Consulting

THINK BIG, START SMALL™

ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES

Partnering for Change

We have helped businesses, foundations, government agencies and a broad range of other mission driven organizations “think BIG” as they clarify their visions of success and then develop effective strategies to help them achieve those visions.

We have worked with more than a hundred mission-driven organizations to:

♦ Help their staff clarify their visions of success and troubleshoot thorny challenges
♦ Build stronger connections among staff and between staff and board members
♦ Custom design engagement initiatives for them
♦ Help them design their own leadership initiatives

 

The level of engagement in the room this year was truly extraordinary.

Wow! This year’s Vermont Leadership Institute day was the best ever. After the amazing work you have done with these groups for us over the past twelve years, that is saying a lot! The level of engagement in the room this year was truly extraordinary. You are amazing in the way you can engage such a diverse group of people and help each one find something of real value to them. Several of the associates mentioned how much they appreciated the time you took to learn about them and to connect with them very personally. The way you use your energy, your personal style and stories, the examples that illustrate the 'hot tips', all create a genuine atmosphere of fun and possibility, allowing people to really be introspective without feeling 'touchy-feely'.

Judy Warriner Walke
Director, Vermont Leadership Institute

2018-03-14T14:23:18+00:00

Judy Warriner Walke
Director, Vermont Leadership Institute


…amazingly successful in reaching wildly different kinds of people and customizing programs to our particular needs

Jeff’s work with us has been immensely successful on a number of fronts. Staff morale got a noticeable boost, cohesion increased, and people found new specific ways to improve or arrange their work in order to reduce stress and burnout. New and more creative ideas about programs, community interactions, and cross-collaborations came as a direct result of staff interactions with Jeff. The plans that emerged have been concrete, and do-able.  We have a greatly expanded sense of what is possible. What has been particularly striking about the way Jeff works is that he has been able to “customize” his programs and his delivery of them to our particular needs, and the variations in the particular individuals in the groups we had him work with. Jeff brings an array of tools, a widely applicable set of strategies, attention to feasibility, outcomes, and follow-through and an energy that is amazingly successful in reaching wildly different kinds of people.

Monica Hargraves, Cornell Cooperative Extension

2018-03-14T14:21:02+00:00

Monica Hargraves, Cornell Cooperative Extension


…we’re much more productive and enthusiastic about our jobs.

There is a long list of creative ways in which Jeff has helped the City of Prince George overcome challenges and effect positive cultural change. After taking taking Jeff's workshop, we restructured our division and the portfolios of the existing staff so that each person was able to focus on the type of work that most fired them up. The fact that each of the HR team members is now focusing on work that they are excited about and interested in is hugely beneficial to the organization in other ways, because we're much more productive and enthusiastic about our jobs. As well, the workshop created even stronger bonds between our team members and we have now sent our whole team through Jeff's workshop.

Rae-Ann Emery
Director of Human Resources, City of Prince George, British Columbia

2018-03-14T14:23:46+00:00

Rae-Ann Emery
Director of Human Resources, City of Prince George, British Columbia

We have helped foundations:

♦ Re-design their approaches to philanthropic giving

♦ Support senior staff members to clarify their own visions of success and re-write their job descriptions

♦ Bring together some of their grantees from the same community to explore opportunities for collaboration

♦ Bring together some of their grantees from different parts of the same state to participate in our “Building On Success” leadership training and coaching initiative (CLICK HERE)

…your knack for pushing for clarity was instrumental…

Jeff, we are now launching the most exciting and strategic programmatic efforts for the Foundation that got hatched and nurtured through the grants restructuring effort you led us through. Our organizational effectiveness is vastly improved thanks to your help in developing strategy that helps meet our dual mission of impactful grantmaking and increasing philanthropy in the state. Even more than that I appreciate all that you have done for me personally with my professional life and personal aspirations. Again, your knack for pushing for clarity was instrumental in helping me step further into my own leadership and define my vision of success for myself. I’m more energized and thriving at work now thanks to my work with you and it shows. You are a wonderful person with such a generous spirit.

Jen Peterson
Vermont Community Foundation, V.P. Community Grantmaking

2018-03-14T14:22:50+00:00

Jen Peterson
Vermont Community Foundation, V.P. Community Grantmaking

 

SOME OF THE CLIENTS FOR WHICH WE HAVE PROVIDED CONSULTING SERVICES

The State of Vermont

The City of Ithaca, New York

The Vermont Community Foundation. Middlebury, Vermont.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Morristown, New Jersey.

Cornell University. Ithaca, New York.

The Sustainable Communities Initiative. Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Vermont Leadership Institute

The Canadian Minister of Justice. Ottawa, Ontario.

Ben and Jerry’s Foundation. S. Burlington, Vermont.

Institute For Sustainable Communities. Montpelier, Vermont.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation. Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Cornell Cooperative Extension. Ithaca, New York.

Tompkins County Solid Waste Management Division. Ithaca, New York.

Outright Vermont. Burlington, Vermont.

York University. Toronto, Ontario.

University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont.

Partnership For Change Burlington, Vermont

The Snelling Center for Government. Burlington, Vermont.

The Freeman Foundation’s Nurse Leadership Project, Burlington, Vermont.

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Seattle, Washington.

The Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. Seattle, Washington.

Northern Utilities Natural Gas Company. Durham, N.H. and Lewiston-Auburn, Maine.
Bay State Gas Company. Westborough, Massachusetts.

Sisters of Charity Health System, Inc./Healthier Communities Initiative. Lewiston, Maine.

Chattanooga Venture/Lyndhurst Foundation. Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. Montpelier, Vermont.

Center For Living Democracy. Brattleboro, Vermont.

See extended list of selected clients. Many of these were clients for whom we provided consulting services.