Social Sector Projects
- All
- Strategic and Operational Planning
- Financial Sustainability Planning
- Implementation Support
- Startup Planning
Financial Sustainability Planning
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched its Equitable Futures initiative to increase access and participation in multiple high-quality local career pathways that improve credential completion and drive positive labor market outcomes for learners who are Black, Latine, and/or experiencing poverty. Evan James Consulting conducted a financial analysis of career pathways intermediaries—organizations committed to influencing said systems change—and supported them in developing and implementing plans to strengthen the financial sustainability of their organizations and career pathways ecosystem. The Gates Foundation was able to develop, validate, and codify exemplary models of career pathways intermediaries as a result.
Implementation Support
The Urban League of Louisiana launched the SEE CHANGE Collective, a long-term collective impact initiative to close the racial wealth gap in the Greater New Orleans region. Evan James provided strategic advice and served as the project management team. Evan James mapped out the shared agenda, developed and maintained a multi-phased project plan, conducted research, managed the planning process to develop the theory of change, and crafted an engagement plan to center the lived experiences of community members.
Strategic and Operational Planning
NOLA Public Schools, which educates over 60% of New Orleans' children, sought to improve their organizational structure and innovation management. Evan James identified and evaluated a set of strategic opportunities, vetting each for its value add, political risk, and ease of implementation. As a result, NOLA Public Schools adopted a streamlined organizational structure and leveraged three opportunities worth over $750K in annual value.
Strategic and Operational Planning
The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) is a philanthropic institution driving positive impact through philanthropy, leadership, and action. Evan James was engaged to conduct a structural analysis of systemic racial inequities impacting the educational opportunities of New Orleans students, making recommendations that could close the gap between the current and desired student experience. Foundations used these to guide investments in resources, coordination, partnership, and student support, and nonprofit organizations used it to guide advocacy and programming.
Strategic and Operational Planning
Warren Easton Charter High School an esteemed New Orleans public school, sought to create a strong foundation for assuming the additional responsibilities of a local education agency and simultaneously growing enrollment.. After conducting interviews with stakeholders and other analysis, Evan James recommended a new organizational chart, job descriptions, employee evaluations, and a budget based on three-year revenue projections under traditional, socially distanced, remote, and hybrid scenarios.
Strategic and Operational Planning
The Universal Services Department of Harris County, TX, provides 28 discrete services organized under three functions - Information Technology Services, Public Safety Technology Services, and Fleet Services. Evan James conducted a comprehensive review of its operations, management systems, and organizational processes. Evan James identified areas of opportunity and strategies to reinforce management processes and tools. Evan James recommended creating a more formal, centralized IT service delivery model, reinforcing IT Service Management processes and tools, and integrating more equitable data practices. Evan James also estimated the resources necessary to implement each of the recommendations.
Strategic and Operational Planning
Teachers Like Me, which aims to remove barriers to entry and provide support for aspiring Black teachers, selected Evan James Consulting to help it chart a course for the next five years. Evan James conducted research and interviews to codify the program model and develop an external-facing strategic plan to facilitate growth and financial sustainability. Teachers Like Me utilized the plan to articulate its value to potential stakeholders and the financial model to boost operation and growth for the next 5 years. The organization has grown from zero teachers to over 20 and secured all needed funding every year since implementing the plan.
Startup Planning
The New Orleans Youth Alliance (NOYA) – an intermediary that cultivates high-quality, well-resourced youth development organizations that center youth leadership and racial equity – engaged Evan James to articulate, validate, and refine their strategy and business model. Evan James developed a business plan and financial model to guide the organization’s course for the following 3-5 years. NOYA's Youth Program Quality Initiative, launched in 2015 to raise the bar for quality in out-of-school programs, now includes over 80 partner organizations. In the years since the plan, the organization's annual revenues have tripled.
Strategic and Operational Planning
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is a regional magnet high school offering students pre-professional instruction in culinary arts, dance, and media arts. Evan James Consulting was engaged to produce a detailed transportation study for equitable transportation services to increase student enrollment, analyzing enrollment data, census tract data, and historical trends and conducting a feasibility study of alternative transportation options for consideration. Evan James provided NOCCA with a final transportation plan and 5-year financial model.
Startup Planning
New Pathways New Orleans (NPNO), an intermediary that builds cross-sector solutions for New Orleans youth with significant needs, engaged Evan James Consulting to strengthen and codify the organization's collective impact approach. Evan James identified resources necessary to achieve the vision, built a multi-year budget, and determined key success metrics. NPNO has built a staff to execute a 3-year implementation plan focused on special education, mental and behavioral health, and juvenile justice.
Strategic and Operational Planning
Pontchartrain Conservancy, an environmental science and conservation organization dedicated to preserving the Louisiana coast, engaged Evan James to develop a cohesive, actionable strategy for its next five years. Evan James led a strategic planning process that included financial analysis, stakeholder interviews, peer analysis, and staff surveys, resulting in a plan that recommended organizational restructuring, refined strategic focus, and fund development plans. The plan included an updated theory of change, organizational chart, and dashboard for tracking key progress measures.
Strategic and Operational Planning
PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity, engaged Evan James on behalf of a philanthropic collaboration aiming to boost economic mobility and improve the life trajectories of people impacted by the criminal justice system. Evan James researched five U.S. cities' readiness to advance alternative public safety programs and reduce reliance and spending on police via grassroots movement building, political action, community-based programs, and other strategies. Evan James' report, informed by focus groups, interviews, and other research, informed the collaborative's investment strategy.
Financial Sustainability Planning
CareerWise Colorado (now CareerWise USA), a nonprofit organization advancing youth apprenticeship as a strategy for increasing educational and workforce equity across the nation, engaged Evan James to conduct research to inform its plans for achieving and sustaining scale. Evan James explored a range of public and private funding stream possibilities, earned revenue strategies, and emerging financing mechanisms. Using this knowledge, CareerWise has been rapidly growing its presence and impact across the country, leveraging an affiliate model and its proprietary technology and expertise.
Implementation Support
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Digital Learning Gateway Courseware Design Team, composed of over a dozen national partners and six Foundation program officers, selected Evan James to project manage the discovery phase of the development of an equitable and viable gateway courseware product for underserved high school and college youth. Evan James established and monitored an eight-workstream project plan, facilitating transparency for key stakeholders. Evan James supported the planning and leadership of a 4-day stakeholder convening, ensuring the successful sharing and capture of insights from the discovery phase, and provided comprehensive project management to ensure the success of the initiative.