Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Mancilla.
Nancy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Born to an American mother and a Mexican father, I was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. In seeing the struggles faced by many in the Vegas Valley, I committed early on to my education. Upon graduating from high school, I moved to San Diego to pursue my Bachelors in International Relations at was U.S. International University (now Alliant International University) in Scripps Ranch. My time at the school opened my eyes to the world and so I started looking for ways to work abroad. After completing my studies, I landed a position in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, which brought me to Germany to 1) learn German and 2) work in a refugee resettlement agency. I learned a lot during my time taking careful note of the atrocities witnessed by the many Bosnian and Serbian refugees we serviced.
My hunger to better understand what leads up to war and how communities repair after the fact, led me to the Netherlands where I did my Masters in International Relations with a focus on post-conflict development. I spent a lot of time on the ground in the Former Yugoslavia analyzing efforts to meet international arrangements and in the case of Croatia, their ability to meet E.U. accession arrangements. Time and time again, I found myself thinking too broadly; taking into account politics and the environment – in addition to socio-economic factors. Little did I know that that was the humble beginnings of the sustainability practice I would later create. I tried to stay in the Netherlands as long as I could after completing my degree and when I had to come back to the U.S., there was no other place I wanted to be. However, after spending a good year in San Diego, I got the itch again, to further challenge myself.
While visiting my dentist downtown, I laid in the chair watching CNN the day that President Clinton inaugurated his Presidential Center. During the celebration, he announced that the property would also house the next Presidential School. I immediately ran back to work and tried calling the school to ask if I would be a good fit. I was amazed to speak to the Dean, who was a long-time statesman. he suggested I quickly apply. It couldn’t have been six weeks later when I received a letter of admission from the school, which was also signed by the President himself. With a full-ride scholarship, I packed up my car and headed to Arkansas.
During our time at the Clinton School of Public Service, we were required to spend nearly half of our time in the field. In addition to guest speakers recognized for the change agent ways, we were able to test what we learned in the class – in the field. At first, we worked on community development projects in the Mississippi Delta. After that, we were free to explore topics of our choice – wherever we wanted. In my west coast fashion, I waited for a sign from the universe, so while reading over some assigned reading about socially-responsible investment funds, I got my calling…and immediately called the bank cited; Triodos Bank in the Netherlands. They accepted me by offering a position as a Sustainability Analyst in their research group. There I was first introduced to global standards for non-financial reporting; all issues I had always been fascinated by, were finally outlined in an easy to use guide for assessing the ethical practices of organizations.
As the token American, I was then charged with following up with U.S.-based companies to ask whether they had data available, such as metrics related to labor, human rights, a greenhouse gas, water quality. With every call, I could almost hear the receiving end’s jaw drop. It wasn’t that the companies didn’t want to provide this detail; they didn’t know it was of interest to anyone. That’s when I knew I had a job to do and that I should get back to my country to help lead the way. Fast forward, I started ISOS group along with my partner in 2008. At first, we thought we could jump right in and advise companies on how to develop these sustainability/CSR reports. The market wasn’t ripe, so we teamed up with those standards once introduced to me in an ‘ah-hah moment’ and asked to help build awareness as their certified training partners. Naturally, they were hesitant to accept a young, radical team from California that no one had heard of, but as we stated, ‘without the world’s 7th largest economy’, they wouldn’t get the U.S. on board and this initiative wouldn’t go anywhere.
We quickly received the rights to deliver after that and for the last 10 years, we’ve hit the pavement by training in most major cities across the country in support of the next generation of sustainability professionals. We’ve since trained more people than any other partner in this industry and have even expanded efforts to Sub-Saharan Africa. With every trip, I sighed as my plane lifted from San Diego International and committed to finding a way to redirect traffic to our happy place. In September 2017, we finally opened our doors at Sandbox, which is a collaboration and event space in the East Village. We’ve finally established our anchor. In our tenth year of business, we’re embarking on a new path towards driving sustainable economic development in our own city and sing it as a backdrop for others from around the world who want to take best practices back home with them.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As the first college graduate in my family, I had no idea what a difficult road ahead I would carve. However, like the Robert Frost poem, “I chose the road less traveled and that has made all the difference.” I sacrificed so much by never knowing where funds would come from, where I would live or how all of this would work out. I went out into the world and embarked on challenges where I had no models to follow.
Having spent most of my young adult life in other countries, I’ve experienced first-hand what it was like to be illegal or to be stuck in conflict zones without anyone stateside truly knowing where I was or how I would get home.
What came out of this was a deep trust in my own intuition and a faith that everything would somehow work out in the end. In addition, I’ve found a way to connect with most anyone and to become a master translator. These skills can’t be learned in the classroom, yet they are key in being able to lead within the profession I’ve chosen.
The sustainability consultant is resourceful, open-minded and a point of resource for complex organizations. Through the chaos, they find order, which is then transformed into purpose. I’m glad to have encountered so many struggles because they wouldn’t have forced me to overcome.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the ISOS Group & Sandbox Venue story. Tell us more about the business.
ISOS Group is a full-service sustainability consultancy firm. Our practice focuses primarily on all aspects of non-financial disclosure – meaning we help organizations determine what matters, assess their impacts and find ways to measure and report out according to the global standards that we represent. In a nutshell, we train support or audit these non-financial measures.
When we started our company in 2008, only 12% of the S&P500 were producing these types of reports. They were mainly companies involved in extractives or high-risk activities. Today, we’re hovering around 92% of the S&P500. It’s no longer a profession considered as something for the tree huggers in California or Europe; it’s standard practice and markets are being shaped by these principles. We’re proud to have played a role in educating most of the sustainability professionals in this space.
We’re different from our competitors in that we are a mission-driven organization; it’s not about each billable hour, but about the change we’ll create. We’re backed by our BCorp status and appeal to this younger generation that is committed to change.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t know if it’s luck, but I sure am grateful for the right people believing in me at the right time. I’ve always doubted myself in that I didn’t come from an educated or high economic background, I didn’t get the best grades in school, I had to work more than full time throughout just to get by – even if that meant scrubbing toilets in others countries as an illegal.
I just kept taking one step in front of the other, trusting in my path and breathing compassion into everything I did. While at the Clinton School, I confided in one diplomat who came to speak to us and asked for his opinion about life since he had also had a rough upbringing. His advice? “Be the best you can be at everything you do…and the right people will take note.” I haven’t lived a day since where I don’t apply that piece of advice.
Pricing:
- Space at Sandbox: Approximately $100 – $3,500 depending on the size of the space desired.
- ISOS Group Consultancy: Project scope is built out and pricing is estimated at $250 p/hr – then capped. After all, our goal is to get you to Point Z!
Contact Info:
- Address: 325 15th Street San Diego, CA 92101
- Website: www.isosgroup.com & www.sandboxvenue.com
- Phone: 619.642.8882
- Email: nmancilla@isosgroup.com & nancy@sandboxvenue.com
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancymancilla/
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