In philanthropy, everyone knows that foundation leaders and staff have power. But consultants are another group that can have an outsized impact – often unseen, behind closed doors. In advising grantmaker clients, the best and most influential consultants bring to bear deep expertise and rich experience as community change agents, nonprofit leaders or foundation staff to help funders hone organizational strategies, culture, practices and more.
So when NCRP’s Philamplify team began to develop Power Moves: Your essential philanthropy assessment guide for equity and justice in late 2016, we intentionally crafted the guide alongside both funders and other thought leaders through the Power Moves advisory committee. We’re very excited by an element of the project that will continue this deep engagement and which has attracted particular attention: two pilot advisory and peer learning groups – one for an intimate group of grantmakers and one for a cohort of expert consultants.
The primary purpose of the exciting new program for consultants is to inform individual consulting practices with a new set of tools for grantmaker self-assessment; facilitate learning and knowledge sharing among peer consultants in philanthropy; and invite user insights to help NCRP improve and iterate Philamplify tools, resources and engagement strategies.
The 14 incredible participants of this new 12-month pilot program are:
1. Alfonso Wenker, co-founder and principal, Team Dynamics LLC (Minneapolis, MN)
2. Bina M. Patel, CEO and founder, Saathi Impact Consulting (Chicago, IL)
3. Bomani Johnson, founder and principal, Emergent Pathways LLC (Atlanta, GA)
4. Crystal Echo Hawk, president and CEO, Echo Hawk Consulting (Denver, CO)
5. Cynthia Renfro, principal and CEO, Civis Consulting LLC (Seattle, WA; Cynthia is an NCRP board member.)
6. Elizabeth Myrick, principal, Elizabeth Myrick and Associates Consulting (Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth served on the Power Moves advisory committee)
7. Elizabeth Tan, founder and principal, E-Tan Consulting (San Francisco, CA)
8. Gita Gulati-Partee, founder and president, OpenSource Leadership Strategies (Durham, NC; Gita served on the Power Moves advisory committee)
9. Jara Dean-Coffey, founder and president, Luminare Group (San Francisco, CA; Jara served on the Power Moves advisory committee)
10. Jessica Bearman, principal, Bearman Consulting (Moscow, ID; Jessica served on the Power Moves advisory committee)
11. Marcelo Bonta, principal, The Raben Group (Portland, OR; Marcelo served as a reviewer of the Power Moves)
12. Molly Schultz Hafid, associate director, TCC Group (New York, NY; Molly is a current board member of NCRP)
13. Sindhu Knotz, partner, The Giving Practice at Philanthropy Northwest (Seattle, WA)
14. Takema Robinson, principal, Converge (New Orleans, LA)
To learn more about these consultants, visit the full listing on our website!
Activities will include one-on-one calls with fellow participants, full group virtual meetings and in-person gatherings at sector conferences. The program will also offer deeper engagement and sector leadership with NCRP and our network, so keep an eye out for more from these expert philanthropic consultants! First up are Gita and Marcelo as featured speakers on next week’s Power Moves webinar on May 30th – RSVP to join the discussion and/or to receive the recap blog post and recording.
While we aren’t accepting additional participants for the groups, NCRP may expand and offer the program again in 2019 and beyond based on interest. We’re looking forward to iterating its structure and activities in response to feedback, and sharing updates with the field.
In the meantime, NCRP is eager to provide soft coaching and thought partnership to other toolkit users. Are you interested in using Power Moves with your organization or clients? Download the guide and feel free to contact us to explore use and potential partnership, and/or to connect with any of the consultants!
Stay tuned for the next announcement about the participants in the Power Moves for Funders group!
Caitlin Duffy is senior associate for learning and engagement at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). She is one of two lead staff members for the Philamplify project, along with Lisa Ranghelli, senior director for assessment and special projects and primary author of the toolkit. Follow @NCRP, @DuffyInDC and @lisa_rang on Twitter, and join the conversation using #PowerMovesEquity!
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