Influential Woman · Travel Advising and Consulting, International Development, Donor Engagement

Amanda Popp

Founder & Principle Consultant, Range Collective

Lafayette, CO

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Women's Studies from Virginia Tech Degree Master's degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University Degree Heller School for Social Policy and Management Member Peace Corps Volunteer

Her Story

About Amanda

I launched Range Collective about six months ago as a travel advising and consulting company that brings together my expertise at the intersection of international development work, donor engagement and fundraising, and travel. What we do is help organizations, whether they're mission-led brands or nonprofits, figure out how to strategically use travel as a tool to engage their key stakeholders - that could be board members, donors, staff, investors, whoever it is. I think in a landscape today that is really oversaturated digitally, people are looking for ways to more authentically, in person, connect with one another, and also with the work and the impact of what these organizations are doing. I've been in donor travel for the past 8 years and have worked in international development since I was a Peace Corps volunteer back in 2010-2011. The relationships and trust that I've built with my partners that I've maintained over almost a decade of working with some of the environmental conservation organizations I've been with has been really rewarding professionally, and then just personally, because I've been able to learn and grow with them, and travel around the world, and learn about the amazing work that these organizations are doing. A lot of my day-to-day involves doing research for clients, looking at the work that they're doing in certain locations, and then how their fundraising goals and their programmatic goals sort of overlap with individual philanthropists' philanthropic interests and personal interests, and so what an experience at the destination might look like, as well as all the other things that come with running a business - administratively, tech stack stuff, building relationships, all of that fun stuff of building a new business from the foundation up.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Amanda

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

As women, build a network and use it. Find mentors who can provide guidance and help you both technically on things, but also just support your journey. I think that's the biggest one - find mentors, build and build a community that you use.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say to go back to mentorship and community, to find ways to partner. Confidence is really important. I think, obviously, in the donor engagement development space, there's a lot of women, but not necessarily in leadership positions. Same in travel. So having the confidence to pursue, you know, try something new, and using your community and support system to help you do that.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think opportunities are those related to people seeking new ways of connecting and to travel, to get outside your comfort zone. There's a lot of opportunity, and we're seeing how impactful that is from a fundraising and loyalty perspective for nonprofits and brands. People are looking to get outside of just the digital world and engage, and so really investing in that as a strategy for a company or organization. Challenges are that the nonprofit environmental conservation world has been rocked by what's happened to USAID, and there's the sociopolitical landscape, so that's been challenging to navigate, and trying to talk through real concerns that people have around safety. But I think that has made it even more important to get out of your community, engage with people, to try to combat some of what we see on the news and the picture that's painted.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I think it's being trustworthy, being somebody that people are comfortable reaching out to and trust. And community, again, showing up - both of those things are for both professionally and personally. Family is important. I think making sure that your values are showing up in the way that you're doing things and the decisions that you're making, especially with launching a new company. It's making sure I have some foundational values that I go back to, which is, why am I doing this? What impact am I having? And is this something that's making the world a better place, my life better, my family's life better.

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