Today we’d like to introduce you to Monique Roberts.
Hi Monique , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story doesn’t really have one clean starting point — there are layers to it. I’m a United States Air Force veteran. I served from 1997 to 2006, and honestly, a lot of how I think and operate got shaped there. The discipline, the systems thinking, the ability to function under pressure without falling apart — that didn’t come from a course. That came from service.
When I transitioned out, life happened. All of it. Marriage, kids, pivots, hard seasons, figuring out who I was outside of a uniform. But what kept showing up — no matter what was going on around me — was this ability to see structure in chaos and strategy in situations where other people just saw a mess. That’s not something I learned. That’s just how I’m built.
So I built around it. Over the years I’ve worked with over 150 clients — businesses, nonprofits, founders, executives — helping them get organized, get funded, and get moving in the right direction. I’ve helped organizations get IRS approval, built governance frameworks, sat in both leadership and advisory roles, and done the kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure work that most people never see but everybody benefits from. I’m also a published author and a ghostwriter, because strategy and language have always lived in me at the same time — I’ve just learned how to monetize both.
Where I am right now is very intentional. 2026 is a visibility year for me — but not because I’m just arriving. It’s because I’ve been building long enough that the visibility actually means something now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No. Absolutely not. And I think it would be doing people a disservice to pretend otherwise.
One of the bigger things I’ve had to learn to navigate is just — the way my brain works. I’m neurodivergent. And for a long time that felt like a problem to solve. You’re moving fast, you’re seeing connections other people haven’t gotten to yet, you’re processing ten things simultaneously — but the world isn’t set up for that. So you spend a lot of energy trying to fit into systems that were never built for how you think. Eventually I just stopped fighting it and started building around it instead. That was a turning point for me.
I have also had health challenges, and that has been its own chapter. In 2009 I was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension that progressed over the years, causing multiple neurological symptoms and deficits. I’ve had multiple brain surgeries — one of them open (2023) — and that’s not something you just bounce back from. It affects everything. Your recovery, your confidence, your relationship with your own mind. There were seasons where I couldn’t show up the way I was used to showing up, and I still had to figure out how to keep going. That was hard. I’m not going to dress it up.
And then there’s something that’s a little harder to articulate, which is doing really high-level work for a long time and not having the support infrastructure that matches what you’re actually doing. Building behind the scenes. Holding a lot. And just knowing what you carry while you wait for everything else to catch up. That’s its own kind of challenge.
I don’t say any of this for sympathy. I say it because somebody needs to hear that it can be genuinely hard and still be the right road.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about MoRob & Co/The Nonprofit Strategist ?
So MoRob & Co. is my boutique consulting firm, and The Nonprofit Strategist is really the specialty lane that lives within it. That’s probably what most people know me for, at least professionally.
At the core, what I do is help people build real infrastructure. Not just the idea — the actual foundation underneath it. Entity formation, governance, funding strategy, operational systems. The stuff that determines whether what you’re building is going to last or quietly fall apart because nobody built it right the first time.
The nonprofit space is where I’ve done a lot of my deepest work. I’ve worked with over 150 clients and I’ve maintained close to a hundred percent IRS approval rating for the organizations I’ve helped form. That’s not something I say casually — that comes from being very intentional and very methodical about the process. I don’t rush it and I don’t cut corners because a client is in a hurry.
What sets me apart — honestly — is the depth of the strategic layer. A lot of people can help you file paperwork. What I bring is the thinking behind the paperwork. Understanding not just how to get something approved but how to build something that’s actually going to function, attract funding, and hold up over time. I keep my client load small on purpose because the level of attention I give doesn’t work if I’m spread thin.
If you’re building something that actually matters to you, the infrastructure has to match the vision. That’s the work I do. That’s the work that I am most proud of.
In terms of what I want people to actually know — if you’re a founder, a nonprofit leader, someone trying to get an organization off the ground or restructure one that’s already running, this is the work I do. Strategy sessions, formation services, board development, funding readiness, retainer advisory. I work with people who are serious and who have decided and need someone in their corner who knows how to build.
What matters most to you? Why?
That’s one of those questions I had to actually sit with for a second.
Because a lot of things matter to me. My family, the people I serve, what I’m building, what I’m leaving behind. So it wasn’t an instant answer. But when I really got honest about it — purpose. That’s what everything else hinges on.
When I’m actually walking in what I’m built for, what I’m called to, the rest of it lines up. The right people show up. The work feels like work but not like a grind. What I’m building actually means something. When I’m off that — doing things that are close to my lane but not quite it — everything is harder than it needs to be. I’ve lived that version too, and I know the difference.
So I run everything through that filter. My business, how I show up for my family, what I say yes to and what I let go. Is this mine to do? Am I the right person for this? Does this connect to and align with what I’m actually here for? If the answer is no, it’s probably not for me, regardless of how good it looks on the surface.
Purpose isn’t just something I talk about professionally. It’s genuinely how I operate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.morobertsofficial.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/@iammorob
- LinkedIn: https://linkedIn.com/in/monique-roberts-2941183b6
- Other: https://linktr.ee/iammorob
