May 22, 2014
Talk to Iwona Stoszko for just a few minutes about her career and educational pursuits, and you'll realize she's excellent at managing her time and serious about reaching her goals. In fact, Iwona has both had a job and taken college classes since beginning her undergraduate career.
"I've worked ever since I graduated from high school," she said. "I graduated about six months early and then had six months free so I definitely wanted to work."
Iwona was born in southern Poland and moved with her family to the Chicago area when she was 9 years old, living in the city of broad shoulders ever since. Iwona takes classes at DePaul University in downtown Chicago, where she's been on the dean's list since the spring of 2012, while also serving as an accounting clerk at First Nonprofit Group. This arrangement allows her to further her education – she'll graduate in June 2015 with a bachelor of science degree in accountancy – with practical experience in her field. One of her goals for the future is to become certified as a CPA.
In the office
A typical day at First Nonprofit Group sees Iwona handle unemployment payments to state agencies and deal with operations in the accounts receivable department. She also provides nonprofit clients with updates on account information and works on year-end underwriting efforts as well. First Nonprofit is celebrating Iwona's one-year anniversary at the company in May 2014.
"I never thought I'd work with nonprofits," she said. "I thought it was interesting because I had never worked in that field. The job being in the accounting department was definitely a plus. You truly do learn a lot, working with nonprofits."
Two of Iwona's favorite parts of working at First Nonprofit Group are her fellow co-workers – she looks forward to coming to the office each day – and the company's mission.
"Working with nonprofits and helping them manage their unemployment needs, that's actually a big plus of coming to work," she said.
At home
Although Iwona spends much of her time working hard on her career and education, she enjoys pursuing her hobbies in her free time. She loves to cook; particularly Italian, eastern European and classic American dishes, and she's working on her barbecue skills as well. Iwona's favorite vacation spot is a deserted island in the Bahamas that she got to visit in high school and wants to return to at some point. She also likes finding new shows to watch on Netflix and recently finished Breaking Bad, which she said she enjoyed greatly.
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We first started using First Nonprofit’s Unemployment Savings Program when we were a small startup nonprofit. We didn’t have an HR department and needed expertise in the event that an unemployment claim was made. We knew we were eligible to be a reimbursing employer, but weren’t sure how to navigate that process. They made it easy to set things up, plan for, and then manage claims when they came at a very reasonable cost. The amount of time and stress they’ve saved us dealing with all this has been worth way more than the cost. We’ve now grown to a large nonprofit and do have an HR department but have no plans to stop using their services. I highly recommend them to every nonprofit I come into contact with!
Throughout our membership in the Unemployment Savings Program, First Nonprofit understood our demands, community dynamics, and the importance of seamless services; that allowed us to serve our constituents better.
Because INCS advocates for the operating conditions that allow charter public schools to provide high quality public education, partnering with First Nonprofit was an easy decision. First Nonprofit’s unemployment programs provide our member schools two operating elements crucial to their ability to provide high quality public education: savings and budget certainty. Capable, committed teachers are the key to student success. By participating in the unemployment insurance savings plan, charter public schools gain peace of mind and are able to invest more money in their teachers.
It has been our sincere pleasure to maintain a strong, vibrant business partnership with First Nonprofit. We greatly admire their strong industry knowledge, technical expertise, constant professionalism, knowledgeable and dedicated staff. They are always extremely responsive, personable and provide us with the necessary guidance and recommendations on a numerous variety of employment scenarios.
NYCON members who use First Nonprofit’s programs enjoy enduring savings and improved efficiency. Our association knows that success, because from the beginning, we achieved the same great benefits. Great savings, seamless technology, and responsive service. NYCON highly recommends First Nonprofit’s remarkable unemployment solutions.
Visually Impaired Preschool Services has been a client of First Non-Profit since it was first offered as a benefit of VisionServe Alliance. We completed a thorough evaluation of cash savings to our agency before taking advantage of this wonderful benefit and it has been a very wise decision. Our experience with the processes from accounting to claims have been professional, expeditious and easy.
Luckily for us, our interactions regarding any issues with staffing has been very minimal! I can say that all other interactions with regards to billing, 941 reporting, etc. have been extremely pleasant, accommodating and easy to work with. Kim Ghanayem is always prompt, professional and friendly. Thank you so much!
First Nonprofit has been easy to work with and makes the administrative process easier and smoother. We enjoy working with you.