Sneha Shah and Maneva Group – A Journey of Social Entrepreneurship
Sneha Shah’s entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in a profound commitment to social impact and community empowerment. With a background in business and a passion for social justice, Shah has always sought to leverage her skills to drive meaningful change. This mission led to the founding of Maneva Group, a national woman and minority owned firm dedicated to supporting nonprofits and mission-driven organizations through executive talent search.
Maneva Group’s mission is to help scale both nonprofit and for-profit organizations that strive to make the world a better place. With industry-leading executive search processes to recruit top-tier talent, Maneva Group helps these mission-driven organizations build leadership teams that significantly increase their impact.
The Inception of Maneva Group
The story behind the founding of Maneva Group is one of vision and resilience. Shah began her career in the for-profit space, helping to grow a real estate development firm from 30 employees in 1 location to over 700 employees across 5 cities. While at this firm, she pioneered programs to improve the lives of associates, including vocational training, english as a second language certifications, meal and transportation programs, and much more. After 15 years of recruiting and hiring over 1000 people, she decided that she wanted to go “all-in” on creating positive change and started a firm focused solely on mission-driven organizations.
She recognized a gap in the quality and quantity of firms providing support to nonprofits and social impact organizations, particularly in the area of leadership recruitment. With this insight, she set out to create a company that would fill this gap and provide high-quality, impactful services.
There were certainly initial challenges. Nonprofits often function on very tight budgets, and much of their funding is reserved for program work. And the salaries they are able to offer for leadership positions may be lower than their for-profit counterparts. Shah faced these challenges head-on, using her entrepreneurial skills to create aggressive, technology-driven outreach campaigns that reduce the cost of recruiting for her clients and help engage highly experienced leaders who are seeking fulfillment from a career in the social impact space.
The strategic vision for Maneva Group was clear: to be a catalyst for positive change by providing mission-driven organizations with transformational leaders that catapult their growth and effectiveness.
Innovative Approaches and Entrepreneurial Spirit
The success of Maneva Group is largely attributed to its innovative strategies and entrepreneurial spirit. Shah’s leadership style prioritizes a culture of creativity and agility, as she encourages the team to continuously explore new methods and technologies.
For instance, Maneva Group finds top talent for executive positions in half the time of most other search firms by utilizing a massive database of over 60,000 nonprofit leaders in the US, continuous social media messaging, AI-driven search databases, and automated outreach campaigns. Tools like these, along with creative and focused direct headhunting, allow Maneva Group to create results for clients that are unmatched in the industry.
To help clients authentically implement their values of diversity and equity, she formed partnerships with numerous associations around the country to increase the number of candidates from diverse backgrounds that were applying for leadership positions.
Shah’s entrepreneurial thinking utilizes technology, but is still rooted in a personal touch. All leadership recruitment is performed by senior recruiters with at least 10 years of experience, ensuring that every candidate that applies is thoroughly screened and receives great communication, protecting the client’s reputation and making sure they get the best candidate.
Impact and Achievements
The impact of Maneva Group’s services is evident in the success stories of their clients. In terms of nonprofit executive search, aggressive outreach leads to faster hiring times and a broader candidate pool. The firm’s average time to hire is 2.5 months, half of the industry average. And over 80% of their hires in the last 2 years identify as a female or person of color, allowing nonprofits to diversify their leadership and better reflect the communities they serve. Finally, 100% of their searches have concluded with a successful hire, remarkable in an industry where over 40% of executive searches fail.
Qualitative feedback from clients highlights the transformative effect of these recruitment services on their operations and impact. Nonprofits have been able to expand their reach, engage more effectively with their communities, and achieve their fundraising goals more efficiently.
Community Outreach and Impact
Shah believes in the power of social entrepreneurship, and works from a strong conviction that businesses have both the opportunity and obligation to contribute positively to the community around them. Aside from performing services for nonprofits, Maneva Group also donates a percentage of its own profits to benefit the community.
It has 2 distinct outreach programs. The first, Maneva Youth, has impacted over 110 young adults from underserved communities in the last 3 years, providing them with leadership skills, professional training, and vocational certifications to launch careers in high-demand industries like construction, healthcare, and IT.
The second, Maneva Earth, was launched in 2024 and has committed to planting 2000 trees this year alone. Over time, it hopes to increase programs that lead to environmental sustainability as well as combat climate change.
The Future Vision for Maneva Group
Sneha Shah anticipates continued growth and innovation for Maneva Group. Upcoming initiatives include further integration of AI technology to enhance high-level recruitment, new outreach methods to engage experienced for-profit executives who are looking to transition into the social sector, and expansion of community outreach programs.
With Shah’s entrepreneurial experience, aggressive mindset, and focus on service, Maneva Group has quickly become one of the premiere national executive talent search firms, boasting industry leading hiring times, retention, and innovative processes to authentically promote diversity and equity.
The entrepreneurial path of Sneha Shah and Maneva Group demonstrates the power of vision, resilience, and socially conscious business. From its inception to its current success, Maneva Group has shown the importance of entrepreneurial spirit in driving social impact and supporting mission-driven organizations. As the company looks to the future, it remains dedicated to continuing its mission of empowering nonprofits and driving lasting positive change.
Learn more: https://manevagroup.com/
