Elaine B.

Experience

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  The Bra Recyclers

  Founder and Chief Executive Officer

  Oct 2008 - Present

  The Bra Recyclers is a mission-driven social enterprise that runs bra and underwear recycling, redistribution, and textile-reuse programs with retail and nonprofit partners to reduce landfill waste and provide essentials to people in need.

  • Provide executive leadership and operational oversight for a multi-state circular social enterprise, setting strategic direction and ensuring mission alignment across programs.
  • Design and manage retail take-back and partner reuse programs, onboarding and supporting 140+ nonprofit partners and 60+ Title I schools across 29 states and 8 countries.
  • Own Salesforce administration, building CRM workflows, partner tracking, reporting dashboards, and impact measurement processes to quantify environmental and social outcomes.
  • Coordinate logistics and fulfillment through community-based partnerships (including employment programs for individuals with disabilities) to maintain scalable distribution and sorting operations.
  • Develop partner-facing materials, data reports, and program models to help retailers measure sustainability metrics, comply with ESG goals, and increase customer engagement.
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  The Bra Recyclers

  Chief Executive Officer

  Oct 2008 - Present

  • The Bra Recyclers is a social enterprise dedicated to sustainable textile recycling. As CEO, I implement innovative strategies that promote a circular economy by extending the life of usable clothing (e.g., bras) to minimize environmental impacts and provide substantial social benefits to underserved communities.
  • Key Responsibilities:
  • Provide thought leadership and consulting to internal and external stakeholders on implementing and measuring social and environmental impacts that support our planet and the people who live on it.
  • As an internal Social and Environmental Practice Leader, I build strategic partnerships with retailers to support and implement strategies aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals. I work directly with key stakeholders, who can influence their internal hierarchical structures to change their policies and practices regarding the disposal of unsold or returned merchandise.
  • Provide retailers with critical data and reports to measure their recycling efforts’ social and environmental impacts. This information can support ESG reporting and sustainability goals and strengthen their commitment to ethical practices and transparency.
  • Utilize Salesforce to enhance operational efficiencies and eliminate manual processes, allowing staff to focus on business growth and expanding outreach to communities globally.
  • Streamlined inventory and shipping logistics by partnering with a local organization that provides job opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
  • Successfully developed and set the company's strategic direction to integrate social responsibility into our culture and operations. This strategy reduces social inequities in receiving essential resources like underwear in underserved communities. We have supported 140 shelters and over 60 Title 1 schools in 29 states and eight countries. We received the AZ Governor’s Volunteer Service Award in 2023 for our efforts.
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  HealthEquity

  Senior Product Owner/Business Analyst, Product Management

  Feb 2019 - May 2020

  HealthEquity provides benefits solutions centered on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and related employer and advisor services, supporting benefits administration and consumer-directed healthcare.

  • Served as Senior Product Owner / Business Analyst translating business needs into prioritized product backlog items and executable user stories for Agile delivery teams.
  • Managed and groomed backlog, wrote acceptance criteria, and coordinated release planning with Scrum Master to drive predictable sprint outcomes.
  • Collaborated daily with stakeholders across product, engineering, and operations to clarify requirements, manage trade-offs, and maintain traceability from request to delivery.
  • Led change communication and training efforts to guide staff through system transitions and increase adoption of new product capabilities.
  • Balanced competing priorities across multiple initiatives while maintaining clear, executive‑ready status updates and stakeholder alignment.
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  Solu Technology Partners

  Salesforce Business System Analyst, Consultant

  Aug 2017 - Jan 2018

  Solü Technology is a national technology staffing and solutions provider offering workforce, application, and cloud services to organizations across industries.

  • Acted as Salesforce Business Systems Analyst supporting McKesson Specialty Health, translating complex business needs into clear system and interface requirements.
  • Documented business and system requirements, reporting specifications, and data integration points to support third‑party partner integrations and data migrations.
  • Defined data and reporting needs to improve operational visibility and ensure accuracy across CRM and specialty health workflows.
  • Facilitated stakeholder workshops to resolve functional gaps and align development efforts with how the business actually operates, including validation with QA teams.
  • Maintained compliance awareness within a regulated healthcare environment while ensuring requirements supported secure, auditable solutions.
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  WorldatWork

  Lead Project Manager & Business Analyst in Project Management Group

  Jul 2006 - Aug 2017

  WorldatWork is a professional association focused on total rewards, compensation, benefits, and HR education—providing training, certification, research, and events to rewards professionals worldwide.

  • Led Project Management Group efforts to deliver enterprise technology, CRM/AMS, web and process improvement initiatives across the association.
  • Managed end-to-end website redesign and CMS implementation, including content strategy, vendor selection, and stakeholder alignment.
  • Spearheaded selection and implementation activities for a new Association Management System (Aptify), including build-vs-buy assessment and migration planning from legacy Oracle to SQL Server environments.
  • Introduced Agile practices into business analysis and QA workflows, built PMO templates, and created role-based training for customer-facing teams and product managers.
  • Collaborated with sales leadership on CRM and sales automation evaluation, contributing to Salesforce integration strategy and cross-functional change management.
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  Wells Fargo

  Senior Business Solutions Consultant

  May 2005 - Jul 2006

  Wells Fargo is a large diversified financial services firm offering banking, investment, mortgage, and corporate services across global markets.

  • Supported the Wells Fargo Unified Process (WUP) team to roll out a standardized project and requirements framework for large cross-functional initiatives.
  • Facilitated large-group requirements sessions for high-profile projects, translating stakeholder input into consistent, actionable requirements documents.
  • Built and promoted repeatable requirements artifacts and templates to improve clarity and reduce rework across business and technical teams.
  • Mentored and coached business analysts on structured requirements practices and tools to increase delivery consistency across the enterprise.
  • Navigated complex organizational structures to align multiple business units and technical teams around a shared scope and delivery approach.
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  Lifetouch

  Senior Project Manager and Business Analyst

  Mar 2003 - Apr 2005

  Lifetouch is a family and school photography company providing portrait and yearbook services to schools, families, and organizations across North America.

  • Led enterprise projects to implement a new CRM solution, coordinating requirements, vendor integration, and cross-functional delivery.
  • Developed PMO documentation, training materials, and end-user documentation to support business analysts, project managers, and pilot sales teams.
  • Served as the primary liaison between operational leaders, sales teams, and vendors to ensure requirements were practical and solutions met business needs.
  • Conducted pilot training and hands-on support for sales teams to accelerate adoption of new CRM workflows and sales processes.
  • Created change-management artifacts and adoption metrics to measure pilot success and guide phased rollouts.
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  Allianz

  Project Manager and Senior Business Analyst

  Feb 2001 - Sep 2002

  Allianz is a global insurance and asset management company offering insurance, investment management, and related financial services across many countries.

  • Supported enterprise modernization initiatives focused on iterative, web-based development and improved digital experiences.
  • Facilitated cross-functional teams to define shared visions for digital products, documenting how users would interact with real-time systems and websites.
  • Served as interim team lead for project managers and business analysts, overseeing resource allocation, mentoring, and deliverable reviews.
  • Contributed to evaluating and evolving development methodology to better support iterative, web-focused projects and faster feedback loops.
  • Identified process simplification opportunities and collaborated on solutions to improve work flow and handoffs across business units.

• Norstan Consulting

  Senior Business Analyst

  May 1998 - Oct 2000

  Norstan Consulting is a professional services firm providing consulting expertise to help organizations with systems modernization, e-commerce, and enterprise initiatives.

  • Served as Senior Business Analyst on enterprise initiatives, leading requirements definition and prioritization for a first‑to‑market B2B e‑commerce service.
  • Led requirements and testing efforts—developing test plans, test cases, and defect-tracking processes to maintain quality and transparency through delivery.
  • Facilitated sessions with technical and business stakeholders to model current and future-state processes and align on iterative delivery milestones.
  • Supported reverse-engineering of legacy applications to inform modernization decisions and establish standardization across business units.
  • Coordinated with development teams to translate business rules into clear acceptance criteria and supported release validation activities.
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  Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC.

  Project Manager and Senior Business Analyst

  Jan 1990 - Jan 1998

  Ameriprise Financial is a large financial services company providing financial planning, investment management, asset protection, retirement planning, and insurance solutions.

  • Held progressive roles supporting enterprise projects, financial operations, and executive leadership with a focus on process improvement and operational clarity.
  • Acted as project manager and process consultant to lead cross-functional teams in assessing and improving operational workflows and financial tools.
  • Supported field leadership as a financial generalist—managing budgeting, expense oversight, compensation queries, and developing training materials to support new systems.
  • Facilitated departmental strategic planning and produced analyses on industry and competitive conditions to inform leadership decision-making.
  • Worked directly with senior marketing leadership as an executive assistant, contributing to competitive analysis, workforce engagement initiatives, and stakeholder coordination.