Helping Maine's social sector leaders do the most good with the resources that they have.
Practical, proven approaches from a peer.
Helping Maine's social sector leaders do the most good with the resources that they have.
Why Kathryn Pierce Consulting?
The Importance of Perspective
As social sector leaders, we strive to do the most good with the resources that we have. Knowing whether we have accomplished this in any organization is a difficult task.
Kathryn Pierce’s view is that our vantage point as social sector leaders affects what we are able to achieve. The most successful leaders are those who are able to see their work in relation to an ever-changing landscape of needs and social service providers and ground their understanding in the experiences of those most impacted.
With experience at the grassroots level and, subsequently, in government, consulting, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership, Kathryn has gained the perspective that is needed to help organizations achieve success.
Through Kathryn Pierce Consulting, Kathryn has customized a menu of service offerings to help social sector leaders change their vantage point and, in doing so, make more informed, strategic decisions to maximize the impact of their limited resources.
Services
Strategic Planning
Kathryn will help you chart your future course through a comprehensive strategic planning process that is rooted in your core purpose, your core strengths, and your unique ability to contribute to the larger landscape of needs and opportunities (future-focused). As a highly adaptive planning partner, Kathryn will work with you to meet your evolving needs and goals as the process unfolds.
Capacity Building
Kathryn utilizes TCC Group’s Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT) to help you assess your organizational effectiveness and prioritize areas for investment in capacity building. As a certified CCAT facilitator, Kathryn provides expert guidance to organizational decision-makers to translate assessment results into meaningful organizational improvement.
Implementation Planning
If you face challenges documenting your organizational vision or operationalizing a high-level strategic plan, Kathryn can help. She converts visions or existing plans into detailed implementation roadmaps, specifying roles, timelines, and necessary resources for effective mission advancement.
Landscape Assessment
Kathryn will assess the landscape for needs and opportunities to help you target your limited resources for maximum impact. Her particular strength is in collecting and distilling information from diverse sources to inform organizational decision-making.
About Kathryn
Kathryn brings over fifteen years of diverse experience working in different roles and from different vantage points to advance social sector initiatives in Maine, nationally, and internationally.
After earning her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, Kathryn held professional roles in city government, social sector consulting, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership. She also brings experience working at the grassroots community-level to advance social change as a former Peace Corps volunteer.
With the perspective she gained from these varied social sector roles, Kathryn acquired a unique ability to understand the landscape and engage with an organization’s many stakeholders, inclusive of peers, partners, funders, volunteers, policy makers, clients, and community leaders.
An experienced nonprofit strategy consultant with a leading social sector firm, Kathryn has utilized best practice approaches to help organizations of all shapes and sizes make strategic decisions about their future priorities.
As a former funder, Kathryn brings important insight into the role, ability, and responsibility of philanthropic funders to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations.
Most recently, as a nonprofit executive director, Kathryn acquired what is arguably the most important quality she brings to this work: empathy --
Kathryn has grappled with balancing vision and practical tasks in a small organization lacking dedicated support functions. This now fuels her passion to help organizations focus their resources where they will do the most good through strategic planning, capacity building, implementation planning, and landscape assessment.
A Maine native, Kathryn grew up in Kennebunk and lives in Portland with her husband and two daughters.
Professional History
Work Experience:
- Program Officer at The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation overseeing emerging Medicine grantmaking in Maine (2024-present)
- Principal of Kathryn Pierce Consulting (2023-present)
- Executive Director of Camp Susan Curtis, Maine’s only tuition-free camp that exclusively serves Maine kids facing economic hardship (2019-2023)
- Program Officer at Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF), an independent, private nonprofit health foundation dedicated to improving the health and well-being of uninsured and underserved Mainers (2016-2019)
- Nonprofit Strategy and Capacity Building Consultant at TCC Group, a national firm focused exclusively on strengthening the social sector (2013-2016)
- Rural Community Development Volunteer at Peace Corps Costa Rica (2009-2011)
- Pharmaceutical Unit Coordinator at Catholic Medical Mission Board, an international NGO working to strengthen and support communities through healthcare programs and initiatives, the distribution of medicines and medical supplies, and the placement of volunteers (2007-2009)
Community Leadership:
- Olympia's Leaders Advisor with Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute, a program that aims to raise the confidence and aspirations of high school girls (2024-2027)
- Board Member at Portland Provident Association, an exempt private foundation that performs charitable giving to organizations in the Portland area with a focus on direct relief (2023-present)
Education:
- University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government MPA ’13
- The Fordham Center for Non-Profit Leaders Executive Education Certificate ‘13
- Fordham University B.A. in Spanish/ International Political Economy ’07
