Services

thought Partnership & Coaching

Onward’s consultants are experienced  leaders that have worked at various not-for-profit organizations.  We pair their know-how and experience with you as Thought Partners.  Thought Partners expand your organization’s intellectual capital at the CEO level and provide you with a critical peer to challenge ideas, share experiences, and conduct executive level projects.  Thought partners help you to navigate new and complex challenges.

Onward Thought Partners make the act of planning and thinking about a particular opportunity or challenge, intentional.   It is a deliberate process to understand fully the present issue and to act on it.  The work is diverse in nature.  Onward can help you to:

• Diagnose and trouble shoot challenges.
• Conceptualize ideas into tangible business concepts and plans.
• Evaluate, validate and/or shape a client’s existing business idea.
• Identify and develop potential opportunities.
• Develop practical strategies and a clear plan for execution.

As former executive directors, we understand the importance of a mentor as a “critical friend.” Onward mentors executive directors and other senior leaders, providing unbiased and strategic counsel. We support every aspect of nonprofit excellence with a robust library of templates and tools for our clients’ use and conduct extensive research so you can make the best decisions.

Select Thought Partnership Clients

Diverse strategic support including annual calendar, conducting staff workshops, segregating CEO and principal work priorities, and providing counsel.

Onward provided executive support to clarify First Shift’s model –the problem, mission, goals, and approach and detail that content in their first organizational logic model.

Sounding board: A critical review of growth plan resulting in a clarification of the problem, org. role, purpose, and impact improved structure and organization more compelling content.

Thought partnership to provide strategic insight on interim planning, building capital, and prioritizing opportunities.

Conducted  Q&A brainstorming sessions combined it with research to develop critical plans.

Testimonial

Onward’s output is extremely high quality and Maureen Holla is by nature inquisitive. She drives down deep to get to all the questions. She is a very good listener and helped me get through the fog to the real issues.

Marcy, Mistrett, Executive Director, Campaign for Youth Justice

Testimonial

Onward is excellent at listening to a lot of information and then zeroing in on the key problems, questions, and opportunities.

Holland O’Donnell Executive Director, America Scores

Testimonial

Onward listened to our needs and helped us zero in on what exactly needed to accomplished and the required steps needed to be successful. Onward sought to understand everything about our unique relationship with the National Park Service before diving into strategic planning, which helped immensely in creating an approved plan.

Tina O’Connell, Executive Director, The Friends of the Kenilworth Aquatic Garden