ABOUT
I got here through an unusual door.
Before I became a consultant, I ran arts organizations. As an executive at Nashville Opera, Nashville Children's Theatre, and Tulsa Opera, I managed boards, navigated budgets, hired and developed staff, and tried to hold the line between mission and money. I know what it's like to sit in the chair across from a consultant and wonder if they actually understand what your work costs.
That experience is baked into everything I do.
I launched NES Consulting in 2016, and in nearly a decade, I've partnered with more than 50 nonprofit organizations - from small community-based groups to regional advocacy organizations and statewide networks. My work spans strategic planning, board governance, facilitation, organizational development, and leadership coaching.
I'm also the Senior Director of Operations at Urban Green Lab, a Nashville-based sustainability education nonprofit. That's not a side note - it means I'm still inside an organization every day, dealing with the same challenges my clients face. I'm not an outside observer. I'm a practitioner.
Based in Nashville, TN
Serving nonprofits coast-to-coast on Tsalaguweti (Cherokee) native land.
WHAT SETS THIS PRACTICE APART
What sets my practice apart is the combination of rigor and relationship. I'm a trained Peacemaking Circle facilitator. I use CliftonStrengths, World Café, Results-based Facilitation and Appreciative Inquiry - not because they're impressive credentials, but because they open up conversations that a slide deck alone never would. I hold space for the hard stuff, and then I help you move.
My tagline has been Turn Your Vision Into Verbs™ since the beginning, because I've watched too many promising organizations leave a retreat with a beautiful document and no momentum. I care about what happens after the meeting.
HOW I WORK
01
I listen before I recommend. Every engagement starts with more questions than answers.
02
I use data to frame the conversation, not replace it. Surveys and assessments inform the work - they don't determine it.
03
I design processes so your team owns the outcome - not me. When the engagement ends, the work should keep moving.
04
I stay honest, even when it's uncomfortable. You don't need a consultant who tells you what you want to hear
05
I follow through. Proposals arrive on time. Calls are returned. Deliverables land when I say they will.
CREDENTIALS & AFFILIATIONS
Standards for Excellence™
Licensed Consultant
BoardSource
Certified Nonprofit Governance Consultant
Peacemaking Circle Practitioner
Trained facilitator
NANOE
Certified Nonprofit Consultant
NGLCC Certified Business Enterprise
LGBTQ-owned practice
Society of Human Resource Managers
Middle Tennessee Chapter & National Organization
Training & Facilitation
Board governance faculty, Young Leaders Council, Center for Nonprofit Excellence Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Nonprofit Network
Ready to see if we're a good fit?
A 30-minute Zoom call. No pitch. Just real conversation.