Local entrepreneur launches nonprofit consulting firm

Jessica Munday, the owner and founder of Trio Solutions Inc. (TRIO), a Mount Pleasant-based marketing agency, has launched Cloud Nine Nonprofit Advisors in partnership with Jessica Kersey Rodriguez out of South Florida. The business will be headquartered in Fort Lauderdale with a satellite office in the Charleston market. The founders have more than 40 years of combined experience working in the social sector. Cloud Nine will focus on amplifying giving, strengthening teams and connecting changemakers to help nonprofits elevate their organization.

Rodriguez is a Fort Lauderdale resident who began her nonprofit career working at Trident United Way. She relocated to Miami in 2010 and prior to starting Cloud Nine worked as a development and marketing executive with several well-respected nonprofits, including Arc Broward, United Way and Habitat for Humanity. She is also a board member of Leadership Broward and is passionate about working with organizations that serve individuals with disabilities.

Munday and Rodriguez worked together nearly 20 years ago at TRIO when Rodriguez was the company’s first employee. The two have remained close over the years and began brainstorming the concept for Cloud Nine last year after observing the crucial need for nonprofits to elevate their impact so communities can further benefit from the services provided by charitable organizations.

“When you have a passion for the greater good, it’s virtually impossible to not go into solutions mode when you see a need,” shares Rodriguez. “After years of working in the social sector, we wanted to put our talents to use in a way that we believe will make a bigger impact. We quickly realized we needed to launch Cloud Nine.”

Munday, a 20-year entrepreneur, explains, “Whether the entity is nonprofit or for-profit, it must be profitable to succeed. Charitable causes have evolved into social investment opportunities that can result in valuable returns of social progress. We want to help our clients build upon the value of that progress.”

Rodriguez and Munday agree that more headway is needed to solve the issues that nonprofits and communities face and feel Cloud Nine can help. Cloud Nine has a mission to help nonprofits transcend the challenges they face, and the two partners believe that when nonprofits thrive, communities rise. To learn more about Cloud Nine, visit www.thrivewithcloud9.com.

Originally from North Carolina, Rodriguez received her degree in business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to relocating to South Florida, she resided in Charleston, SC, where she worked for TRIO as a director overseeing agency operations and client relations. In 2007, she pursued her career in the nonprofit sector and grew over the years to serve in several leadership positions with some of the most well-respected nonprofits in the country. Rodriguez will serve as the managing partner for Cloud Nine. She lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband Mario and their two children.

Munday, also a North Carolina native, has more than 25 years dedicated to the marketing profession. She received her master’s degree in healthcare administration from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and has a business management and marketing degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She is a founding member of EO Charleston and served as an adjunct professor for more than 10 years at the College of Charleston and MUSC. Munday will continue to lead TRIO as CEO and serve as an active partner in Cloud Nine. She lives in Charleston with her husband Jamie and their three children.