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Amy Fritz

For Profit, Nonprofit and Not For Profit: Which One Is For Me?

22 October 2015

Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Case Number 15-2877

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About Me

BS in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University, 2008 MS in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, 2013 Been with MITRE since 2008, currently a Lead Systems Engineer I enjoy cooking, gardening, traveling and anything to do with

airplanes

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For Profit

Motivation is to create profit, to take in more money than it spends– Can be either privately or publically owed– Investors expect a return on investments– Owners can keep profit, spend some or all on business, or share with

employees, such as through profit sharing Make products, provide services or expertise Competitive, capitalist market

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette

http://www.apple.com/iphone

http://www.boeing.com

http://www.ge.com/

http://disney.com/

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Nonprofit/Not For Profit

Terms typically used interchangeably – No legal difference

Not For Profit terminology can be used to distinguish from more traditional non-profits– Not necessarily charitable organizations made up of volunteers

Can earn a profit (income remainder after expenses), but….– Must be invested back into the organization to further achieve its purpose or

mission– Self-preservation, expansion, administrative, etc. – Limits on how much profit can be ‘carried over’ from year to year

Profits are not distributed to leadership/owners as bonuses or dividends

Typically called ‘foundation,’ ‘group’ or ‘organization’ rather than ‘business’ or ‘firm’

https://www.ted.com/talkshttp://ww5.komen.org/http://www.redcross.org/

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Similarities

Both critical to society Need good management and leadership to thrive

– New directions for growth– Motivate and inspire staff

Funding Success not guaranteed Grow and transform missions over time

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Understanding Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDCs) Not for profit Private-sector resources that operate in the public interest

– Work closely with inherently governmental functions – Assist the government with long-term research and development– Conduct studies and analyses

Free of organizational conflicts of interest Cannot compete for work, except to operate an FFRDC Special access to government data and resources Must follow rules from the Federal Acquisition Regulation

– Enables the government to assign FFRDCs work that the government or commercial contractors can't do as effectively

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Subset of Current Administrators of FFRDCs (full list at www.nsf.gov/statistics/ ffrdclist/)

Department of Defense– The Aerospace Corporation– RAND Corporation– The Center for Naval Analyses

Corporation– Massachusetts Institute of Technology– The MITRE Corporation– Carnegie Mellon University– Institute for Defense Analyses

Department of Health and Human Services– The MITRE Corporation– SAIC- Fredrick

Department of Homeland Security– Analytic Services– The MITRE Corporation– Battelle National Biodefense Institute

Department of Energy– Iowa Stat University– U Chicago Argonne, LLC– Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC– Fermi Research Alliance, LLC– Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC– Lawrence Livermore National Security– Los Alamos National Security– Alliance for Sustainable Energy– UT-Battelle– Battelle Memorial Institute– Princeton University– Sandia Corporation, a subsidiary of

Lockheed Martin Corporation– Savannah River Nuclear Solutions– Jefferson Science Associates

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My Experience

Joined a FFRDC directly after my undergraduate degree– Didn’t really understand what an FFRDC was nor the role they played

Opportunities to provide solutions for some of our governments toughest problems– Rewarding to see your solutions helping others

Created prototypes and technology transfers– But never ‘actual products’

Can be challenging to define what I do on a day to day basis Compensation comparable to what someone at my level would be

making in the for profit sector

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Things to Consider

‘Ownership’ of product or system Timelines to field a product or system Compensation

– Amount, type (i.e. bonus vs salary vs stock options)– Relation to company earnings

Mission/goal Working environment

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BACK UP

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Today MITRE Operates Seven FFRDCs

National Security

Engineering Center

Center for Enterprise

Modernization

Judiciary Engineering and Modernization

Center

CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare

National Cybersecurity

FFRDC

Center for Advanced

Aviation System Development

Our sponsors benefit from our breadth of

experience

Homeland Security Systems Engineering and

Development Institute