SERVICES

STRATEGY

Whether you’re creating a new program from scratch or rebooting an existing initiative, I can help you ensure alignment between your goals, success metrics, and day-to-day operations. I’ve gained a reputation as a master theory of change practitioner through past work with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the State Government of Victoria (Australia), the City of Boston, ArtsWave, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and Fractured Atlas. You can view a sample theory of change I developed for the Effective Institutions Project here.

ASSOCIATED SERVICES

  • Vision definition/refinement
  • Strategic planning
  • Theory of change
  • Board retreat facilitation
  • Feasibility studies
  • Change management

SAMPLE PROJECT

In 2019, I created a new theory of change, grant guidelines, application form, review criteria, and evaluation framework for the ACLU’s Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives department, helping the organization reimagine nearly $25 million in annual capacity grants to 54 state and territorial chapter organizations.

Knowledge

I am an expert at finding the signal in the noise and expressing complex ideas in plain language. As founder and CEO of the internationally acclaimed think tank Createquity, I critically evaluated hundreds of research studies and publications either on my own or through managing, editing and training the work of others. Since then, I’ve helped clients such as Omidyar Network and the Center for Evaluation Innovation quickly get up to speed on what evidence tells us (or doesn’t) about a field or a particular research question.

ASSOCIATED SERVICES

  • Landscape analysis
  • Grant research & due diligence
  • Impact measurement frameworks
  • Learning agendas
  • Research conceptualization & design
  • Research synthesis
  • Publication editing & review

SAMPLE PROJECT

In 2021, I conducted a literature review for Omidyar Network to help its Learning & Impact team design organization-wide accountability systems that incentivize smart decision-making habits and practices as an alternative to traditional outcomes-based accountability.

DECISION-MAKING

Are you wrestling with a dilemma and not sure how to resolve it? My decision support service can guide your organization through the process of predicting the outcomes of the alternative options available to you and offer a data-informed perspective on the best way to achieve your goals. If you’re just looking to get your feet wet, I offer a no-obligation decision inventory service to help you identify and prioritize the major decisions you need to make in the coming months. And if it’s training you need, I’ve been giving workshops on strategic decision-making since 2013 and have experience teaching principles of decision science to hundreds of professionals at all skill levels.

ASSOCIATED SERVICES

  • Decision inventories
  • Decision modeling and support
  • Strategic decision-making workshops
  • Grant proposal review/impact management
  • Executive coaching

SAMPLE PROJECT

In 2019, I helped the International Rescue Committee’s Evidence to Action team redesign the evidence-based decision-making process it uses to select humanitarian program interventions across more than 40 countries.

COMMUNITY

Whatever it is we’re trying to do, it’s almost always the case that we can accomplish it better by working together. I’ve been interested in fostering collaborative models to create new opportunities and leverage our diverse strengths ever since my days as a college student, and have founded more than half a dozen organizations and initiatives with exactly that mission in mind. If you’re exploring ways to start or strengthen a community of people and/or organizations trying to make the world a better place, chances are I can help.

ASSOCIATED SERVICES

  • Giving circles
  • Funder collaboratives
  • Field building
  • Communities of practice

SAMPLE PROJECT

In 2020-21, I co-led a giving circle consisting of nearly two dozen tech industry donors seeking time-sensitive and globally neglected opportunities to address the COVID-19 crisis. The published research directly informed more than $400,000 in individual contributions and was used by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to help frame its COVID response grantmaking.