Compensation and people strategy for mission-driven organizations

Better pay decisions.
Stronger organizations.

I help nonprofits, foundations and education organizations build fair, practical compensation systems — and strengthen how they organize work, manage performance and lead people.

Explore how I can help Meet Shen
Senior-level expertise. One-on-one partnership. No unnecessary complexity.
A clearer way to workScroll to explore

Nonprofit-specific perspectiveBuilt around the realities of mission-driven organizations.

Experience from the insideFormer senior People executive, not just an outside advisor.

Direct, practical partnershipWork with me from the first conversation through implementation.

Services

The right systems make
hard decisions easier.

Compensation is at the heart of my work. I also help organizations make thoughtful, practical choices about structure, performance and leadership.

PRIMARY SPECIALTY

Compensation
& pay equity

A sound compensation system does more than produce salary numbers. It gives leaders a clear, defensible way to make pay decisions — and helps employees understand how those decisions are made.

Market benchmarkingSalary structures & job levelingPay equity analysisCompensation philosophyCommunication & education
FROM DATA TO DECISIONS
A CLEAR PAY STRUCTURE
Role level A
Role level B
Role level C
LOWER PAY MIDPOINTHIGHER PAY →
Evidence
→
Framework
→
Clarity

Illustrative framework — not client or market data.

An example from my work

A clearer basis for pay decisions.

A nonprofit compensation engagement

What leaders valued

Leadership feedback highlighted clear explanations, thoughtful recommendations and the value of having a steady sounding board.

The need

Salary ranges were based on older market data, and some job titles no longer matched the work. Leaders needed a consistent way to make pay decisions and explain them to staff.

My work

I benchmarked roles, developed a compensation philosophy and salary-grade structure with leadership, and created guidance for promotion pay and staff conversations. I also helped leaders work through difficult leveling decisions.

The impact

The organization aligned staff roles with the new structure, creating a more consistent basis for pay and promotion decisions and supporting internal equity. Leaders continued using the philosophy and benchmarking after the engagement to guide goal-setting and year-end expectations.

ORGANIZATION

Organization design
& role clarity

Clarify what different roles own, how decisions get made and how the organization needs to evolve to support its mission.

Structure · Job design · Decision rights
PERFORMANCE

Performance &
manager development

Build useful feedback, goal-setting and performance practices that help managers lead well — without creating unnecessary process.

Feedback · Goal setting · Manager training
STRATEGY

Talent strategy
& leadership advice

Partner with leaders on practical people-strategy decisions, from retaining talent to navigating organizational change.

Talent planning · Facilitation · Advisory

I focus on strategy, design and helping leaders put good systems into practice.

A guiding belief

Your culture isn't what's written on a wall.
It's built into how you operate.

The way you set pay, define roles, evaluate performance and communicate decisions tells employees what matters. Good systems should reinforce your organization's values — not undermine them.

My approach

How we'll work together.

  1. Understand the real problem

    Start with the organizational context and the decisions you actually need to make.

  2. Build something usable

    Develop clear frameworks grounded in good information, not unnecessary complexity.

  3. Make it work in practice

    Equip your leaders to explain the decisions and use the systems after our work together ends.

THE PERSON BEHIND THE PRACTICE The founder of SKL HR Consulting, smiling in a burgundy shirt and glasses.
Experience from the inside.
Perspective from the outside.

About me

I'm Shenkiat (Shen) Lim.Compensation and people strategy.

Founder of SKL HR Consulting.

Before starting this practice, I spent my career leading People work at mission-driven organizations — most recently as Chief People & Equity Officer at Education First. I've also held leadership roles at the Scratch Foundation, New Profit, City Year and Teach For America.

I've been in the position of making difficult people decisions with real-world constraints. I bring that perspective to every engagement, combining technical rigor with the practical judgment to make recommendations that fit your organization.

When we work together, you work directly with me — from the first conversation to the finished work.

PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Education First · Scratch Foundation · New Profit · City Year · Teach For America

Get in touch

Who I work with

For organizations doing
work that matters.

I partner with executive directors, People and HR leaders, COOs and other decision-makers at nonprofits, foundations and education organizations. I also collaborate with other consultants who need specialist compensation expertise.

Start a conversation

Have a people challenge?
Let's work through it.

Tell me a little about your organization and what you're trying to solve. We can talk through whether working together makes sense.

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HOW I WORK

Independent consultant working directly with clients from first conversation through final deliverable.

FIND ME ONLINE

Connect with Shen on LinkedIn