Consulting & Facilitation
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I will help you envision, create, and implement needed change.
Government offices, nonprofit organizations, and community coalitions sometimes need help moving forward at important moments of change.
An organization may be searching for a road to recovery after a crisis. Or a community collaboration recognizes that it needs to step up to meet a serious challenge such as providing high-volume emergency rental assistance.
These are junctures when skilled facilitation and planning support can channel collective energy and urgency for change into concrete solutions.
Working on my own or on small teams, I have guided many organizations, large and small, in setting goals to achieve their aims. We help clients surface key issues to provide strategy and structure at the outset of a project. We work with clients and their partners to identify and articulate joint priorities. I bring in tools to gather and share input, review relevant lessons from other communities, and help leaders to set key metrics. I bring in specialized experts when that seems right.
Thank you! It was an absolute pleasure working with you.
We are well on our way to implementing some of the solutions identified as a result of your work with us, and there is a palpable sense of renewed energy and enthusiasm for this work around city hall.
– Homelessness staff leader,
Salt Lake City Government
Building on my 25 years spent in the trenches and consulting, I truly enjoy working with clients to create a collaborative mutual-learning experience
I will guide you and your team as we create a thoughtful strategy for change -- with the freedom to work beyond it when needed.
Feel free to contact me to discuss your particular needs.
Recent Projects
HOME-ARP Consulting in 2023-2024:
Supporting local and federal efforts to roll out a new HUD initiative focused on supportive housing solutions for unstably-housed and unhoused persons.
Researching and Writing the City of Somerville’s HOME-ARP Allocation Plan
In 2023 the City contracted with me to research housing and economic conditions for those struggling at the bottom of Somerville’s hot housing market. The project involved data analytics, facilitating community meetings to present research findings and gahter input on the City’s funding intentions, and writing the Allocation Plan required by HOME-ARP.
HUD accepted the Plan, resulting in more than $1.6M available to support services and links to housing.
In 2009 I moved to The Cloudburst Group, where I worked as a Subject Matter Expert/Housing and Homeless Programs through 2019.
In my role at Cloudburst, I led small teams of experts working closely with community leaders to develop and implement large scale public-private system change initiatives, described on Consulting & Facilitation.
Additional/ongoing HOME-ARP projects include:
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Created an integrated Guidebook/Checklist/Webinar on using HOME-ARP’s Nonprofit Operating and Capacity Building option
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Staff presenter and facilitator at HUD’s in-person Problem-Solving Clinics and 1:1 virtual consultations
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Providing guidance on HOME-ARP RFPs and evaluating Supportive Service applications
Assessment and Recommendations to Strengthen Grants Management Operations for Baltimore County, Maryland
In 2023 and 2024, colleague Jim Barnes and I were engaged to develop concrete recommendations to strengthen the Grants Management operations of Baltimore County’s 2-year-old Community Development Department. We reviewed existing operations, forms, and systems, met with senior- and mid-level managers, and gathered input from grantees via surveys, a focus group and agency-level consultations. Recommendations included streamlining contracting processes, simplifying reporting, and creating communication norms.
Public and Private Clients in Flint, Michigan
I first worked in Flint on a HUD Technical Assistance assignment that “outsourced” the work of administering certain federal programs from a staff-depleted City Hall to high-capacity subrecipient organizations. This was my first major consulting engagement, powerfully spanning homeless and housing/community development activities. Click here for a 6-minute video we produced in 2015.
Since 2019 I have continued to provide periodic guidance and input to the United Way in their role as active members of Flint/Genesee County’s Continuum of Care.
HUD Technical Assistance: Homeless Subject Matter Expert
I earned certification to work on CoC and ESG projects, and continue to work on HUD assignments focused on homelessness and housing, operating through subcontracts with ICF and LISC.
Recent projects include transitioning Collaborative Applicant responsibilities within a Continuum of Care (CoC) and developing tools for ESG-CV program operations including a Case File Toolkit, guidance for remote Habitability Standards inspections, and client- and landlord-facing guidance on avoiding Duplication of Benefits.
During this time, I maintained a relationship with United Way leaders. In 2019 they commissioned me to assess the local homeless/housing service system and produce a Gap Analysis for the community's homeless service system, as part of a federal HHS grant. The project focused on "innovation options for multi-payer health care delivery and payment systems," and the client was the Greater Flint Health Coalition.
Selected Independent Consulting Projects (since 2019)
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Strengthening Rapid Rehousing in St. Louis
In November-December 2019, I led a team of Cloudburst experts in an assessment and skill-building engagement for the City of St. Louis. We helped the City and its nonprofit partners to improve their understanding of rapid rehousing “best practices,” identify ways to make policies and procedures clearer and more consistent, and to review their own data to identify strengths to build on and areas in need of improvement.
Helping Local Leaders Create a Balance of State Continuum of Care for the State of Maryland
In 2019-2020 I helped state and community leaders to create and launch a new Balance of State Continuums of Care. These collaborative entities connect different areas of the state into a collective structure for decision-making, planning and resource allocation related to HUD and other public funds. The greater capacity generally brings more funding and housing opportunities into the participating communities. This HUD-funded project worked out extremely well, as leaders were ready for change.
Gearing up to Address Encampments in Salt Lake City
In February 2020 I co-led a two-day community planning process in Salt Lake City. The work culminated in their developing a thoughtful, stakeholder-involved plan to dismantle a downtown encampment of persons living without homes. Drawing on examples from other US communities, Salt Lake’s efforts will involve the public, nonprofit and business sectors in carrying out a transparent, strengths-based effort to link each person to appropriate housing and service options.
Selected Consulting Projects while on staff
with The Cloudburst Group through 2019
Between 2009-2019, I was on the consulting staff of The Cloudburst Group, where I worked as a Subject Matter Expert/Housing and Homeless Programs.
In my role at Cloudburst, I led small teams of experts working closely with community leaders to develop and implement large scale public-private system change initiatives. Examples include:
Assisted five contiguous Continuums of Care in the St. Louis Area to form the St. Louis Area Regional Commission on Homelessness, aka SLARCH, in 2017 and2018.
SLARCH subsequently hit 75% of its first-year goal to end Veteran Homelessness and early in the pandemic, established a regional Isolation/ Quarantine facility for persons experiencing homelessness.
Supported the City of Flint to shift administrative responsibilities to nonprofit agencies to ensure that federal funds for youth recreation, home repair, and homelessness were fully expended and reached residents in need (2012-2015).
We documented this project, its results, and community members' experiences, in a 6-minute video.
Helping Nashville to create a single, unified leadership structure within Metro government and with much stronger community involvement between 2016-2018.
Nashville has emerged as a national leader in using data to improve outcomes for its homelessness service system.
Assisting five contiguous communities in the St. Louis Area to form a Regional Commission on Homelessness (2017-2018)
Supporting the City of Flint to shift administrative responsibilities to nonprofit agencies to ensure that federal funds for youth recreation, home repair and homelessness were fully expended and reached residents in need (2012-2015)
Helping Nashville to create a single, unified leadership structure to improve outcomes for its homelessness service system (2016-2018)
In 2009 I moved to The Cloudburst Group, where I worked as a Subject Matter Expert/Housing and Homeless Programs through 2019.
In my role at Cloudburst, I led small teams of experts working closely with community leaders to develop and implement large scale public-private system change initiatives, described on Consulting & Facilitation.
Assisting five contiguous communities in the St. Louis Area to form a Regional Commission on Homelessness (2017-2018)
Supporting the City of Flint to shift administrative responsibilities to nonprofit agencies to ensure that federal funds for youth recreation, home repair and homelessness were fully expended and reached residents in need (2012-2015)
Helping Nashville to create a single, unified leadership structure to improve outcomes for its homelessness service system (2016-2018)