Client Impact: A Conversation with Amy Buckner Chowdhry

At Clearsight, we sought to discover the broader effects of our team’s work. As such, we explored one of our core values, Impact, to try to assess the “greater good.” We learned many of our former clients have put their post-transaction resources and time toward community and philanthropic engagements. We are proud to have played a part in enabling these individuals to fuel their passions and enhance the broader community. This Client Impact series highlights these entrepreneurs, their positive works, and the greater effect on the community.

Amy Buckner Chowdhry is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former Clearsight client. Amy served as CEO of AnswerLab since founding the firm in 2004. The firm received an investment from Shamrock Capital in September 2022, enabling the Company to bring its human-centered culture and conscious company framework to more people and brands. Clearsight caught up with Amy to discuss her recent transition from CEO to Board Chair of AnswerLab, and her various philanthropic initiatives centered around her home state of Tennessee. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Clearsight Advisors (CA): Thank you for joining us, and congratulations on transitioning from CEO to Board Chair of AnswerLab!

Amy Buckner Chowdhry (ABC): Thank you! This transition represents an exciting evolution for AnswerLab. Megan Malli brings exactly the leadership experience and vision needed for our company’s next chapter. Our strong alignment on values and strategy has enabled a seamless transition. While I remain deeply engaged as Board Chair, this shift creates opportunities for new perspectives and leadership growth throughout the organization. After 20 years, it’s the right moment to take on a different role in supporting AnswerLab’s continued success.

CA: Speaking of other hats, can you walk us through your approach to philanthropy?

ABC: My philanthropic journey has been shaped by both my roots in East Tennessee and my experiences building a national business. When my husband and I returned to Tennessee post-pandemic, I saw an opportunity to create meaningful local impact. While I previously focused on national initiatives, I’ve found that deeply understanding and addressing community needs can drive profound change.

Tennessee’s childhood well-being metrics highlighted three critical areas demanding attention:

First, childhood trauma prevention. The statistics are sobering – 1 in 10 children experience sexual abuse before age 18. Through organizations like New Hope Children’s Advocacy Center, which supported 250 children in Q3 2024 alone, we’re working to both address and prevent childhood trauma.

Second, food security. With 45,000 children facing food insecurity in East Tennessee, and Blount County’s 12.5% rate exceeding both state and national averages, we saw an urgent need. This led us to establish a foundation-backed organic farm specifically focused on providing fresh produce to food-insecure communities and addressing food deserts.

Third, environmental education and outdoor engagement. When children spend only 4-7 minutes outside daily versus five hours on screens, we risk raising a generation disconnected from nature. Through partnerships with organizations like the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont, we’re creating immersive outdoor education experiences that develop environmental stewardship and leadership skills.

CA: How did you decide to get involved in areas that supported your mission?

ABC: Our approach is fundamentally future-focused, considering the society we want to build over the next 10-30 years. This vision centers on ensuring children are protected from trauma, have their basic needs met, develop strong connections to their environment, and acquire crucial critical thinking skills. The compelling stories and statistics I encountered upon returning to Tennessee made the urgency of these issues impossible to ignore. When you witness these challenges firsthand, the imperative to act becomes clear.

CA: You mentioned starting a farm as part of your philanthropic initiatives, how have you found that experience?

ABC: Starting Full Belly Farm has been both humbling and extremely rewarding. Located in Walland, TN, in the Smoky Mountain foothills, the farm represents our commitment to sustainable community impact. We’ve spent our first year developing our organic farming expertise – optimizing crop selection, understanding yield patterns, and implementing sustainable pest management practices. We’ve assembled an experienced team, including local farming experts, whose deep knowledge of the land has been invaluable. And, we’ve leveraged AI tools like Claude to help us think through scale, a three-year operating plan, and the financial resources required to hit our target numbers of families to serve.  By next year, we’ll have refined our production model to consistently serve local food banks and other community organizations with organic produce.

CA: What similarities and differences are there in founding a business and a non-profit?

ABC: Both require precise problem definition, strategic collaboration, and measurable outcomes. Whether in business or social impact, success starts with deeply understanding the core challenge and identifying the right partners to create solutions.

The farm, though currently small-scale, exemplifies this approach. We’ve prioritized finding experienced talent in local farming whose intimate knowledge of the land and growing conditions proves invaluable – just as domain expertise is crucial in any business venture.

Both organizations are deeply mission-driven. AnswerLab focuses on improving human experiences through digital product development, while Full Belly Farm addresses human well-being through food security and community support.

The entrepreneurial mindset of maximizing impact per dollar invested applies equally. Whether scaling a business or a foundation, we constantly evaluate resource allocation against potential outcomes. Each investment decision weighs operational efficiency against community impact, ensuring we optimize our ability to address food insecurity effectively.

CA: Your entrepreneurial spirit is a common thread, whether it’s non-profit or for profit. And in knowing AnswerLab, the firm stays true to its core values. How is that manifesting in this next chapter with your farm?

ABC: We’ve developed our foundation’s core values with the same intentionality that shaped AnswerLab’s culture. These principles guide our community engagement, environmental stewardship, and long-term strategy development. We emphasize inclusivity, empathy, and deep understanding of the communities we serve – values that mirror AnswerLab’s commitment to human-centered research and improvement. Both organizations share a fundamental mission of understanding people’s needs and creating positive change in their lives.

CA: Can you expand on how you kept AnswerLab’s values at the center of your deal process to ensure the company was set up well with the right partner?

ABC: Success in transaction processes stems from absolute clarity about desired outcomes. Beyond financial considerations, I sought a private equity partner whose growth philosophy and values genuinely aligned with ours. This clarity helped filter out misaligned opportunities and identify truly compatible partners.

The right partner proves invaluable during crucial decisions. Shamrock stood out for their demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion – not just in words, but in their own organizational makeup and actions. This alignment manifested concretely when they readily agreed to include diverse candidate pool requirements for executive positions in our purchase agreement.

Finding a partner who shares your fundamental values transforms potentially challenging moments into opportunities for collaboration vs. top-down management. Clearsight’s understanding of these priorities was instrumental in facilitating this alignment.

CA: We appreciate that and hope AnswerLab’s success continues. What do you see for the future, five to ten years out, with everything you’re involved in?

ABC: For AnswerLab, I’m enthusiastic about our role in shaping responsible AI development. We’re positioned to help companies navigate the ethical and financially impactful implementation of AI and machine learning, ensuring these technologies truly serve human needs through accurate, unbiased data and iterative improvement.

Full Belly Farm’s growth strategy follows a startup mindset – establishing clear metrics for volume, yield, and community impact before scaling thoughtfully. Our vision includes expanding our capacity while maintaining our commitment to quality and community service.

Across all of these social impact initiatives, my sole focus remains on scaling impact efficiently to create lasting positive change in our community.

Amy Buckner Chowdhry is a former Clearsight Advisors client. The names and marks of other companies or their services or products may be the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify such companies or their services or products and not to indicate endorsement, sponsorship, or ownership by Clearsight Advisors. The information, views, opinions, and positions expressed by in this conversation are those of the individual who made the statement and do not necessarily reflect the policies, views, opinions, and positions of Clearsight Advisors. 

Sources: Children’s Advocacy Centers of Tennessee, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Feeding America Map the Meal Gap, Outward Bound