Do you want to empower people to influence the decisions that impact their communities?
We provide the skills you need to collaborate effectively and equitably with diverse communities to build stronger policies and projects that reflect community priorities.
Community Engagement
Whether you’re starting a new project and don’t know where to start with getting public input or you need to get an existing project unstuck, we have a proven framework, a laser focus on equity, and an unflappability that allows us to adapt at every turn.
What you can expect from working with our team:
Engagement with a variety of techniques that suit your needs and meet your community where they are.
Expert level facilitation
Easy to use reporting highlighting most relevant outcomes
Coaching in incorporating feedback into your plans and reporting back to community on how their input has shaped final outcomes.
Our process prizes talking early and often about how the input will be used, which helps us shape a process that sets realistic expectations for the community and helps you understand the ways in which your organization can and will use the input.
Participatory Evaluation
If you’ve completed a project and need to have an authentic conversation with stakeholders about the successes and challenges, our approach will not just document your organization’s impact, it will be a roadmap your organization can rally around to get better at what you do.
You can expect collaborative evaluation development with the objective of continuous learning and collective ownership of outcomes.
The insights we glean will help you grow your organization and staff. Because the evaluation framework is developed collectively, your staff and board will feel ownership of outcomes and will be invested in building on what has been learned
Training and Technical Assistance
We believe everyone has the ability to build their community engagement muscles.
We can tailor training to meet the needs of your team, whether it is teaching city planners the fundamentals of public participation, guiding community leaders through the process of building an engagement plan, or coaching community development organizations in evaluating program impact, we are here to support you in building your own capacity to engage with your constituents and community.
Facilitation and Meeting Design
Sometimes you need a neutral facilitator to make space for productive dialogue.
“Because of Heather’s thought-provoking, well-organized, clear and engaging support during our day-long retreat, our Board had one of its best and most productive years. We left that session feeling inspired and uplifted. Oh, and we also had FUN!”
-Kathryn Sterbenc, President, Friends of the Oakland Public Library
We help you foster long term community support, build deeper relationships with constituents, and lay the groundwork for successful future collaborations.
Our clients
We work with nonprofits, local governmental agencies, and community development organizations, such as:
What People Are Saying
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
“Heather did an amazing job of holding space for multiple perspectives during a complicated and controversial school construction process.
Her role as a bridge between the community, the parents, and the district helped make sure all voices were heard and valued while freeing up school staff to stay focused on educating students."
— Chelsea Toller, Former Principal, Glenview Elementary
EVALUATION
“Heather listened well from the beginning, developed a process that was respectful of our partners and constituents, and worked with our staff to understand what we were truly looking to learn from the evaluation of our program.
In the end, we had a product that helps us understand and build on what we are doing well, and strengthen places where we’re less effective than we want to be.“
- Sonia Tuma, Regional Director, US West, American Friends Service Committee
TRAINING
“I have been craving a course with this content!
I liked the course’s attention to equity and centering impacted communities in participatory processes.”
——
“I could tell early on the class appeared to be a living example of ‘engagement.’
It was comprehensively very well-conceived and very engaging.”
— UC Berkeley graduate students
FACILITATION
“I am so thrilled that we chose Heather to facilitate our board retreat.
Her facilitation skills made the retreat feel easy, enjoyable, and inspiring. Through her efforts, our group of fairly new and different board members left the retreat feeling very much on the same page and energized about our work together. We continue to benefit from the great work she helped us do that day.”
- Erin Kilmer Neel, former ED, Sustainable Business Alliance, now ED and Chief Impact Officer at Beneficial State
