What Makes Us Different

“I have enjoyed working with you and would welcome the opportunity to do so in the future.  You manage people and processes very well; have a welcome flexibility while also knowing when to call it; get work done efficiently; and are just plain smart.” 
Linda Shopes, Folklorist

We are thought leaders.

We have played key roles in sustainable development, cultural tourism, asset development, community action and economic development fields and can leverage our in-house resources to provide assistance in areas such as strategic planning, human resources, marketing, evaluation, project design and organizational development. From our years of consulting experience, and our graduate study in our respective fields, we have learned how to develop and implement recommendations that are driven by and specific to your organization. We have taught in our fields, we have written in our fields, and we have contributed to what is accepted as best practice. Our records of accomplishments have been recognized by major foundations, financial institutions, universities and nonprofit agencies that have engaged us to help develop, launch and evaluate far-reaching community service and economic development programs.

We listen.

We want to understand your organization – its culture, history and values.  Without this we know that our reports, ideas and suggestions will not meet your needs.  We seek to design for our clients those solutions that achieve the greatest result within their context and situation. Our approach respects all stakeholders involved in our clients’ organizations and fosters collaboration among their key leaders, support staff and beneficiaries.  We are particularly helpful in supporting clients’ efforts to achieve the visions they have for their organizations and providing an array of interdisciplinary support services to help them do so.

We develop practical solutions.

Since we have managed our own projects and organizations, we know that it takes leadership, money and a network to implement projects.  As we work with you on practical solutions, we consider your potential as well as your current capacities.  And we understand practical solutions have the greatest probability of success and long-term sustainability. With our personal and professional networks, which are among the most extensive in the nonprofit and social enterprise service sectors, we can connect our clients to business and learning opportunities. 

We have conducted projects and evaluations for foundations, nonprofit organizations and for federal and state governments.  We design our work in compliance with funder and client requirements, and we provide recommendations that focus our clients on what can be learned from the experience and how they might apply it in the future to improve their programs, services and operations.