Case Studies
Strategic Refresh for She the People
C A S E S T U D Y
After an ambitious launch, realizing significant growth and national media attention, She the People needed to refine its approach in advance of the next major national election. With a fully remote team, several new staff members, and a dynamic Executive Director with an intensive travel schedule, Cynthia was brought in to shepherd the process.
After conducting interviews, reading grant proposals and reports, and reviewing its brand positioning, Cynthia curated a series of discovery conversations to guide the leadership team in honing its mission and vision. Together, they identified which services to offer and which to discontinue, reviewed potential funders for each, and established reachable goals for a 2-year strategic plan.
This was followed by tightening internal operations to support the work and guiding each department to create its portion of the implementation plan, ensuring cohesion across the team. Subsequently, Cynthia stepped in to coach the Development Manager as she sought to raise the annual budget. Results of this engagement included:
Two-year strategic plan
A theory of change
Updated talking points for staff
Pinpointing the organization’s distinctive approach and overseeing the creation of an infographic to illustrate a complex model clearly
Refined funder communications, which led to successfully gaining a multi-year grant and other gifts
The E.D. was able to take a much-desired sabbatical and return with a refreshed sense of purpose and clarity.
“I highly recommend working with Cynthia Nimmo, a key partner in our work who brought years of experience and insight to She the People to shepard a strategic plan customized for our current political landscape where women of color can continue to build influence. She’s a joy to work with — sensitive and thoughtful — and knows how to cut through delays and lack of clarity to craft the road ahead while keeping a positive and encouraging spirit with staff. Cynthia brings an astute eye for detail and a birds eye view of change, qualities that led to her documenting a political power ecosystem which conveyed the ways the organization and the movement can view levers of influence. Our largest donors and partners have been deeply impressed with the model and I credit Cynthia with making the ecosystem a central part of communicating our values and aims. She is dedicated to the work, a rare and valuable resource for organizations and for the women's movement.”
Aimee Allison
Founder and President, She the People
Interim Executive Director for Alliance for Girls
C A S E S T U D Y
“You led us to new heights!”
Chief Financial Officer
“I have learned so much about leadership and organization from you in such a short period of time.”
Assistant to the Executive Director
After a decade of service overseeing exponential growth of AFG, the long-time, founding E.D. was approved for a well-deserved sabbatical. With the majority of staff being new, the Board approved an interim E.D. to continue to steer the network. New plans that needed to be cemented included: hiring its first-ever Deputy Director, hiring its first full-time CFO, formalizing the organization’s presence in Los Angeles as a step toward statewide expansion, laying the groundwork for an in-person conference after taking a break during the pandemic, and raising a multi-million dollar budget for the next calendar year.
Results:
Launched planning for the in-person conference, including establishing a planning committee, identifying a professional planner, creating the theme, identifying speakers and topics, and recommending a first-ever hybrid model to enable a broader audience to participate virtually or in person
Hired Deputy Director
Hired first full-time Chief Financial Officer
Raised the annual budget
Facilitated leadership transition on the Board
Strong cohesion and retention amongst the staff
Easing the way back to partial in-person work after the staff had pivoted to remote work during the pandemic
Successfully received a grant to kick off the L.A. expansion, established L.A.-based planning committee
"I'm the founding Executive Director for my organization and after 10 years was way overdue for a break. Our Board of Directors approved a 6 month sabbatical as well as contracting someone to serve as the interim E.D. while I was away. I thought of Cynthia immediately. I had witnessed her extraordinary leadership of the Women’s Funding Network and had always been impressed with her competence, calm and success while there. She helped me to prepare for my departure, and stepped in seamlessly, which was a lot considering how much we had going on. We were in the middle of raising substantial funds, had decided to officially expand statewide, had decided to hire our first ever Deputy Director, and were beginning to plan our annual conference. I wouldn't have been comfortable asking anyone other than Cynthia to lead this critical, mission-expanding work in my stead. Throughout my leave she was supportive of me, ensured that I felt involved where it was absolutely critical but otherwise helped to create healthy boundaries. She led our Board effectively, keeping them informed and engaged throughout, met with our donors, oversaw our grant-writing, program development, report writing, communications and successfully met all the growth metrics we had laid out. I still don't know how she did it all, and with such warmth. Our team loved her! In fact, we brought her back after I had returned to lead a retreat with our new Executive Team. She was fantastic at identifying the differing ways we each communicate and how to use that to our advantage. We were all sad when she left, and I'm thrilled to know she remains a huge supporter of our work. I always know I can call on her to provide insight or make a connection."
Emma Mayerson
Executive Director, Alliance for Girls
Women’s Funding Network
C A S E S T U D Y
"You are a rock star! What a miracle of reinvention, reimagination and rejuvenation you have managed to create. WFN owes you a huge debt of thanks for keeping our vision and dreams alive."
Amina Dickerson, Board of the Women’s Funding Network, U.S.
Joining the team in 2003 as its first Director of Member Services, Cynthia brought her expertise in network management, membership models, and her fluency in digital tool development to strengthen membership in this robust network. Helping to create an online social change measurement tool, Cynthia’s team successfully brought the tool to hundreds of organizations worldwide. Later as WFN’s first Chief Operations Officer, she recommended and oversaw the licensing of the tool to corporate partners, including Nike Inc.
Cynthia took the helm as President and CEO in 2014 at a time when the proliferation of women- and girl-serving organizations meant funders had increased expectations for impact, data, and collaboration. Under her leadership, various multi-state and international collaborations were designed and funded, resulting in substantially improving the lives of women and girls. Throughout her tenure, Cynthia focused on streamlining operations, modernizing the membership model, and going digital including with WFN’s first digital annual report, a storytelling platform to showcase the work of over 100 member organizations, and an interactive map depicting the locations and types of grants being made across the network. With her guidance, WFN’s social media presence grew from 3,000 to 90,000, its global conferences were sold out, and several multi-million dollar grants were raised to fund collaborative work.
Mid-Career Support for Philanthropic Leader
C A S E S T U D Y
“I went from feeling uncomfortable and angry with Big Philanthropy, to being reenergized by the power I have to support my community. Rather than navigating neo-colonial systems, I feel better positioned to change them./”
Navajo Leader in Philanthropy
“If I stay in philanthropy, how do I navigate a space where people with power try to retain it?” This was the start of three months of conversation as Cynthia and a respected Navajo leader within the philanthropic sector discussed the path forward in an already impressive career. Despite being actively solicited by large philanthropies, this leader was on the verge of burnout from working within a system that felt transactional. They were at a critical juncture, seeking to reconcile their vision for the economic security of Native communities with how they observed power being wielded by high-net-worth families and foundations.
Over a series of curated conversations and exercises, they gained clarity on how and where they wanted to contribute their expertise and talents and on which issue—among the many contributing to tribal sovereignty—to focus on next. They assessed various job offers to decode the possibilities for driving real social change and fine-tuned their messaging to move funders beyond “Native 101,” empowering others to join them on the journey with inspiration and hope.