Apurva Chandra

Bridging Big Tech and Nonprofits

Developing the business case for Microsoft to serve nonprofits better 

I was an Electrical Engineering major at UCLA before becoming an IT Consultant at Accenture in the Bay Area for six years. During that time, I worked with business leaders at tech companies to help define scopes for new product releases and translated those visions into requirements for engineers to build. 

After specializing in marketing at Fuqua, I joined Microsoft with a focus on competitive analysis. I then moved to business planning, identifying new business model opportunities and fostering growth in new markets. One key area was the nonprofit sector, where I saw potential for support through discounted technology solutions, partner access, and capacity building. This led me to join the Tech for Social Impact team when a position opened up. 

In my current role, I spend my days… 

Considering how Microsoft technology can better support nonprofits worldwide and evaluating how to sustainably reach the smallest nonprofits through our cloud grant program while also assisting the largest nonprofits and intergovernmental organizations in using advanced AI services. To achieve this, it is necessary to define success for our team and develop a plan to ensure that nonprofits are not left behind as technological advancements continue to accelerate. 

A recent impact highlight I am proud of

I’m proud to be a part of a team that provided $4.7B in grants or discounted technology solutions last year and reached over 400k nonprofits with Microsoft services. Accomplishing this using a sustainable business model that also allowed our team to expand our eligibility criteria to groups of organizations that previously weren’t provided with nonprofit grants and discounts gives me the energy I need to keep going. 

An approach that helps in my role is…

Keeping a growth mindset during the easy and challenging times. In the space I work in, I’m often asked to build business cases for ideas that initially seem crazy. But I’ve learned to allow myself to be surprised and to get as many perspectives as I can before charting a path forward. To develop this mindset I often ask myself, “What if I’m wrong?” Especially if I have a strong first reaction to something that seems off. I also believe it’s helpful to ask people what assumptions they’re making when they make a recommendation. That often helps me get a better idea of where a potential miscommunication could occur. 

My tip for those pursuing a career in impact

Business skills and people skills translate into the social impact space. Don’t feel like you need to start your career in social impact to make a difference there. When I was at Fuqua, I didn’t think I’d be working with nonprofits every day – I just stumbled into this work six years ago and I feel like everything I did in my career beforehand was preparing me for this.