Strategy, communications, and organizational design for mission-driven organizations
I work with nonprofits, networks, and purpose-driven teams to get clear about where they’re going, communicate what matters, and build the systems that help people move forward together.
My Approach
Most organizational challenges don’t fit neatly into one box.
My work brings together organizational listening, facilitation, communications, strategy, and community design.
I don’t treat communications, strategy, and organizational design as separate projects. I look at the whole picture, then help you focus on what will actually make a difference.
A communications problem might actually be a clarity problem.
A marketing challenge might point to a deeper question about audience, identity, or strategy.
Growth can expose unclear roles, decision-making, or expectations.
A leadership transition can reveal systems that worked for one chapter of an organization but no longer fit the next.
And sometimes you know exactly what you want to accomplish, but need help making sense of the moving pieces and turning them into a clear path forward.
Marketing & Communications
Your work may be strong, but if people don’t immediately see the impact, it’s harder to build support around it.
Clarify your message and turn complex work into clear communications that connect with your stakeholders.
This can include:
Messaging and positioning
Marketing and communications strategy
Campaign planning
Reports and impact storytelling
Fundraising communications
Thought leadership
Organizational Learning
You are constantly taking in information from staff, board members, funders, partners, and the communities you serve. The challenge is knowing what to do with it.
Make sense of what you’re hearing, clarify priorities, and turn insight into action.
Strategic planning
Stakeholder listening
Feedback synthesis
Facilitation
Workshops and retreats
Organizational assessments
Program or initiative strategy
Research and recommendations
Relational Design
As organizations grow, the way people work together often needs to change too.
Let’s build clearer ways of working together.
This can include:
Roles and responsibilities
Decision-making
Governance
Leadership transitions
Team agreements
Communication systems
Organizational change
Conflict and repair processes
Community and participation design
“The future of education, work, health, and democracy will depend less on how smart our machines become and more on how well we design our lives and institutions to strengthen human relationships.”
Isabelle C. Hau, Stanford Social Innovation Review
A bit about me
Gravel Road is named for the road I grew up on, a family road, all gravel, that taught me early that the most meaningful paths aren't always the smoothest ones. They require attention, care, and a willingness to move slowly enough to see what's actually there.
I started my career in communications because I loved helping people tell meaningful stories.
Over time I realized the stories that mattered most weren't the polished ones published at the end of a project. They were the conversations happening inside organizations as people tried to make sense of change together.
That realization shifted my work. I aim to help organizations listen more deeply, collaborate more effectively, and build the kinds of relationships that allow good ideas to become lasting change.
The most important learning often happens somewhere along the gravel road. I've seen groups spend months trying to fix conflict that was really about unclear decision-making. I've watched founders carry responsibilities they didn't realize no one else had inherited. I've seen communities with extraordinary trust struggle simply because they lacked the structures to support the relationships they'd already built.
My work sits at that intersection. I believe organizations usually have far more wisdom than they realize. I help your community understand how it already works so you can decide, together, what comes next.
I bring experience across social impact sectors, clinical training in applied psychology, and hands-on work building and supporting organizations from the inside — as a founder, Executive Director, communicator, community builder, board member, and steward of process.
Whether you're looking for a thought partner, facilitator, or long-term collaborator, let's start with a conversation.
Field Notes Along the Gravel Road
I write about organizations, community, relationships, travel, and the things I'm learning from the people and places I encounter along the way.
Come along for the ride.
Occasional field notes from the road, delivered to your inbox.
