Devi Raja

Ex-Bain • MBA • Partner at Aim & Arrow Group • Professor (University of Chicago) • Mom of 3

My Background

I began my career at Bain & Company, working the long hours and learning the rigor of top-tier management consulting. Later, I shifted into social impact strategy, becoming a partner at Aim & Arrow Group, where I’ve advised leaders of national coalitions and grassroots nonprofits alike. Along the way, I’ve also taught management at the University of Chicago.

My lived experience

I stepped off the traditional paycheck path with one clear conviction: I wanted to be the primary presence in my children’s lives. Over time, I rebuilt my career on my own terms. I’ve sustained Bain-level hours, stayed home full-time, freelanced, worked part-time in corporate, and now run my own consulting firm while raising three children. Each season required me to reinvent—and I used the same system every time.

In many professional spaces, family life was invisible, or treated like a “cost center” to manage down. Meanwhile, at home, the demands were just as relentless as at work. I felt deeply alone in caring so much about both spheres. My kids weren’t something to manage—they were (and are) the joy and the center. I needed a system strong enough to let me honor that truth and thrive in demanding, purpose-driven work.

Why this system exists

 The frameworks I developed for myself grew alongside the strategy tools I used with my consulting clients. Purpose-driven leaders—working with scarce resources on high-stakes challenges—needed the same kind of system to sustain presence and impact across their whole lives. What worked for them worked for me, and vice versa. Strategy proved to be timeless.

How I live today

My life is intentionally designed. I garden, volunteer, and serve on the PTA because those are the things I choose. And there are things I don’t do—also by design. That’s alignment.

My philosophy