Apparo Recognizes Centric VP TJ Felice as “Volunteer of the Month”

Below is an interview with TJ, originally published in Apparo’s newsletter and website:

1) There are several opportunities in Charlotte to volunteer, what made you choose Apparo?

One of Centric’s core values is to ignite our passion for the greater good.  We’ve found that partnering with Apparo allows us to most effectively align our passions with the missions of area nonprofits. 

Apparo simplifies and streamlines the entire volunteer process, from clearly understanding the needs of the nonprofit, to facilitating the initial discussion, to defining expectations and success criteria, to managing the ongoing project – Apparo ensures that there’s a good match between the volunteer organization and the nonprofit, both from a skills and capability perspective, as well as from a cultural perspective.

2) You’re working on two Community Impact Projects simultaneously – what nonprofits are you working with and what are the projects?

I’m currently working with Habitat Charlotte on streamlining their mortgage origination and servicing processes in conjunction with a new system implementation, and I’m working with Matthews Help Center on their implementation, configuration and deployment of Salesforce.com. 

3) Have you gained any benefits (personally or professionally) volunteering through Apparo? If yes, please describe.

I’ve had the privilege of learning more about the unique challenges many nonprofits face and have gained a real appreciation for their creativity and ingenuity.  I’ve also enjoyed working side-by-side with my fellow Centric Charlotte team members on these projects. It’s been rewarding to see them have the opportunity to pursue their passion for giving back to our community.

4) What has been your favorite/funny/best moment as an Apparo volunteer?

During one of our first couple meetings with Matthews Help Center, the project sponsor walked in with a “Shakespeare Insult Mug.” (an image of the mug can be found here:  https://bit.ly/2a5B6ye) 

This generated a whole discussion about her work in the theater while she attended college, and culminated with her providing a truly stunning Shakespeare impersonation.  It was a great way to break the ice and set the tone for the rest of the meeting.

5) Tell me a little bit about Centric Consulting and what you do

Centric Consulting is a privately held management and IT consulting firm with more than 750 employees in 13 locations across the U.S. and in India.  Centric was founded because we wanted to be different in the way we approach relationships with our clients, employees, families, and communities – our goal is to provide our clients with a truly unmatched consulting experience. 

Since our founding more than fifteen years ago, we have maintained 100% client reference-ability.  Our low-travel model allows us to provide local clients with an exceptional consulting experience, with similar skills and capabilities of global consulting firms at a fraction of the cost.

I’m responsible for leading our Charlotte Business Unit, which specializes in business process improvement, organizational change management, enterprise program management, digital strategy & technologies, data and analytics, and agile software development.