birches
Community-centered strategy for social impact
Strategy Rooted in PeopleI help mission-driven organizations bridge the gap between intention and impact by co-designing strategies with the communities they care for.
When something needs to shift—community trust feels fractured, your programs don't reflect your mission, or you're being asked to engage authentically but don't know how—the answer isn't in your office. It's with the people your work impacts.
I help you connect with community through a process of deep listening, collaborative strategy, and sustained implementation. Over months, not meetings, we move from good intentions to grounded practice—creating programs and systems that deliver real outcomes because they're designed with the people who know what's needed.
Honor What Communities Know
I start by listening. Through stakeholder interviews, community listening sessions, and participatory research, we ground your work in what people are actually experiencing—not what you assume they need. Community members become co-experts in shaping solutions.
Methods: Community Listening Sessions | Stakeholder Interviews & Mapping | Participatory Needs Assessment | Landscape Analysis
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Ground in Reality
We map the full picture—power dynamics, organizational gaps, and what's really at stake for community. This phase surfaces uncomfortable truths about where current approaches fall short and clarifies what needs to change.
Methods: Power Mapping | Organizational Assessment | Stakeholder Analysis | Root Cause Analysis | Equity Assessment | Program Validation | Community-Validated Findings | Gap Analysis
Design for Adaptation
Together, we build your roadmap: theory of change, engagement strategy, and measurement frameworks rooted in community input. Your plan stays flexible—designed to evolve as you learn, not lock you into an approach that stops working.
Methods: Theory of Change | Engagement Strategy Design | Program Design | Outcome & Evaluation Frameworks | Brand Strategy & Messaging Frameworks | Strategic Planning | Pilot Program Design | Implementation Roadmaps
Transform Together
Lasting community partnership needs infrastructure, not just intentions. I help you create advisory boards, accountability systems, and feedback loops where community voice shapes decisions—and train your team to sustain this work beyond our engagement.
Methods: Community Organizing | Accountability Systems | Feedback Mechanisms | Change Management & Organizational Development | Capacity Building & Training | Communications Strategy | Campaign Creation
I help organizations build deeper connections with their communities and move from performance to practice.
I've always been drawn to the radically human side of marketing—even as a marketer in an industry increasingly dominated by AI, automation, and efficiency metrics. While others optimize for clicks and conversions, I've spent my career asking a different question: what does it mean to truly be in relationship with your audience?
My path led me to working within cultural and trauma-informed care frameworks, not as a side interest, but as essential evolution to how I approach strategy. These aren't just methodologies—they've fundamentally shaped how I see the relationship between organizations and communities. In practice, this means I approach every engagement with an understanding of power dynamics, historical context, and the importance of safety and agency. It means I can help organizations recognize when their well-intentioned outreach might be re-traumatizing communities, design research that doesn't extract, and build strategies that account for why trust might be broken before you even start. I bring this lens into every project, insisting that community voice doesn't just inform decisions—it shapes them.
Since 2018, I've partnered with mission-driven organizations that care deeply but often struggle to connect authentically with the communities they serve. The gap isn't about intention. It's about building strategies on assumptions and metrics instead of community knowledge.
Birches exists to bridge that gap.
As a strategist, I design processes where organizations don't just consult—they co-design. Where strategy emerges from relationship, not extraction. I support organizations at different stages:
If you need to start with how you communicate → Community-centered brand and messaging
If you're ready to fundamentally change how power works → Community-designed strategy
All of it starts with the same foundation: listening to community first.
I'm particularly interested in working with organizations supporting communities facing systemic barriers—not to speak for them, but to design processes that amplify their voice and redistribute power.
When you stop guessing and start listening, everything shifts.
Traditional consulting assumes the consultant has answers and the community needs help. This approach assumes community knows what they need and organizations need help hearing it. That fundamental shift—who holds knowledge, who has power, whose voice guides strategy—changes everything. Programs work because they're designed for real needs. Trust builds because accountability is real. Change lasts because community shaped it.
When Strategy Meets Reality
Success isn't a strategic plan sitting on a shelf. It's lives improved because you listened and let community knowledge guide you.
Improved Capacity & Outcomes
85% of CBPR studies saw statistically positive outcomes—when community partners participate in strategy design, interventions succeed.¹ When community shapes strategy, outcomes improve.
Partnerships That Last
Trust-based CBPR partnerships led to sustained efforts, spin-off projects, and systemic transformations.³ When you build trust, change continues beyond your project.
Trust-Based Retention
of CBPR studies successfully retained marginalized populations—because trust enables honest participation.² When people trust you, they show up and stay.
Common Questions
How long do projects typically take?
Most community-based projects run 3-6 months, with iterative-based approaches spanning as long as context calls for.
Do you work with organizations outside of Austin?
Yes, I work with non-profit and for-profit organizations across industries in the US and Canada. Most work can be done remotely with occasional in-person sessions when beneficial. Estimated travel costs are included in proposals.
What if we're not sure what we need?
That's exactly what the discovery process is about. Organizations often come with specific challenges to address, and we work together to find the root issue to focus on. Milestone-based invoicing also helps us adapt to project needs every step of the way.
Can you help with crisis/PR response?
I focus on strategic transformation, not crisis communications (or budgeting, legal compliance, or financial advice). If you've been called out and need to fundamentally change your approach—not just manage perception—that's my work. After a PR expert helps you navigate immediate response, then you might come to me for the deeper work of rebuilding trust and changing practices within your organization and community.
What if I'm not sure about our capacity to change?
Authentic community-based strategy requires a shift in power and a baseline of vulnerability—admitting where current systems may be falling short. Our strategy will meet you where you are, with a spectrum of engagement tailored to your capacity. This moves from consultative steps (listening and feedback) to collaborative efforts (co-designing programs), and ultimately transformative change (shifting decision-making to the community). We build a sustainable roadmap that respects your capacity while centering the community in a leadership role.