Minding the Gap

Four words led Pam (Krull) Rosenberg ’91 to a new career: “If not now, when?”

In fall 2020, spurred by the pandemic and inspired by fellow Falcons, she joined husband Steve to start The One by One Project. It partners with Boston-area organizations to cover urgent needs that fall outside the mission of other nonprofits. For example: car repairs for low-income families who rely on the transportation for school and work, and a new refrigerator for a guardian struggling to raise siblings.

“We wanted to make it easier and faster to get money out to people than the traditional model,” says Rosenberg, whose organization typically responds to requests within 48 hours.

That client-focused approach reflects her experience working at corporations and startups as well as her natural entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, Rosenberg sees launching a nonprofit as akin to growing a startup: Both require reinventing a business model, raising money, finding clients, establishing operating procedures, developing back-office technology and scaling.

The Newton, Mass., couple sought initial advice from Steve Alperin ’87, who had teamed with Michael Connelly ’86, Alan Stern, P ’20 and another friend to create the nonprofit Boston BullPen Project.

“We talked with Steve a lot, and we talked to other nonprofits’ CEOs and directors. We did a lot of homework,” Rosenberg says, noting warnings about nonprofit work being “harder than you think it is.”

There is truth in those words, she admits. “But it’s also more fulfilling than we ever expected.”

The Rosenbergs tapped Steve Alperin ’87 and Michael Connelly ’86 for help in starting a nonprofit. Learn about their venture, the Boston BullPen Project.