For over 25 years, Elizabeth Myrick has created successful programs, led organizational change, and helped nonprofit and philanthropic organizations learn and succeed. Elizabeth Myrick Consulting helps clients analyze, choose and implement strategies; collect and synthesize data; tackle organizational, board, and team challenges; identify goals and measure impact. While services and teams are customized to fit the needs of each client, the approach is always:
Values- and data-driven
While values rarely dictate one specific action, values provide a touchstone for discussing available choices and differences of opinion as they arise. Alongside core values, data (both qualitative and quantitative) is an essential ingredient in decision-making. Developing a shared understanding of environmental conditions, diverse stories, lived experience, metrics, and trends is key to making timely decisions. What do we know? What do we need to know? How will we decide, together? Responsibly curating and facilitating shared understanding is a critical first step.
Iterative, practical, inclusive
We have been participants in and facilitators of foundation and nonprofit decision-making; we have been grantees and funders; we have been on both sides of the consultant-client relationship. These experiences inform our approach. We design an iterative planning process, nimble enough to respond to the client’s needs and focused enough to achieve objectives. Frequent check-ins and open lines of communication improve the process and result in a better product. Because people learn and process information differently, we have learned to balance the needs of practical, product-oriented participants with the needs of more theoretical, ‘blue-sky’ thinkers. Equity drives our commitment to inclusive community engagement, evaluation, and social change.
Learning- and impact-focused
We bring enthusiasm for learning and impact. We are compulsively curious and passionately practical. Providing space for passionate leaders to imagine, collaborate, and make a real difference in communities is great fun. Our approach employs systems thinking to help clients reflect and grow, incorporate new ideas, emergent learning, and an assets mindset. Our expertise in organizational culture and operations as well as program effectiveness and evaluation has led us to prioritize organizational learning as the ‘secret sauce’ for achieving and sustaining impact. With clarity about desired impact and an intentional learning practice, clients are able to articulate an effective strategy for today, while becoming more strategic every day.
READ ABOUT RECENT PROJECTS HERE.