Consulting was a great place to develop general professional skills - talking to clients, sending communications, and working on teams. I also learned to think strategically about how to deliver value. You get a lot of responsibility at an early age and learn from that.

That said,  I don't think I needed consulting to do my current job; it's not a necessary first step for a generalist to make an impact.

That's interesting. If you could wave a magic wand, would you have gone straight into global development instead of consulting?

I think so. Perhaps I'd prefer to have worked in marketing or another fundraising role for a year. I know that the skill-building, job security, and brand-name consulting services provided are helpful. Personally, due to the long hours and working on short-term projects where you don’t get to develop expertise, I didn't enjoy many of the day-to-day aspects of consulting.

Taimaka's work is in global health and development. How did you figure out which cause area was right for you?

I tend to prioritize global health and development, mental health, and animal welfare, but I was pretty flexible about where I would work. Working at Taimaka feels like a good fit because global health and development was my first exposure to impactful work, and it’s the reason why I majored in economics. I've been interested in this space for a long time.

So you majored in economics because of your interest in global health?

I initially wanted to focus on development economics. When I was in high school, I wanted to work for the World Bank. I've wanted to work in social impact since I was young.  I felt there were obvious injustices, especially in global development. There are many things you or I would never tolerate happening to our friends or family that happen to people all over the world.

What were some ideas you encountered that refined your thinking over time?

I realized there's an important difference between having good intentions and actually making an impact. This led me to seek organizations that prioritize evidence and evaluation in their programs. 

I've also been inspired by others in the Consultants for Impact network who take a top-down approach - first identifying what could meaningfully advance social issues and then determining how to contribute to those solutions. I'm still early in this journey of thinking more strategically about impact. 

I appreciate that you called out the difference between intention and impact. How do you approach measurement and evaluation at Taimaka?

What excited me about Taimaka is their commitment to evidence-based impact and robust monitoring and evaluation practices. For context, we treat acute malnutrition in children by providing therapeutic food, medication, and specialized inpatient care if needed. 

We track their recovery with a custom-made application that our staff use at every touchpoint we have with our patients. We also implement additional measures, such as backchecking the data in the application and using photographic verification to ensure that we’re tracking the same child over time. Our robust measurement processes have shown that after 6-10 weeks, 95% of children in our program fully recover.

Who is someone you found inspiring in your journey?

I went to a Consultant for Impact Retreat and was inspired by Joan Gass’s story of founding the Horizon Institute for Public Service. She thought about the world’s most urgent needs - there was a huge gap in technical policy people, and she tried to fill that gap. 

Do you have advice for people entering consulting or those who are a year in, feeling tired and unsure where to look?

I regularly checked the 80,000 Hours job board but often felt unqualified for jobs or didn't want them. As a generalist who wasn't interested in operations, I didn't see that many options for me. It takes time to find and land an impactful opportunity!

One thing that helped me was advice from Austin Belcak about finding jobs - the most effective way is often through your networks and showing you can do the job. 

I was actually rejected from the first round of Taimaka’s hiring process (a resume screen), but I was really interested in this role and thought I could show that I could do the work. I made a fundraising strategy for Taimaka and sent it to them, saying, “I’m excited about this role; I have strategic thinking and writing skills, and if this updates your view on my candidacy, please don’t hesitate to reach out.” 

They liked the fundraising strategy I made, and after a few interviews, I ended up getting the job! 

What’s happening for you next at Taimaka?

I'm going to Nigeria in January!

Congratulations, and safe travels. We're so proud of you!

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