Projects & Results

Student Conservation Association

Ernst Consulting led two strategic planning retreats with SCA’s senior leadership teams, facilitating the development of clear objectives for SCA’s urban work, which were to:

  • More effectively serve BIPOC youth from low-income communities,

  • Provide a seamless continuum of services,

  • Advance climate justice goals, and

  • Diversify both funding sources and partnerships.

Results

The new Urban Green program design included a staffing structure, more integrated and aligned programs within cities, and more strategic local and national partnerships designed to support their goals. The program design was used to help secure a multi-year, multimillion-dollar grant and to guide the rollout and hiring for the program.

"Caryn has been a terrific asset to the Student Conservation Association. She is a thoughtful and expert facilitator who led a seminal leadership retreat for us and then played a central role in crafting a foundational strategy document that was its product. I have no doubt that her contributions will yield both immediate and long-term benefits for our organization.”

Stephanie Meeks, CEO and President, SCA

Greater Easton Development Partnership

Ernst Consulting developed and led a workshop series to build the capacity of public housing residents to lead and represent their community, drive planning initiatives and elevate resident voices. The workshops focused on skills for building relationships and trust with residents, facilitating community conversations, managing change, and navigating conflict.

Results

Residents formed a resident council, started regular community gatherings with fun activities and discussion, created a community garden, and joined the Choice Neighborhoods planning team. GEDP added resident ambassadors to the core planning team to ensure they have a voice in important decisions, such as the selection of a private developer and property manager for their community.

“Ernst Consulting was fundamental to the success of our project. Caryn helped us engage with residents of a Choice Neighborhood and understand their priorities and concerns through a series of workshops. She facilitated conversations and taught culturally appropriate strategies to residents that increased their engagement and empowerment and created a more cohesive and connected community.”

Andrea Gonzalez, Urban Planner, COLLABO Planning + Design

City Parks Alliance

In order to build the capacity of public agencies and nonprofits to create and lead more effective and sustainable cross-sector partnership, City Parks Alliance hired Ernst Consulting to develop a workshop approach and curriculum for teaching the principles and skills for successful park partnerships. Ernst Consulting:

  • Conducted extensive research on cross-sector and cross-agency partnerships,

  • Synthesized the findings into Principles for Successful Park Partnerships, and

  • Researched and developed interactive case studies to enable participants to apply the principles to their unique context and support replication of innovative models between cities.

Results

The workshops were piloted in Detroit and Flint, MI, which led to the replication of Philadelphia’s successful Landcare program in Detroit. The new workshop approach was used as the model for a multi-year grant to fund replication in four cities, as well as a second multi-year grant to incorporate creative placemaking concepts and replicate in two additional cities, and became the basis for a new CPA program. During the pandemic the curriculum was used to create a virtual workshop series.

KaBOOM!

Ernst Consulting was hired to serve as Senior Policy Advisor to the COO for one year to support the organization’s shift to driving policy and investments that advance play equity.  Caryn worked across departments to develop new strategic initiatives, pilot programs and institute new systems, including updating KaBOOM!’s database and GIS systems, as well as their Playful Cities USA criteria to reward public investments that address play equity, and piloting play equity analyses.

Results

KaBOOM! was able to deliver Play Desert Maps for cities to identify areas where children lacked access to play, provide Play Equity recommendations that identified policy, programmatic and capitol investments that cities could make to address inequities, and reward cities taking action as part of the Playful Cities USA recognition program.

Trust for Public Land

TPL hired Ernst Consulting and KBL Consulting to lead a two-day strategic planning retreat for the national Conservation Vision Team, identifying where the team’s strengths and interests align with the organization’s new strategic plan and funding opportunities, and building consensus on 5 Strategic Focus Areas and a mission statement for their work.

Results

The Action Plan developed during the retreat guided the Conservation Vision Team’s fundraising, internal and external partnerships, and program development efforts over the next two years, and the retreat process and format built trust and strengthened relationships between team members, enabling them to collaborate more effectively.

“Caryn brings a wealth of experience in nonprofit operations, facilitation, planning and fundraising. We needed to align the direction of the conservation innovation team’s work at The Trust for Public Land with the newly developed organizational strategic plan. She helped us create a common vision through an inclusive process that enabled us to align our values, culture and diverse expertise with an implementation plan. The plan resulted in the evolution of the team’s planning and geospatial innovations that supported more land protected, parks created, more funding streams and communities engaged.”

Breece Robertson, VP, Chief Research and Innovation Officer, TPL

Global Electronics Council, EPEAT, EcoLabel

GEC, a consortium of environmentalists, leading industry associations, major manufacturers, and government agencies, hired Ernst Consulting to lead their Spring and Fall Board meetings during a year when they were facing critical decisions regarding the long-term financing and structure of the global EPEAT EcoLabel program.

Results

Through a series of interviews and facilitated board meetings, Caryn negotiated agreement between environmental and industry board members to revise the standards development process, update third party verification processes, and establish new rate structures, which improved GEC’s long-term sustainability and enabled an increase in the accreditation of small to mid-sized green electronics manufacturers.

“Caryn Ernst played a highly skillful role negotiating and securing agreements among very diverse interests on the GEC board to create consensus on contentious issues and strengthen our coalition.  Her adept facilitation helped us successfully resolve challenging issues and build a strong organization, which has made a major difference in the greening of the electronics industry.”   

Jeff Eagan, former GEC Board Member and official at the Department of Energy

Oregon Health and Sciences University, Center for Excellence in Womens Health

OHSU hired Ernst Consulting to guide the planning process to create a new national nonprofit accreditation organization for Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health. Caryn facilitated a strategic planning retreat with women’s health experts from around the U.S. and developed recommendations for implementation that included:

  • Consensus on criteria for excellence in women’s health

  • Proposed organizational, staffing and governance structure

  • Defined roles for executive and advisory boards

  • A rate structure and 5-year profit and loss projections.

Results

The 5-year profit and loss indicated that the ROI was lower than anticipated, so implementation was delayed and reconsidered.

American Friends of Canadian Conservation

Ernst Consulting was hired to lead AFCC’s Strategic Planning Board Retreat. Through a series of interviews with board members and partners, Caryn identified key challenges in building a financially-sustainable business model and an operationally-sustainable board structure. She redirected the retreat from a long-term strategic planning effort, to a short-term action-planning process designed to establish the financial and organizational groundwork for long-term success.

Results

The strategies developed during the retreat were implemented over the next 12 months. The organization is continuing to grow and thrive over 10 years later.