At Qualitas of Life, financial education isn’t just a service, it’s a tool for empowerment. With a mission to foster financial security and improve the standard of living for Hispanic individuals and families, the organization delivers culturally relevant, accessible programming that helps communities navigate the complexities of the U.S. financial system.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re shining a spotlight on Aubrie Fennecken, former development and communications director at Qualitas of Life. Aubrie leads the charge on fundraising, grantmaking, donor engagement, and strategic communications. She ensures the organization’s message is as impactful as its mission.
Qualitas has partnered with Common Impact twice to address critical capacity-building projects. With support from Macquarie Group volunteers, the team transformed an outdated internal handbook into a comprehensive onboarding resource and completed a strategic website audit that continues to guide Qualitas’ digital communications three years later.
Aubrie joined us for a conversation about the power of thoughtful volunteer engagement, the importance of culturally grounded financial education, and how even a single skills-based volunteering (SBV) project can spark long-term transformation.
Whatever your organization does, there’s probably a challenge you’re facing that a skilled volunteer team can help solve, even if you don’t traditionally work with volunteers. Don’t count yourself out.
Can you tell us a little bit about Qualitas of Life, its mission, and the community you serve?
Qualitas of Life is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides financial education to Hispanic families and individuals. We support our community through two primary programs: a comprehensive financial education and personal finance track, and an entrepreneurship program focused on financial education for small business owners. We work primarily across the five boroughs of New York City, and serve communities in upstate New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and occasionally across the country.
All our programs are free and offered in both Spanish and English. They’re designed to help participants better understand their personal finances and navigate the U.S. financial system, which can be unfamiliar or difficult to access, especially for those who’ve had negative experiences or limited exposure to it. Our goal is to build confidence and financial knowledge, ultimately improving individuals’ overall quality of life.
You can see the real-world impact of these programs through stories like Angélica’s and Anel’s. Angélica, who participated in our personal finance program, shared how it helped her family become more organized and taught them how to prioritize, plan, and save. She said it reduced their stress and made a meaningful difference in their lives. Anel, an entrepreneurship program graduate, gained access to the tools and resources she needed to open a small business in Brooklyn, New York. Their journeys are a powerful reminder of the impact we can create together.
Can you share more about how skills-based volunteers supported your work?
We participated in Common Impact’s skills-based volunteering programs in 2022 and 2024. Common Impact staff helped us craft the project description and pinpoint our exact needs, which laid the groundwork for success. Volunteers can’t help if you’re not clear about the ask and Common Impact helped us get there.
Our 2022 collaboration with Macquarie volunteers was incredible. They brought fresh perspective and expertise that transformed our handbook redesign. Our previous version was outdated and didn’t reflect the growth or evolution of our organization. The volunteers helped us rethink a structure that was easier to navigate, clearer in language, and genuinely useful for onboarding new staff and volunteers. It’s now a tool we use consistently. We wouldn’t have had the capacity to create something of this quality on our own. Having this level of expertise and support has made all the difference.
In 2024, we partnered with a different team of Macquarie volunteers to audit our website and provide recommendations to make it more user-friendly, visually appealing, and more effective at driving sign-ups and donations. It had broken links, mobile pages that wouldn’t load, and was difficult to manage. The volunteers met with us virtually and in person, assessed the site, and delivered incredibly organized recommendations. They even tiered them by difficulty and impact, giving us a clear and actionable roadmap.
What impact did this project have on your internal operations?
It’s been huge! The handbook is the first thing we give to new hires. It sets the tone and shows that we’re organized, thoughtful, and have taken the time to make sure they have what they need to succeed. It’s also been helpful for those of us who’ve been here a long time. There’s a renewed sense of pride and clarity around our work and how we do it. Onboarding has become much smoother. People get up to speed more quickly, and we spend less time reinventing the wheel with every new hire.
One of the most valuable recommendations from the volunteers was switching to Squarespace. It took us a while, but we made the move, which made managing our website so much easier. They also guided us on how to tailorour content to better reach our key audiences: Hispanic individuals and families, as well as donors, sponsors, and partners. It was such a thoughtful and strategic engagement that we’ve continued to act on their advice. We’re still improving our website based on the Macquarie team’s recommendations but have seen vast improvements and usability already.
The volunteers brought such strong skills in project management, process improvement, design thinking, and an outside perspective that helped us look at our work in a new light. We are grateful for this collaboration.
What advice would you give to other nonprofits who are considering working with skills-based volunteers?
Whatever your organization does, there’s probably a challenge you’re facing that a skilled volunteer team can help solve, even if you don’t traditionally work with volunteers. Don’t count yourself out. Go for it and be ready to collaborate. The more you can articulate your needs and stay engaged throughout the process, the better the outcome will be.
Don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out. Common Impact and the volunteers can help you problem-solve and structure your project. Just bring your insight, your challenges, and your willingness to be honest about what’s working and what’s not. Enjoy the process. It’s easy to focus on deliverables, but the journey is where a lot of learning and growth happen.
Ready to learn more about skills-based volunteering? Reach out & stay connected
