This ongoing Q&A series profiles a few of the speakers we're looking forward to seeing at this year's Net Impact Conference. Shivani is the Founder at Friday Consulting and will be speaking in our Sustainable Food & Agriculture track.

If you could spend 15 minutes with one impact hero past or present, who would it be and why? 

I'm a big fan of Jane Jacobs and her work on urban planning. It has deeply informed my work with food businesses and building communities. I'd love to talk with her over a glass of wine about creating public/private urban spaces.

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” 
― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

What’s one surprising stat or emerging trend anyone looking to make an impact in your field should know?

I think it's becoming more and more important for people to know where their food is coming from and what's in it, but there's some fatigue around labels like organic, local, gluten-free, etc. Consumers want to trust the producers and retailers to sort through some of that for them.

What do you love about your work?

So many things--working with a variety of fantastic colleagues, partners, and clients; creating opportunities for impact in our community; and eating the wonderful food our clients create!

What's the single biggest challenge in your work?

Helping people to understand the value of building strong teams and organizational culture. So many of the problems that we see could be addressed by paying more attention to this early on in a company's lifecycle!

What's your best advice for someone who wants to create positive change through their career?

Choose the path that aligns with your passions and values, work hard, and build your community around it.

In the spirit of this year's conference theme, when have you found yourself breaking boundaries in your work? 

I don't accept "no" for an answer easily--and when I do get a no and it doesn't make sense to me, I want to know why. This can be annoying for people that I work with, but it has helped me to accomplish a great deal, and stay within budget and on time in a variety of projects and situations. 

How has being part of the Net Impact community or attending the conference in the past made a difference in your work?

The Net Impact community is well aligned with the work that I do--it's great to have people with shared interests and ideas. I feel like I have a strong support system and network because of communities like this one! 

What’s your best advice for first-time conference attendees?

Let yourself be caught up in random conversations and meetings--that's when the flow starts to happen!

About Shivani

Shivani works with social enterprises to create effective business models, teams, and infrastructure. She is Principal and Founder at Friday Consulting, where she works with clients like Tomato Sherpa, Find Wellness, Hub Oakland, Windowfarms, the Napa County HHSA, Torii Labs, and The New Teacher Center. Shivani received a BA in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University, and an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School.

Update: Shivani will not be able to attend this year's conference, but we have several sessions planned for the Sustainable Food & Agriculture track, which you can explore on our interactive conference platform.