SERVICES
Measure and assess your progress toward impact.
Implementing a measurement approach requires balancing investee or grantee data limitations with aspirations of a cross-portfolio understanding of impact. Given the variability across most portfolios, making sense of impact data can be overwhelming – but it’s crucial to understanding and owning your impact narrative. Reflections from the collection and synthesis of data can reinforce each other.
Rather than stopping at design, I often engage deeper with clients to help implement impact systems. This includes synthesizing data for external impact reports and internal dashboards. Upstream, I can help teams pilot and refine impact systems end-to-end, often engaging with investees or grantees in the process.
Design your strategy with clear intended impact.
Whether your investment strategy is impact-first or not, you need a clear articulation of intended impact. This begins with a core thesis. In investing we call it “Impact Thesis”; in other sectors we use “Theory of Change”. This tool visually represents the connections between what actions you take, and the change you expect to see. Beyond setting the stage for measurement, this helps clarify strategic objectives and communication narratives.
I start by assessing your current strategy and context. I help articulate your unique impact positioning, centered in the experiences of your key stakeholders. I then draw out the measurable pathways of change you seek in a customized, visually-compelling Impact Thesis or Theory of Change.
​Align your capital with your vision for impact.
For impacted-minded investors and grantmakers, impact can inform decisions about capital allocation in a variety of ways. Without a clear approach for understanding the potential impact of an investment, compared to your own impact intentionality, you are open to risk of strategic misalignment and more. Processes and tools aligned to your impact strategy can point you in the right direction.
In addition to systematically assessing portfolio alignment, I can help design and implement processes and tools for impact screening and due diligence to ensure a thoughtful approach to each investment. I will work with you to integrate these with your current deal- and grant-making processes.
Translate intended impact into a measurable framework.
Even with a clear impact strategy, knowing what and how to measure is challenging. Building from your impact thesis, the indicators you measure should be aligned, and most importantly, meaningful for your investees or grantees. The fields of IMM (Impact Measurement & Management) and M&E (Measurement and Evaluation) offers frameworks and best practices.
I assess current data realities for you and your investees or grantees, and help articulate your aspirations. I embrace the complexities of operationalizing indicators (across often diverse portfolios) to create user-friendly frameworks – setting teams up with right-sized, usable measurement systems.