Consulting Services

 

Program & Curriculum Development

Strong programs are built around more than good ideas. They need clear goals, meaningful learning experiences, strong facilitation, and a deep understanding of the people they are designed to serve.

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SWED Development can support:

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• Youth leadership program design

• Teen boards, advisory groups, and youth-led initiatives

• Philanthropy and grantmaking education

• Leadership development curricula

• Workshop and retreat design

• Participant reflection tools

• Program revision and improvement

• Curriculum connected to communication, conflict, leadership, and community engagement

 

This work is especially useful for organizations building new programs, refreshing older programs, or trying to better align their programs with their mission and values.

 

Strategic Planning & Change Support

Organizations often reach moments when they need to pause, listen, and make thoughtful decisions about what comes next. SWED Development helps organizations design planning processes that are participatory, realistic, and grounded in community context.

 

This work can include:

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• Strategic planning support

• Mission, vision, and values work

• Change management planning

• Staff, board, and stakeholder input processes

• Environmental scans

• Priority-setting

• Implementation planning

• Support during leadership or organizational transitions

 

The goal is not just to create a plan. The goal is to help organizations build clarity, alignment, and momentum.

 

Community Engagement & Stakeholder Listening

Meaningful engagement requires more than asking people for feedback. It requires knowing whom to ask, how to listen, what patterns to look for, and how to use what you hear responsibly.

 

SWED Development can support:

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• Stakeholder mapping

• Focus group design and facilitation

• Listening sessions

• Interview protocols

• Surveys and feedback tools

• Alumni, participant, staff, board, and community engagement

• Theme analysis

• Recommendations based on stakeholder input

 

This work is especially helpful for organizations preparing for strategic planning, redesigning programs, strengthening community relationships, or trying to better understand the people they serve.

 

Youth Leadership & Engagement Strategy

Based on Dr. Swed’s book, Ecosystems of Youth Leadership Development: Pathways to New Programs, this consulting area helps organizations build stronger, more inclusive approaches to youth leadership.

This work can focus on both the young people participating in programs and the adults, staff, organizations, and communities responsible for creating the conditions around them.

SWED Development can support:

• Youth leadership ecosystem design

• Youth voice and decision-making structures

• Teen leadership programs

• Youth philanthropy programs

• Adult-youth partnership

• Intergenerational leadership

• Youth engagement and retention

• Program models that treat young people as whole people

This work is especially useful for youth-serving nonprofits, schools, foundations, Jewish communal organizations, teen philanthropy programs, and community organizations.

 

Leadership, Supervision & Organizational Culture

Organizations are shaped by how people communicate, make decisions, supervise, manage conflict, and understand their roles. SWED Development helps leaders and teams strengthen the human side of organizational life.

 

This work can include:

• Leadership development strategy

• Role clarification

• Staff retreat planning

• Supervision practices

• Communication systems

• Conflict coaching tools

• Team culture and trust-building

• Meeting and decision-making norms

• Support for emerging leaders

 

This consulting is especially helpful for organizations experiencing growth, staff transitions, unclear expectations, communication challenges, or tension between vision and daily practice.

 

Research, Evaluation & Learning

Organizations often need support understanding what is working, what participants are experiencing, and how to communicate impact clearly.

 

SWED Development can support:

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• Participant experience surveys

• Focus groups and interviews

• Program reflection tools

• Qualitative theme analysis

• Case study development

• Evaluation planning

• Reports and recommendations

• Translating findings into program improvement

 

This work can help organizations learn from their own practice, prepare for funders, improve programs, and tell a stronger story about their impact.

 

What Working Together Can Look Like

Consulting projects are customized based on your organization’s goals, timeline, and needs. A project may include planning meetings, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, facilitated sessions, curriculum design, written recommendations, coaching for leaders, staff workshops, or implementation support.

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Some organizations come with a clear project already in mind. Others come with a challenge, transition, or question that needs more definition. In either case, SWED Development works collaboratively to design a process that is thoughtful, realistic, and useful.

 

Recent Consulting Work

Recent consulting projects have included strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, youth philanthropy facilitation, staff development, executive coaching, organizational mapping, curriculum design, conflict workshops, and youth leadership research with nonprofits, foundations, Jewish communal organizations, and educational institutions.