About Us

Innovation + Purpose=Impact Horizontal Color

We Empower Purpose-Driven Organizations

We are committed to applying innovative and leading practices to elevate purpose-driven organizations to be bigger, bolder, and brighter, so they can reach their potential impact.

Bigger Impact

At Brighter Strategies, we empower purpose-driven organizations to expand their influence beyond boundaries. Our focus on harnessing the collective power of your people ensures every transformation contributes to a larger, more meaningful change.

Bolder Journeys

As leaders in organizational development, we’re not just consultants; we’re partners dedicated to making a lasting difference. Whether serving locally or globally, our approach is designed to exceed your aspirations, building legacies that are resilient, influential, and enduring.

Brighter Workplaces

We are committed to creating inclusive workplace systems and processes to build a sustainable and effective organization. Focusing on people strategy and integrating innovation with purpose ensures success and fosters an engaged, productive workforce.

Case Studies

APHA – Improving member engagement for an Association

The American Public Health Association (APHA), an organization with over 25,000 members, collaborated with Brighter Strategies to enhance and reimagine its member experience, aiming to create a better member experience for the public health professional. 

We began with a comprehensive review of APHA’s internal member units using a modified Falletta Organizational Assessment model. This review covered unit capacity, performance, motivation, learning, and overall member experience. Based on our findings, we proposed an optimal organization of the member units to enhance member engagement and operational efficiency, positioning APHA for future success. 

Throughout our multi-year engagement, we liaised with over 25,000 APHA members and stakeholders via more than 40 focus groups, 20 interviews, and several large listening sessions. These interactions provided valuable insights and feedback on our initial recommendations. 

Our final report delivered 30 data-driven recommendations designed to enhance member engagement. APHA leadership strategically selected ten key recommendations and initiated a plan to implement the recommendations over the next two-year period to maximize impact and effectiveness. 

 

We established five cross-staff committees to implement prioritized recommendations aimed at enhancing leadership training, communications, mentoring, onboarding, technology, and organizational structure. Alongside this, we employed change management strategies to ensure efficient implementation and devised a communication strategy with tailored messages for each of APHA’s target audiences. 

As a result, APHA launched a new member engagement platform, APHA LEAD, which has led to a more engaged membership, the successful launch of two new mentoring programs, and clearer leadership guidance for more consistent governance of member units. Building on this foundation, APHA has identified the next ten recommendations for implementation. Finally, as a result of our recommendation, APHA completed a strategic planning to propel the membership toward a shared vision and has re-engaged Brighter Strategies to support implementation. 

AOTA -Transforming Organizational Culture for Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Impact

Brighter Strategies guided the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) through a transformative executive transition, fostering a more impactful and efficient organizational culture.

Brighter Strategies conducted an in-depth organizational assessment of AOTA’s structure, processes, and culture, forming the basis for a tailored strategy to address challenges and seize growth opportunities. Key activities included:

  1. Organizational Restructure: Brighter Strategies designed a comprehensive restructuring plan, realigning roles and responsibilities to optimize efficiency and streamline decision-making.
  2. Competency Development: Brighter Strategies facilitated the development of competencies aligned with AOTA’s evolving goals, ensuring employees had the skills needed to excel and support the organization’s mission.
  3. Creation of Leadership Positions: New leadership positions were created to foster innovation and improved leadership, empowering talented individuals to drive strategic initiatives and inspire their teams.
  4. Executive Team Coaching: Personalized coaching was provided to AOTA’s executive team to enhance leadership skills, encourage effective communication, and nurture commitment to the organization’s vision.
  5. Culture Team Facilitation: A culture team was formed to champion cultural change. Brighter Strategies facilitated sessions to guide this team in aligning their efforts with the desired cultural shifts.

Overall, the partnership between Brighter Strategies and AOTA demonstrates the profound impact of strategic culture initiatives. By addressing challenges through structural changes, competency development, coaching, and cultural transformation, AOTA became stronger, more agile, and more impactful. This case study highlights the crucial role of intentional cultural work in achieving sustained success and growth.

APAH—A participatory strategic planning process that embodies the organization’s equity and inclusion values

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) is a rapidly growing organization that hired Brighter Strategies to support the development of its five-year strategic plan while identifying its internal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and staff needs and maximizing its impact on increasing housing equity in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area.

We facilitated a comprehensive participatory strategic planning process combined with a DEI assessment. Our process included outreach not only to the board and staff but also to external stakeholders and APAH’s resident community.

In the early stages of our process, we facilitated the development of a DEI vision, DEI-specific strategy sessions, and a staff survey to identify DEI pain points. We also facilitated stakeholder and client interviews, focus groups, and a comprehensive survey to understand APAH’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities.

Next we facilitated large- and working-group sessions to articulate APAH’s mission, vision, goals, strategies, and metrics as well as a one-year operational plan.

As we facilitated conversations about our goals, we asked data-based questions that caused the board members and leaders to view the organization from new perspectives. Moreover, we put forward a strategic plan that reflected APAH’s reality.

The deliverable we created in collaboration with APAH leadership was a new vision statement, a revised mission statement, goals, and strategies that build on the organization’s strengths while addressing its internal DEI operational goals and the equity-focused impact it intends to have in the region.

Equally important was the one-year operational plan we facilitated, aligning metrics, human and financial resources, and timelines to each strategy so that APAH staff can immediately begin enacting its strategic plan.

At the end of our process, a board member said, “Thank you for your extraordinary facilitation process that allowed us to have discussions we haven’t in the past.”

ASCE—Cultivating Organizational Excellence through Cultural Transformation

Brighter Strategies partnered with the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) to assess, modify, and align their organizational culture, thereby paving the way for sustained growth and innovation.

Brighter Strategies initiated a comprehensive approach to effect lasting cultural change within ASCE:

  1. Organizational Culture Assessment: To gain deep insights into ASCE’s existing culture, Brighter Strategies facilitated the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI). This multifaceted assessment encompassed surveys and interviews with a diverse cross-section of staff, spanning all hierarchical levels. This provided a holistic understanding of the current cultural dynamics.
  2. Organizational Culture Report: Based on the OCI findings, Brighter Strategies compiled an exhaustive organizational culture report. This report identified the gaps between the current culture and the staff’s ideal culture, serving as the bedrock for subsequent strategies.
  3. Cultural Transformation Roadmap: Brighter Strategies collaborated closely with ASCE’s Human Resources department and leadership team over the course of three years. This prolonged engagement enabled the meticulous modification of systems, processes, and practices to resonate with the envisioned culture and values.
  4. Engagement Initiatives: To foster dialogue and understanding at all levels, Brighter Strategies organized a series of impactful engagement activities, including staff retreats, brown bag lunches, and off-site meetings. These initiatives provided platforms for open conversations centered around culture, values, and strategic priorities.

The ASCE’s collaboration with Brighter Strategies yielded remarkable outcomes, which reverberated throughout the organization:

  • Cultural Insight: The OCI provided a nuanced understanding of the existing culture, enabling ASCE to identify specific areas for enhancement.
  • Alignment of Systems: Through strategic modifications, ASCE’s systems and processes aligned seamlessly with the desired culture and values. This alignment ensured that employees’ daily experiences resonated with the organization’s aspirations.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Engaging initiatives such as staff retreats and brown bag lunches facilitated meaningful interactions among employees, breaking down silos and fostering cross-functional collaboration.
  • Cultivated Engagement: The cultural transformation efforts ignited a renewed sense of purpose and engagement among employees, prompting them to invest more deeply in their roles and the organization’s mission.
  • Innovation and Growth: The newly instilled culture of openness and collaboration paved the way for innovation and growth, positioning ASCE at the forefront of advancements within the civil engineering domain.

KORE Capital Corporation – Building an HR Infrastructure to Support Rapid Growth

KORE Capital Corporation provides short-term working capital solutions for small businesses. After growing 300% from its start as a two-person organization, KORE needed scalable HR systems to support hiring, compliance, and employee engagement.

Brighter Strategies acted as an embedded HR partner, leveraging its multidisciplinary team to provide both strategic and tactical support. Our work focused on:

  1. Leadership Guidance: Ongoing counsel to align human capital decisions with organizational goals, ensuring compliance, fairness, and applying best practices.
  2. Hiring Support: Developing position descriptions, interview processes, and selecting tools to create a streamlined and equitable recruiting experience.
  3. Onboarding: Designing a consistent, inclusive onboarding process that provides essential organizational information to all new hires, while allowing flexibility for hiring managers to tailor onboarding to individual roles and teams.
  4. Employee Handbook: Creating KORE’s first employee handbook with regular updates to reflect growth and evolving policies.
  5. Training: Facilitating staff sessions on anti-harassment, respectful workplace culture, and organizational values.

The partnership established a scalable HR foundation that reduced compliance risks, improved onboarding and hiring consistency, and strengthened workplace culture. Through this work, HR has been embedded as a strategic driver of KORE’s continued growth and organizational success.

Today, Brighter Strategies continues to serve as a trusted partner, providing employee relations counsel and ad-hoc HR expertise to address emerging needs and sustain KORE’s growth.

Public Broadcasting System – Using a Theory of Change to Demonstrate Impact

Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) Creative Voices Program partnered with Brighter Strategies to evaluate a fellowship and mentorship initiative designed to expand access to public broadcasting careers for underrepresented communities.

The engagement began with the development of a theory of change and a focused set of evaluation questions aligned with PBS’s strategic priorities.

Working closely with PBS, Brighter Strategies designed a comprehensive evaluation plan integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods. The plan detailed:

  • data sources
  • collection timing
  • analytic approaches for each evaluation question

Data was collected at pre-, mid-, and endline stages, culminating in a comprehensive report that synthesized findings, insights, and actionable recommendations.

The evaluation demonstrated the program’s positive impact on participants—evidence that informed securing continued donor funding—while also identifying opportunities for program improvement in future cohorts.

Building on this work, Brighter Strategies has continued to partner with PBS to evaluate subsequent program years.

National Aquarium – Creating an Evaluation & Prioritization System 

Following its strategic planning process, the National Aquarium engaged Brighter Strategies to design a replicable, organization-wide program evaluation and prioritization system.

The work began with a review of existing programs, the strategic plan, and the Conservation Action Plan. Over five months, Brighter Strategies partnered with the internal team to:

  • develop a shared, overarching theory of change
  • create logic models for each program cluster aligned to that theory
  • identify the outcomes most critical to demonstrating impact

In parallel, we collaborated with a cross-functional committee of program leaders to design a shared decision-making framework. The resulting tool applied clearly defined, ranked criteria grounded in the Aquarium’s strategy and values, enabling programs to be assessed and prioritized relative to one another in a transparent, practical, and consistent manner.

Building on this foundation, Brighter Strategies developed an evaluation plan and measurement tools for each criterion. Mission-related impact was assessed through participant surveys, while all other criteria were measured using custom, evidence-based tools drawn from existing data. This approach enabled quantitative scoring and an overall prioritization of programs across the portfolio.

The process strengthened cross-program alignment and equipped leadership to make data-informed, values-driven decisions.

While the initial evaluation included 33 programs, the final report documents a scalable approach that the Aquarium can apply to additional programs and future years.

Our Clients

Meridian-International
Friends-Committee-on-National-Legislation
lutheran social services
Adult-Congenital-Heart-Association
PBS
Fight-for-Children
University Aviation Association
Dress-for-Success
Equity-Fund
national aquarium logo
Change-Inc

We collaborate with purpose-driven organizations to optimize their operations to achieve their goals.

We’re not just consultants but your partners in making a lasting impact.

Nonprofit Sector

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  • Community Development
  • Financial Services & Support
  • Foundations & Endowments
  • Social Services
  • Environment & Climate Change
  • International Development & Relief
  • Research & Policy (Think Tanks)
  • Healthcare & Public Health
  • Housing Services
  • Legal Services & Justice
  • Arts & Culture
  • Advocacy & Social Change
  • Early Childhood Education

Private Sector

Corporate icon

  • Architecture Services
  • Community Development
  • Construction & Environmental Services
  • Housing Services
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Financial & Investment Services
  • Fiscal Sponsors & Endowments
  • Healthcare & Wellness
  • Science & Engineering
  • Technology Sales & Digital

Trade & Professional Networks

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  • Education
  • Healthcare & Public Health
  • Financial
  • Labor Unions
  • Advocacy
  • Legal
  • Organized Sports

Our Commitment to Giving Back: The Brighter Strategies Brighter Futures Donor-Advised Fund

At Brighter Strategies, we believe in the power of giving back to cultivate a positive impact on society and to reinforce the values upon which our company stands. Establishing the Brighter Futures Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is a testament to our unwavering commitment to social responsibility and our desire to be a force for good in the world.

Join Us in Making a Difference

Why a Donor-Advised Fund?

A donor-advised fund offers us the flexibility to support causes and organizations that align with our values and mission. It acts as a dynamic tool for philanthropy, allowing us to contribute to important work in our community. This approach not only amplifies our impact but also enables us to respond swiftly to emerging needs and challenges within our communities and beyond.

Social Impact

The social impact of the Brighter Futures DAF is multifold. By pooling resources into a dedicated fund, we are able to:

1. Empower Communities

Our contributions help strengthen communities by supporting grassroots organizations and initiatives that are making a tangible difference.

2. Drive Change

By focusing on areas where we believe we can make the most significant impact, we contribute to the creation of a more equitable, sustainable, and just world.

3. Inspire Action

Our commitment serves as a catalyst, encouraging other businesses and individuals to take action and contribute to societal well-being.