Fourth Sector Consulting works with organizations engaged in social change. Our partners and clients primarily include:
- Nonprofits
- Foundations
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Social Enterprises
- Government Agencies
- Triple-bottom line corporations
We don’t work with our clients in isolation. We build bridges among these sectors where none exist and connect big ideas and the many partners whose collaboration is necessary to make real change happen.
“When we needed someone with deep knowledge in the field, an insatiable curiosity, and an ability to take complex information and communicate it in easy-to-understand terms to a lay audience, I thought immediately of Nicole and Fourth Sector. She has really helped us keep up with a very rapidly moving field and has assisted the activist community by finding ways to connect their passions with opportunities to make a difference.”
- Fair Food Network
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: Program planning for an evolving organization
IATP was at a transition point with new leadership, a culture of entrepreneurialism, and several decades of history setting national and international priorities for what our world needs to become more sustainable. Fourth Sector worked with IATP through a strategic planning process that involved zeroing in on its vision and mission, building on its strengths, and forecasting its needs. By the end of the process, IATP had achieved consensus, refocused its priorities, and was on the way to making the best use of its resources.
Here’s what IATP had to say: “Fourth Sector brings experience, thoughtfulness, dedication, and a wealth of organizational and communications knowledge to their work. They are of the pitch-in-and-help school of organizational consulting, a rare find.”
Transit for Livable Communities: Institutional Support During Transitions.
Transit for Livable Communities (TLC) was undergoing rapid transitions: new leadership, major policy victories, and growing national recognition for administering a $21.5 million pilot program aiming to increase bicycling and walking in the Minneapolis area. Fourth Sector worked with TLC to restructure its communications department, manage the hiring process for a new communications team, and ensure the organization’s strategic communications efforts went smoothly during staffing and leadership transitions. The result? An organization well-positioned to capitalize on its strengths as it addresses major transportation challenges in Minnesota.
Bike Walk Twin Cities: Cross-Sectoral Convening to Share Best Practices.
Bike Walk Twin Cities has an ambitious goal: reduce driving by increasing bicycling and walking in the Minneapolis area. The federally-funded initiative successfully provided funding for on-street infrastructure and outreach initiatives, but wanted to learn more about best practices around educational efforts aimed at behavior change. Fourth Sector convened and facilitated a meeting of nonprofit, government, and for-profit communications professionals with deep experience in behavior change initiatives. The meeting spurred new thinking among initiative staff members; they are using the learnings to develop new outreach efforts aimed at helping residents find new ways to get around town.
Fair Food Foundation (now Fair Food Network): Starting from the ground up
Hard on the heels of the excitement of a promising new foundation opening its doors follows the reality of how much work must be done for it to hit the ground running. Working closely with executive leadership, Nicole and the Fourth Sector team helped plan and execute Fair Food’s first communications before it officially started work—from its award-winning website to the early speeches of the president and CEO.
Here’s what Fair Food had to say: “When we needed someone with deep knowledge in the field, an insatiable curiosity, and an ability to take complex information and communicate it in easy-to-understand terms to a lay audience, I thought immediately of Nicole and Fourth Sector. She has really helped us keep up with a very rapidly moving field and has assisted the activist community by finding ways to connect their passions with opportunities to make a difference.”
Food and Society: Developing strategic communications that can adapt to a changing situation
Nicole has been working on communications for Food and Society, an initiative of the Kellogg Foundation, since its inception in 2000. In 2008, the Foundation—and the initiative—underwent a major transformation. Working closely with the Food and Society team, Fourth Sector helped to ensure that the story of Food and Society was delivered clearly and consistently to targeted audiences and stakeholders. By conveying how the possibilities for the future of the initiative had been paved by the hard work of the past 8 years, the message highlighted the continuity between past and present.
University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships: Creating communications coherence within a complex initiative
The Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships emerged out of Minnesota’s culture and history of agrarian populism when a few idealistic faculty members at the University of Minnesota were able to stimulate policymaker support for partnerships driven by and serving Minnesota’s communities. With 350-plus projects in place and more ideas bubbling up from the communities, it was time to start communicating more powerfully about the Partnerships, raising awareness about what they do and, perhaps most importantly, connecting this work to larger societal priorities. Working with Fourth Sector to develop a communications plan set the stage for consistent and accurate messages about the Partnerships and allowed the Partnerships to assess the state of the collaboration; develop shared values, a vision and mission; and propel the work where it needs to go for the future.