Our Story & The Driving Force Behind FSG
About Us
We are a boutique consulting firm bringing over 25 years of leadership and fundraising experience to small and mid-size nonprofits.
Before founding FSG, founder and CEO Jaye Smith dedicated two years to leading a $20 million philanthropic start-up initiative. With a profound understanding of the challenges faced by nonprofits, Jaye launched FSG in 2023, aiming to empower mission-driven organizations, leaders, and teams to improve their performance, relationships, and results through strategic fundraising, board management, grant writing, and search services.
Our Story
About Jaye
Launched in 2023, Boston-based FSG Consultants LLC (FSG) partners with nonprofit leaders, board members, and their teams to drive growth and meaningful change. FSG provides strategic consulting in fundraising strategy, leadership coaching, board management, and executive search, with a mission to strengthen the infrastructure and impact of mission-driven organizations.
Jaye’s leadership is informed by lived experience as a nonprofit CEO, board chair, and advancement executive. She is known for her results-driven, intuitive, and relationship-centered approach that helps organizations and people thrive. Clients consistently describe Jaye and FSG Consultants as transformative partners—valued for their strategic clarity, ability to navigate complex challenges, and talent for facilitating meaningful dialogue that builds confidence and accelerates progress.
Since founding FSG, Jaye has supported a range of nonprofits across Massachusetts, guiding executive teams and boards through fundraising assessments, infrastructure redesigns, leadership transitions, and culture shifts that result in measurable philanthropic growth and organizational alignment. FSG’s client testimonials highlight Jaye as “a brilliant listener,” and “a trusted thought partner who turns possibility into strategy and execution.”
Prior to establishing FSG, Jaye was the founding Chief Executive Officer of The Martin Trust Partnership in Education for Early Learners (TEL), a $20M start-up, where she built the board, donor base, and key strategic alliances. She has also held senior advancement roles at Simmons University, The Dimock Center, and Nurtury Early Education—securing 8–10% of annual operating budgets through individual, corporate, and foundation giving.
Jaye currently serves as Board Chair of TSNE (formerly Third Sector New England) and as a board member of Children’s Services of Roxbury. She is active in Philanthropy Massachusetts, Women in Development of Greater Boston (WID), Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC), and the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA). Jaye also volunteers with Cummings Foundation and is a former board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Massachusetts (AFPMA).
A skilled facilitator and former Lesley University guest lecturer, Jaye is sought after for her ability to lead organizations through change with rigor, faith, strength, and grace. She resides in Boston, MA with her husband and daughters. Fun Fact: Jaye won a 2024 baking challenge judged by Joanne Chang, the Owner of Flour Bakery and James Beard Foundation Award winner!
