Mario Gutierrez

Experience

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  United Nations

  Jan 2008 - May 2008

  In the second half of my internship, I requested a transfer to the Department of Political Affairs in order to diversify my experience. I served in the Nepal & South Asia team, where my duties matched those of a political officer. I was responsible for identifying and reporting on developing political issues in seven countries for internal UN reports and policy forming initiatives. On my own I was able to land a six month, unpaid internship at the United Nations. I was first assigned to the Department of Management where I supported users of several technology applications related to employee benefits, professional mobility requirements, and email systems for a segment of approximately 500 professionals.

  • Political Officer - Dept. of Political Affairs

    Mar 2008 - May 2008

  • Staff Assistant - Department of Management

    Jan 2008 - Mar 2008
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  U.S. Department of State

  Jun 2008 - Aug 2008

  Staff Analyst - Bureau of Oceans, International Environment and Scientific Affairs

  The summer long, self-financed internship placed me in the Front Office for the Special Assistant to the Assistant-Secretary of the Bureau. I played a role in various critical mission projects and daily procedural tasks in this high-volume, fast-paced position. I provided research analysis for the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) forum, preparation duties for a U.S. visiting delegation to the NY-Ålesund international research station in Svaldbard, Norway, and conference management duties in the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-China Bilateral Forum on Combating Illegal Logging and Associated Trade initiatives and programs. Show less

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  JPMorganChase

  Mar 2011 - Apr 2012

  Personal Banker

  The great recession showed me that individuals were not prepared financially for the cyclical turns of the market. This sparked my leap into another great personal interest of mine, personal finances. At Chase I dove into the field of client management, business development, and developed a subject-matter expertise. Overseeing a portfolio of $100,000, I provided my clients with account services and relationship-growing opportunities that would lead to optimally leveraging the resources of both Chase Bank and JP Morgan. My work centered on relationship and rapport building, which gave me the reputation of being a leader and driver of customer service at my branch. My advocacy for great client care was one of the reasons we maintained consistently high client satisfaction scores. Show less

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  Change Machine

  May 2012 - Jul 2014

  I moved into this position to meet the need of a fast-growing, iterative-heavy social enterprise with the mission of empowering social service employees with the tools to discuss financial development with their clients. Change Machine is a cloud-based platform that enables non-profit organizations and public agencies to incorporate financial coaching strategies into their programs. As the lead for business development in an all-hands-on-deck environment, it was my responsibility to help ensure that various moving public components of the platform fell into place and that the product was sound. This position also provided me with the opportunity to lead negotiations and training workshops. A big accomplishment of mine was the successful stewardship of a several-month revision project that required subject expertise, flexible management of various stakeholders, and keen project management skills. As we continually evolved, I had to keep our content updated and relevant to our ever-expanding user base. I really enjoyed the daily challenges of what was essentially a tech-startup. It introduced me to a new set of work skills and tools and strengthened my negotiating and management abilities. I look forward to seeing Change Machine and The Financial Clinic continue to be thought leaders and practitioners in the field of financial development. Show less Fresh from my experience as a Personal Banker, I was able to seamlessly transition over to a position with greater impact. It was in this position that I was formally exposed to the role of non-profits in empowering low-income earners to more effectively manage their finances and work toward financial security. My biggest accomplishment was helping my team surpass our municipal-contract outcome goals by 75%. In fact, I was the practitioner with the most outcomes through-out the city that year. Due to my success, I was charged with leading a task force to identify standards and best practices in financial coaching protocol and procedures. Show less

  • Business Development for Change Machine

    Jan 2014 - Jul 2014

  • Financial Coach

    May 2012 - Jan 2014
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  New York Legal Assistance Group

  Aug 2014 - Jul 2018

  This role was created upon my initiative. I was able to structure this role to be as responsive as possible in moving the goals of the division forward. As the sole supervisor of the division, I introduced several division-wide protocols to better capture the work we were accomplishing and several performance reports to identify best practices and areas for development. I managed four projects, ensuring the delivery of quality services that resulted in significant positive impact for clients. I provided supervision to 4 direct reports and introduced quarterly professional development sessions beyond case and project reviews. Show less As a Senior Financial Counselor I jumped at the prospect of more officially leading my team. I was given the opportunity to lead a new initiative to provide 26 workshops to nearly 1,000 students within the CUNY system. This required a high level of coordination with several site contacts, the partner's headquarters, as well as managing 3 financial counselors. I also designed and facilitated a capacity building project where I trained several case managers from different organizations in implementing financial counseling strategies into their service delivery. Finally, I was a key player in the opening of a new site at a senior college, and increasing the deliverable achievement by 100% at another site. Show less I was excited to jump back into the field to meet a set of new and diverse issues. A majority of my work was centered on helping victims of Hurricane Sandy resolve financial challenges stemming from the disaster and move forward to financial security. This required knowledge of the legal and financial issues affecting survivors and the special disaster-recovery resources available to them. In another project I coached college students into adopting healthy financial practices to establish a strong financial foundation while addressing any financial challenges they were facing. A huge goal of mine was ensuring that they walk away with a game plan that included a heavy emphasis on healthy budget management and saving for goals and retirement. To round out my experience, I provided financial counseling to residents of a low-income, working class neighborhood at a community based organization. Show less

  • Supervising Financial Counselor

    Mar 2016 - Jul 2018

  • Senior Financial Counselor

    Jul 2015 - Mar 2016

  • Financial Counselor

    Aug 2014 - Jul 2015
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  New York Legal Assistance Group

  Oct 2020 - Apr 2023

  I focused my first year on fostering a culture of sustained curiosity in finding solutions for clients and improving our own skills and abilities. This resulted in a name change and broadening of scope for the unit. In year two the focus was bolstering our knowledge management systems and internal tools to foster the sharing of information, but we quickly prioritized the urgent needs caused by COVID-19. Afterwards, my focus was on providing the skills and tools to strengthen our adaptability as a team. As Director, I was responsible for all aspects of program management, including recruitment, advocacy in public policy, and ensuring our twelve-plus projects were on track to reach deliverables and accountable to the 6,000+ clients my team served annually. As a leader who subscribed to servant leadership, it was my priority to coach my counselors in achieving their professional goals and ensure they had the tools and resources they needed to do their best work possible.Beyond the work of leading the unit, I also initiated, designed, and launched an organization-wide, peer-driven leadership development workshop series where directors, managers, and supervisors met to discuss topics, books, and ideas that increased our knowledge and strengthened our leadership and management skills and abilities. I led our 'Get Out the Count' Census drive initiative, and return-to-work committee work. Show less

  • Director, Special Initiatives

    Jul 2022 - Apr 2023

  • Director, Financial Empowerment and Advocacy

    Jul 2018 - Apr 2023

  • Senior Government Relations Officer

    Oct 2020 - Jun 2022
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  Public Works Partners

  May 2023 - now

  Senior Manager, Consulting

  Lead complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives that support the public sector and nonprofit clients. I do this primarily through project framing, thought leadership, and ensuring the production of high-quality deliverables.