Connecting for a better world

Our Clients

We are grateful to partner with a range of small and large clients and groups of clients in different sectors. Clients and brief descriptions of some of our work with them are noted below. ** indicates a repeat client.

 

Philanthropic Organizations

We partner with grant makers to understand issues and key players, identify best practices, and craft effective grant making strategies.

  • Annie E. Casey Foundation - Facilitating conversations about evaluation of public policy change efforts. Providing seminars at Duke University on philanthropic practice in education and higher education. (Washington, D.C.) **

  • American Forest Foundation – Providing executive coaching to conservation team staff. (Washington, DC). **

  • Ballmer Philanthropies – Planning and facilitating community collaboration to dramatically increase the number of high-quality foster homes in Washington (Washington)

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Reviewing grantee status and offering strategic advice concerning grant making focus and methods in early learning. Researching and developing thought pieces to inform early learning, youth development and college success initiatives. Identifying potential risk and success indicators. Researching innovative state approaches to human service issues. (Washington State) **

  • Build Initiative - Guiding development of state early learning peer learning events for design of child care and preschool quality rating and improvement systems. (National Association) **

  • Empire Health Foundation - Facilitating development of collaborative approaches that support healing and nurturing family relationships.

  • Exponent Philanthropy - Creating and facilitating seminars on early childhood development, public education, strategic philanthropy and message development. (Duke University, Austin, Dallas and Houston Texas) **

  • Ford Family Foundation – Conducting community research and framing philanthropic strategy options for investment and action in early childhood development in rural communities. (Oregon and California) **

  • Foundation for Tacoma Students – Planning and facilitating sessions to implement a collective impact approach to 3rd grade reading readiness. (Tacoma, Washington)

  • Thomas V. Giddens Jr. Foundation - Planning and facilitating strategic planning to dramatically increase the number of high-quality foster homes in Washington (Washington) **

  • Oregon Community Foundation - Conducting an evaluation of options for better coordinating and improving the quality of parenting education services in the Metropolitan Portland region. Facilitating grantee conference sessions, providing technical assistance regarding governance and communication/cultivation of support. (Metropolitan Portland, Oregon)

  • Perigee Fund - researching and preparing briefing materials for philanthropic and government partners as they expand access to infant and early childhood mental health capacity. (Washington) **

  • Social Venture Partners - Seattle - Designing and facilitating events to strengthen the network of professionals advancing early learning goals across public and private sectors. (Washington State) **

  • Thrive by Five Washington - Facilitating and staffing the Washington State Early Learning Advisory Council. Conducting situation analyses. Providing policy consultation, strategic planning and tactical advice for a public-private partnership advancing early learning initiatives. Developing an Overview of Early Learning in Washington. Using social network analysis, advocacy and community mobilization approaches to support regional coalitions in advocacy efforts for early learning. Drafting an Overview of Early Learning in Washington. Co-facilitating conversations to advance racial equity. (Washington State) **

Government Agencies

We support government agencies, their constituents, and contractors to improve and advance programs that service the human interest.

  • Bellevue College (Washington) – Facilitating strategic planning retreat to consider partnership between Washington State University and Bellevue College to offer a new type four-year degree program. Plan and facilitate opening day event. (Bellevue, Washington).

  • Department of Children, Youth & Families (Washington)– Help ECEAP pilot and implement the Mobility Mentoring® evidence-based family support approach/model. Help ECEAP pilot and implement the Mobility Mentoring® evidence-based family support approach/model. Work with Washington and the National Institute of Early Education Research to develop cost estimates for high quality state preschool programs. Facilitate stakeholder meetings, developing the plan for a future enhanced state preschool program and early math initiatives. Facilitate stakeholder meetings, developing the plan for a future enhanced state preschool program. Facilitating stakeholder meetings, and developing the expansion plan for state preschool. Serving as state expansion strategy lead. Researching and developing tools, facilitating collaboration, and taking action to coordinate recruitment and enrollment of children in prenatal through preschool programs. (Olympia, Washington) **

  • Department of Health (Washington)– Facilitating stakeholder meetings to implement a collective impact approach to expand the Universal Developmental Screening Partnership initiative funded by the state Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant. (Olympia, Washington)

  • Early Learning Division (Oregon) – Researching policy and program initiatives and facilitating the state Early Learning Council to articulate a state Early Learning Master Strategy and Scorecard. (Salem, Oregon)

  • Educational Service District 105 - Facilitating strategic planning events and developing a Theory of Action and other guiding documents.  Consulting on structure of the 2009 and 2010 Summer Institutes, making a keynote presentation and facilitating development of Preschool - 3rd Grade Alignment Plans. (Yakima, Washington)  **

  • Educational Service District 112 - Facilitating a strategic planning retreat for early childhood sections at Washington Educational Service Districts. Writing successful preschool expansion grants. (Washington State) **

  • Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) – Facilitating stakeholder meetings, conducting research and development a Ready and Successful Schools Action Plan. (Washington)

  • Pierce County Libraries Foundation – Facilitating strategic planning and evaluation for a children and families’ initiative. (Tacoma, Washington)

  • Puget Sound ESD – Supporting design and development of Educare center. Researching early learning financial management, budgeting and contracting process for the Learning, Teaching and Family Support Division, facilitating process improvements. Writing preschool and Early Head Start grant proposals. (Renton, Washington) **

  • Texas Health & Human Services Commission – Facilitating change management processes for home visiting programs being integrated into a single agency. (Austin, Texas)

  • Yakima County (Washington) – Researching, facilitating community collaboration and writing the local Project LAUNCH Yakima Action Agenda and Sustainability Plan. (Yakima, Washington)

Not-For-Profits

We walk beside not-for-profit organizations as they expand and innovate in delivering culturally responsive human services.

  • Accelerator YMCA - Creating training modules for law enforcement regarding effective engagement strategies for youth. (Washington)

  • Child Care Aware of Washington – Planning and facilitating Member Council leadership and strategic planning retreats for Washington child care aware agencies delivering QRIS coaching. (Various, Washington) **

  • Children’s Therapy Center - Conducting business landscape research, facilitating strategic planning, enhancing fund development, and establishing new board committees. (King & Pierce Counties, WA) **

  • Circle of Success – Yakima - Presenting a keynote at an annual fundraising event for literacy programs. (Yakima, Washington)

  • Cornish College of the Arts - Facilitating a retreat to revise the Student Services 5-Year Strategic Plan for a fine arts college. (Seattle, Washington)

  • Denise Louie Early Learning Center – Planning, facilitating and documenting instructional practice retreat. Writing successful preschool expansion grant. (Seattle) **

  • EMPath – Facilitate session on intergenerational anti-poverty/economic mobility approaches in early learning programs. (Boston, MA)

  • Family Education & Support Services - Facilitating strategic planning and development of new board committees. (Thurston County, WA) **

  • Holly Ridge Center - Planning and facilitating strategic planning retreats for the Leadership Team and Board of a non-profit that provides services for infants and toddlers and adults with disabilities. (Bremerton, Washington)

  • Hollyhock - Teaching a seminar on Theory of Change to non-profit advocates at the Social Change Institute at Hollyhock Centre. (Cortes Island, British Columbia)

  • HopeSparks - Researching business landscape and facilitating strategic and operational planning. (South Puget Sound)

  • Kindering Center - Facilitating a long-range planning retreat among board members, staff and community supporters for a neuro-developmental center that provides services for children with special needs. (Bellevue, Washington)

  • Life Opportunities Trust - Assessing needs and recommending process, cost and sequencing of the creation of a non-profit trust to create accounts for adults with developmental disabilities. (Olympia, Washington)

  • MultiCare Health Systems - Engaging existing and new partners in multiple cross-sector collaborations to identify and take aligned action in support of children experiencing abuse, children and youth facing mental health challenges, and ASD diagnoses (Pierce County, Washington)

  • Nexus Youth and Family Services (formerly Auburn Youth Resources) – Facilitating planning and development of a business and strategic plan for behavioral health, homeless and other human services for youth and young adults. (Auburn, Washington)

  • Opportunity Council – Planning and facilitating and monthly early childhood leadership professional learning community with an additional focus on creation of a birth-to-twelve continuum of services. (Bellingham, Washington).

  • Seattle University - Guest lecturing on non-profit development and policy advancement in Masters of Non-Profit Management course. (Seattle, Washington)

  • Voices of Tomorrow - Develop annual report.

  • Washington Green Schools – Planning and facilitating Board of Directors Strategic Planning Retreat. (Seattle, Washington)

Collaborations

We plan, facilitate, and support ongoing capacity of collaborations that seek to do work that no one organization can do alone.

  • Early Care and Education Coalition – Born Learning - Create the Early Care and Education Coalition (EC2) a 12-member public-private funders’ collective to improve public will for early learning. Support local coalitions across Washington in mounting the two-pronged Born Learning Washington public engagement campaign to promote nurturing relationships and cultivate local early learning champions resulting in 10,000 face-to face contacts per quarter, numerous published media stories and letters, and meetings with policy makers. (Washington State)

  • First Five FUNdamentals - Providing technical advice and presentation regarding coalition finance and sustainability.

  • Investing in Children - Facilitating regional coalition strategic planning. (Yakima, Washington) 

  • Kids’ Mental Health Pierce County - Facilitating community-wide summits and action teams spanning health care, law enforcement, schools, tribes and community service providers to develop the Kids’ Mental Health-Pierce County coalition and its four-pronged strategy to improve access to behavioral health services for school age children and youth. Provide technical assistance in structuring coalition action teams and governance to maximize impact. (Pierce County)

  • Kids’ Mental Health Washington - Providing technical assistance, facilitation, and support of regional expansion of multi-system response to youth mental health challenges.

  • Northwest Early Learning Coalition - Facilitating regional coalition strategic planning. (Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom Counties)

  • Olympic Kitsap Regional Early Learning Coalition - Facilitating local coalition strategic planning sessions to create a local early learning plan. (Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, Washington)

  • Palouse River Counseling - Facilitating a group of early learning stakeholders in Whitman County to determine interest in collaborating. (Pullman, Washington)

  • Pierce County Children’s Advocacy Center - plan and facilitate collaboration agreements and processes among agencies that create a safe, child-friendly environment where law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, medical and mental health professionals support children and youth who have experienced abuse and assault.

  • Rios de Cultura - Facilitating local coalition strategic planning sessions to create a local Early Learning Plan. Facilitating 2011 Retreat. (Toppenish, Washington)

  • Siskiyou County Child Care Collaborative - Drafting a feasibility study for the Happy Camp Child Care Center, and a toolkit for expansion of child care in Siskiyou County. (Siskiyou County, CA)

  • Snohomish County Children's Commission - Facilitating local coalition strategic planning sessions to create a local Early Learning Plan. (Edmonds, Washington)

  • Support for Early Learning and Families - Facilitating a local coalition strategic planning retreat to revise the local Early Learning Plan and create a non-profit organization. Writing successful regional child care expansion grant. (Vancouver, Washington)

  • Walla Walla Children's Center - Facilitating an initial visioning and strategic planning retreat to create a holistic center for children with special needs in the Walla Walla region

  • Walla Walla Early Learning Coalition - Facilitating stakeholder groups and developing the local Road Map for Early Learning. (Walla Walla, Washington)

Private Businesses

We partner with private business in joint work, as well as supporting organizational positioning, growth, and professional development.

  • Cedar River Group - Working as a sub-contractor, providing conceptual framing, political management and early childhood system technical consultation for the State of Washington Early Learning Plan. (Washington State) **

  • Circle of Security- Spokane - Framing development strategies, creating case materials and cultivating potential funder matches. (Spokane, Washington)

  • Heliotrope - Provide management consultation. (Seattle, Washington)

  • Kasey Langley Consulting - Worked in a consulting team to research family resource centers in Washington State. (Washington)

  • ORS Impact - Facilitating an organizational assessment and re-visioning processes. Providing interim guidance and support for project management.  Planning and facilitating staff retreats. Facilitating organizational design processes. (Seattle, Washington) **

Advocacy Groups

We facilitate stakeholder deliberations about policy barriers and solutions, and build capacity to advocate for effective change.