Reviews, Case Studies & Clients
Reviews
Cheryl acted in the capacity of our Interim Executive Director. She did it way too well. We're going to miss her! She grasped the issues we were having so fast. The interactions with the Board and staff were really important and she did that effectively. Everyone always thinks their organization is different, but there were some idiosyncrasies we had. Cheryl’s ability to figure those out and find solutions—she was dead-on. I would've hired her permanently if she would've been willing! Cheryl had to make a lot of hard decisions that a permanent ED may not have been able to do or implement. She was also great in the interview process for the individual we hired—it’s an attitude we want to mimic.
-Corner House, Lisa Hauser, Board Chair
We were growing considerably and didn't have foundational pieces in place or the directors to do the work. Our Board was doing all of the guiding, and most of us did not have nonprofit experience. One of the biggest things Susan did was to transition our staff from subcontractors to employees, which provided them with security while building an effective team. Susan helped us become a governing board and let the staff steer the organization. That was a really big deal.
Susan helped build our confidence and provided a lot of good coaching. She put effective policies in place. In addition, she has a wealth of contacts, experience, and knowledge. She brought all of that to the table. Susan was exactly what we needed.
-Veteran Resilience Project—Eric Wickiser, Board Chair; Jonna Phillips, Executive Director
“PSAI underwent a significant change in staff and processes about two years ago. This came with many benefits and led to new opportunities. However, new opportunities meant we needed to rethink and improve how we plan and implement for the future. Historically, PSAI facilitated all of its strategic planning in house, but with the new initiatives and growth we expected, we knew it was time to call in outside consultation. SCC came to us highly recommended. We found the SCC team to be attentive to our timeline, budget and goals. In addition to the data collected during their environmental scan, SCC facilitated an extremely efficient two-day in-person planning session with 13 of our Board Members. We were grateful for the professional outside guidance which allowed our whole team to participate fully in the planning process, and are excited to have action items broken into manageable steps so that we don't lose sight of our new goals. Thank you for all of your support, SCC!”
– Veronica Crosier, Executive Director, PSAI
“I solicited referrals from my network and SCC (and Imogen) came from a very strong referral. I had two immediate expectations: I needed someone to take the bulk of grant writing off my plate, someone with that specific skill set. We also wanted to explore greater grant opportunities to generate greater revenue for the organization. Because of our relationship with SCC, we landed more grants and a greater diversity of grants for more programs. Overall, the collaboration has been really great. I feel that everyone I’ve worked with at SCC are great strategy partners; they’re clear on expectations and delivering on tasks they’ve said they will take on. Also, I felt we were able to roll with the punches-that made it a stress-relieving relationship rather than a stress-inducing relationship and that was really helpful. I would highly recommend SCC for any of the suite of services we have utilized at NYFS, including grant writing, program evaluation, and website design. I have nothing but positive things to say about the relationship and what it has brought to the organization."
– Tara Jebens-Singh, Executive Director, Northeast Youth & Family Services
“Thank you so much for your expertise and facilitation. The report you designed, along with your team, was robust and felt entirely tailored to the Frederick community. As you may have discovered, we are a unique town and have so many elements and perspectives to consider when engaging in this large project. You brought these thoughts together so seamlessly and we are excited about the ideas that you have presented us. What an excellent roadmap! We look forward to continuing our work together and bringing this initiative to fruition in Frederick.”
“Shortly after I came on as Executive Director, we went through a staffing transition to combine the development and marketing departments. We were coming up on Give to the Max Day and our annual gala and we were short on support staff. We brought in Elaine and Imogen to help us with our grants cycle and to make sure we kept up on reporting and our grant calendars. They were fantastic to work with and very open to changes and possibilities—it was exactly what we needed. I would definitely recommend their services and SCC to others. In fact, I have a couple of times. We’re in a good spot right now and a lot of that has to do with the help we got from Elaine and Imogen.”
– Doug Niemela, Executive Director, H20 for Life
“We hired Cheryl as our Interim Executive Director. Because of COVID-19, we had veered away from our strategic plan to focus on what was immediately in front of us. We wanted someone to run the ship and conduct an assessment regarding our business viability and how to get back on track. Cheryl spent a month getting to know our business, assessing the situation, and interviewing staff. She landed us in refocusing on our strategic direction. She gave us insights into improving our financial model, opportunities, and resource utilization. She also identified a need for infrastructure development from a technical perspective in order for us to remain competitive. The Board was impressed with the strengths Cheryl brought to the table; she was exactly what we needed. She assessed the market and the conditions and provided an underlying confidence the Board needed based on an objective perspective of our reality. Cheryl reset us very quickly and helped us provide confidence to the families we work with. I could definitely recommend her to others looking for this type of engagement.”
– Margaret Korolchuk, President, Family Child Development Center
"We were looking for an interim to come in and help us with leading the organization at a time when we didn’t see anything major coming forward. We have a great leadership team, but wanted to have an external lens look at the organization, understand the inner workings of it, and provide us with any feedback or recommendations.
"Cheryl just did a dynamic job in leading the organization. I remember telling her this was probably going to be the easiest job she ever had because everything was running so smoothly. And then all of these unforeseen circumstances hit us. She led us through COVID-19 and how it impacted our community, our workforce, and clients. And then there was the civil unrest in Minneapolis (during the summer). She managed it with grace, keeping us informed, never seeming overloaded. She did a fantastic job. We really couldn’t have asked for anything better.
"I would recommend Cheryl, easily, for another organization in this situation. She was a lifesaver for us. I can’t speak highly enough about Cheryl and how she helped us—probably even more than we know. And she did it in such an amazing way."
– Don Mayo-Moschkau, President, Board of Directors, Clare Housing
Wayside Recovery Center, Minneapolis
“When our ED resigned, we needed to find an interim. We also needed to conduct a search. With Cheryl we got two in one. A few years ago, she was our interim and it was great to have her come back again. She set a goal of 6 months to conduct the search for a new ED and that’s exactly what it took. I saw her ability to move things forward at the organization while doing the executive search; it was incredible. Our expectations were to maintain the status quo during the search, but Cheryl ran things as though we hadn’t lost a CEO. She had to make some very difficult decisions and just did a great job. She was very good at communicating with me and kept me in the loop throughout the process. Cheryl was amazing and fair and probably put in more time than we knew about.”
-Lesley Doehr, President, Board of Directors
SCC is partnering with the MN Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to facilitate an advanced supervisor training series to its members who need 30 hours of ethics training for licensure. The classes are done live via Zoom. We received this note from a participant:
“Just a note on how much the NASW supervisory series has meant to me and my practice over the past few months. As an organizational and macro-focused social worker, connections to other supervisors in this kind of reflective practice space was felt as unique and truly beneficial to my continued development of ethical, self-aware, and sound practice with my community, agency, employees, and clients— even self. In addition to that, the disruption in life and service over the past few months made this series even more of an anchoring point in my commitment to keep learning, listening, and sharing, and in turn hold that space for others. Thank you for making it welcoming and easy to become a virtual group and continuing to provide the lessons throughout.”
“If you are looking for experience, knowledge, “smarts” and a savvy view of the function of nonprofits in the marketplace, Strategic Consulting & Coaching is the service for you.”
“You certainly have been the right person in the right place at the right time!! Many thanks for all you’ve done for ResourceWest and our community.”
The Phoenix Residence, Inc., St. Paul
“Dozens of disability care providers like The Phoenix Residence, are facing a growing threat to their ability to provide group home and in-home services due to two serious issues: a workforce shortage of skilled direct service providers (DSPs) and ongoing changes to Medicaid reimbursement rates. We hired SCC to develop a comprehensive communications and fundraising plan to raise awareness about the serious challenges we’re facing and that we need to provide competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract and retain quality DSPs so that we can continue providing quality services. The Close the Gap campaign that SCC created was very successful in raising awareness and supporting our fundraising. We created a great product together and we’re very happy with the outcome.”
-Darlene Scott, Executive Director
“SCC worked with the Friends in Need Food Shelf to develop a Strategic Plan that helped us move forward in a much more intentional way. They also developed an e-newsletter template that we could easily use to connect with our donors and they produced a very high quality brochure for marketing.”
“Our small Foundation board was very pleased to work with Elaine Weber Nelson and the team at Strategic Consulting and Coaching. As an all-volunteer board, we had invested our time and energy to raise money, but we had never invested our money in fundraising. The return on our investment greatly exceeded our expectations. I highly recommend Elaine and SCC. ”
“SCC came in and assessed what we needed to do, brought stability to the organization, and had a calming effect on the employees, volunteers, and Board of Directors. You guided us through with understanding, encouragement, leadership and helped us in the hiring of our current Executive Director.”
Stillwater Public Library Foundation
"The Foundation has been an all-volunteer board since its incorporation 12 years ago. As the Foundation grew, the work to manage it grew beyond what board members could handle. In 2018, we determined a need to hire someone with professional nonprofit leadership experience to lead the Foundation. Our needs were pulling us in so many directions that we did not know where to begin.
"I knew Renae Oswald-Anderson and was very excited to learn that SCC would be able to help us move forward. Renae matched us with her colleague Elaine Weber Nelson who would become a great resource for us. When I first talked with Elaine, I knew we were on the same page. Small nonprofits have unique challenges and Elaine understood our immediate as well as long-range needs.
"As our Interim Executive Director, Elaine's first priority was to help us finalize our Strategic Plan. She managed the day-to-day tasks and boosted our fundraising with successful grant writing, a new mail appeal, and an additional fundraising event. Elaine provided board training in best practices. She determined that hiring a foundation manager would best meet our needs and she facilitated the search, hiring, and transition.
"Our work together took longer than we had anticipated, but Elaine was creative, conscientious, and flexible in fulfilling our expectations."
-Ann Wolff, President
“Working with SCC, I was able to realize my own potential and am now directing several homeless youth programs here at Pillsbury House. They helped me to see my own potential to grow from a competent youth worker to someone who was capable of managing and directing a successful program with a sizable budget.””
Case Studies
“Renae served as our Interim Executive Director for four months. She jumped right in. She was completely qualified and had the knowledge to hit the ground running. She was always easy to connect with and did an exceptional job in recruiting our new Executive Director.”
“Cheryl Jensen brought a sense of magic to our strategic planning process. She gently brought order to our wide-ranging ideas for how to achieve our organization’s dreams, while cheering on the importance of our mission. Participants from our organization left the day-long planning session feeling energized, focused and uplifted.”
“You created a way for us to work with you that was effective and affordable. And, we were successful! We are very excited about the new hire and we will think of you when we conduct future searches.”
“Thank you for another stellar [strategic planning] outing with our Board. I can’t believe we accomplished so much in just a day. You really do a great job.”
“I am so grateful for all of your help, wisdom and encouragement! You have put RW back on track!”
Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce
Following significant transitions within the Board and drafting a new strategic plan, the Board Chair, Hillary Swanson, felt it was imperative to invest in leadership development and hired SCC to facilitate a retreat for the Board of Directors.
Metropolitan Center for Independent Living
SCC worked with MCIL’s leadership to create a new strategic plan as well as mission and vision statements to guide the organization into the future. Jesse Bethke Gomez, MMA, Executive Director, shares his feedback.
White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf
Making a Profound Impact on Clients and Community
In early 2015 the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf was facing a great deal of organizational change: new space, high demand, new staff, and many long-time veteran volunteers. A board member reached out to SCC for guidance in working with systems that hadn’t kept pace with the growth and change along with increasing stress on staff and volunteers.
Campaign Video Helps Close the Gap!
We recently worked with our client, The Phoenix Residence, Inc. to create a video as part of a fundraising campaign to help “put a face” on the urgent need facing the organization.
The goal of the campaign is to position The Phoenix Residence to raise $150,000 to help ensure the organization is able to attract and retain quality, skilled, and caring Direct Support Professionals by providing them with competitive wages and benefits. One of the tools we created to help tell the Phoenix story is a video that shares some of the faces and voices of Phoenix. The SCC team wrote the script and interviewed those you see in the video.
Hennepin County's Waiver Finance Program
Before consulting with SCC, the environment at Hennepin County's Waiver Finance team was filled with controversial and toxic communication that resulted in delayed services, lack of services, and denial of services for eligible waiver recipients. The team now has better communications that have led to transparent collaboration with partners to make processes more efficient.
Hope 4 Youth
HOPE 4 Youth is a drop-in center serving youth experiencing homelessness. SCC helped the young but fast-growing organization transition to the next level by providing an interim executive director; moving toward transitional housing in addition to programs for youth; transitioning to a governing board model from an operational board; teaching the organization and board how to be a flourishing nonprofit organization; putting roles, responsibilities, policies and procedures in place; and hiring an executive director.
Family Wise
FamilyWise educates, empowers and enriches families who are struggling with poverty, substance abuse, mental health issues, homelessness, and domestic violence. FamilyWise worked with SCC’s Renae and Cheryl to update their strategic plan as well as their mission, vision, and values statements. Ann Gaasch, executive director, provides some feedback on the experience.
Clients
Adults and Children’s Alliance (ACA)
Advocating for Change Together (ACT)
African Reconciliation Project (ARDO)
American Indian Family Center
Asian United of Minnesota
Bellis
Blake School
Breaking Free
Bridge for Youth
CAPI
Christian Cupboard Emergency Food Shelf
Clare Housing
CommonBond Communities
District 202
EMERGE
Families Moving Forward
FamilyWise
Friends in Need
Glencoe Area Food Shelf
Hennepin County - Human Services and Public Health
HOPE 4 Youth
MACC CommonWealth
MACC Alliance of Connected Communities
MAP for Nonprofits
Merrick Inc.
Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL)
Midwest Special Services
Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce
Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association
Minnesota Subcontractors Association
Minnesota Urban Area Health Education Center
Northeast Contemporary Services (NCIS)
Northwest Resource for Families, (NWRF)
Pathway Health Services
Person to Person
Phoenix Residence
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota
People Responding in Social Ministry (PRISM)
Pillsbury United Communities
ResourceWest
SACA
Southeast Asian Ministry (SeAM)
Southern Anoka Community Assistance
Steve Rummler Hope Foundation
The Family Partnership
The Partnership Plan
Think Small
Wayside House
White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf
Wilder Foundation
Winona State University
Youth Intervention Programs Association