Remembrance of Andrea McGrath

Andrea E McGrath was a strategic and entrepreneurial leader with deep, cross-sector experience helping individuals and organizations, ranging from startups to the Fortune 500, to catalyze ideas into action. As founder of amplified impact, a strategic advisory and research firm, she worked with trailblazers and pioneers in the fields of social enterprise, civic innovation, entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy and impact investing over the past decade.

Andrea’s career was defined by her curiosity to solve problems that matter and her instinctive ability to foster connections among ideas, people and organizations for improved results. A collaborative leader who thrived in multifaceted roles, she was equally skilled in directing teams, shaping strategy, facilitating collaborations and championing initiatives strategically or operationally within and across organizations. Her passions and talents guided her work in a diversity of roles as a strategist, program director, author and editor, researcher, community builder, teacher, startup adviser and mentor in fast paced, results based environments.

Andrea was valued by clients and colleagues as a trusted thought partner and problem solver, with a keen ability to quickly move from systems thinking and big-picture insights to focus on the details and ‘connect the dots’ between strategy and execution. While focused on strengthening the performance and impact of mission driven leaders and organizations, Andrea was equally committed to ‘field building’ and worked extensively with academic centers (Georgetown, Harvard, Yale and CASE@Duke) and with national and local intermediaries as an adviser, advocate and community builder.

With deep experience working within and between the worlds of strategy, finance, social impact, entrepreneurship and academia, Andrea was skilled in leveraging her unique knowledge, networks and experiences across sectors to help accelerate impact for clients and colleagues. Trained in competitive intelligence, Andrea was a systems thinker who is passionate about translating insights from business and entrepreneurship to drive social change.

Prior to launching amplified impact, Andrea was a strategist with a Fortune 500 financial services organization, research director for a Wall Street executive search and advisory firm, and a fundraiser with a national health organization. She earned her M.P.A. in Leadership and Social Change at the Harvard Kennedy School, M.B.A. in Management and Finance at the University of Connecticut, and B.A. in Political Science at Boston College.