What About Non-Profits?: Thriving When Donations Are Limited

Are you a non-profit leader trying to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic? Join the African-American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE on Tuesday, April 14 to learn how you can navigate the pandemic and stabilize your non-profit during these challenging times. You will hear from Egypt Graham, Founder & Owner of Planning 2 Perfect, a full service business development firm specializing in strategic solutions and unforgettable events and Monique Curry-Mims, Founder & Principal of Civic Capital Consulting, a consulting company that specializes in strategic planning, development and branding for clients in the for-profit, non-profit and government sectors. 


About Monique Curry-Mims

Monique Curry-Mims​ has over 15 years of business and leadership experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She is a consulting professional with experience in strategic planning, collective impact, community relations and capacity building. As a Penn State MBA graduate who holds a BS in Digital Design from Philadelphia University and a MSEd from Walden University, Monique has an ​innovative approach to developing partnerships and organizations.  
 
As Principal of Civic Capital Consulting, Monique oversees all business development and client implementation. Working with nonprofits, philanthropic institutions, government officials and community organizations; she delivers innovative strategies that help organizations meet their mission and goals, education services that empower organizations and communities on solutions and access, and funding to help communities working on the ground and be part of the change they need. Monique is also the CEO and Publisher at Beau Noir Publishing, a Philadelphia based publishing house established to develop and promote media that represents and inspires African American Youth.
 
Prior to launching Civic Capital, Monique was the Director of Development for Steppingstone Scholars, where she was responsible for all development and communication activities across the organization including strategy, partnership development, implementation, grant writing, fundraising, cultivation of donors and events to support Steppingstone’s $2 million annual budget. Additionally, Monique was the Executive Director of AAID, an integrated arts-education nonprofit that provided free after school arts programming to underserved students and Philadelphia K-8 schools lacking art for 10 years. She has also worked for center city firms Bresslergroup, KlingStubbins, and Daroff Design, Inc. where she helped increase client and revenue margins and expanded communications efforts.


About Egypt Graham

Egypt began her career in the event industry in 2000 as an event coordinator with a local event-planning agency where she was heavily involved with as many as ten events per year. This included organizing and handling event registration for seminars and conferences. During this time, she was able to advance her skills in conducting event analysis and marketing, and served as the liaison for venues and the agency’s executive director.
 
In 2007, Egypt founded Planning 2 Perfection with a mission to take small businesses to the next level through extraordinary events. To date, Egypt has worked with more than 20 small businesses in the Philadelphia tri-state area.

She is currently the Director of Special Events at United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and manages numerous events in the tri-state area. Egypt is passionate about ensuring guests have a great time in the most beautiful of spaces and focuses on corporate and high-profile events.

Egypt is a Philadelphia native and still resides in the city. She earned an undergraduate degree in marketing from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on leadership and management from Rosemont College.  She currently sits on the board of governance for Valley Youth House, serves as the event chair for Clarifi’s Young Professional Advisory Committee, and is a member of Philadelphia’s Black Giving Circle.

In her own words, events are everything to Egypt, “Planning is incorporated into every aspect of my life. I can’t imagine doing anything more rewarding than bringing my clients’ vision to life.”