Consulting Ethos

At VESTEDin™ Consulting Group, LLC, we combine human-centered design with the nonprofit lifecycle framework to create effective and successful solutions for our clients. We put people at the center of everything we do while recognizing each organization's unique developmental stage.

Our ethos is rooted in authenticity, empathy, collaboration, and innovation. We work closely with our clients to understand their needs and challenges within their lifecycle context. By aligning our approach with the functional components of the internal nonprofit ecosystem—strategy, Technology, External Relations, Money, and Servant Leadership (STEMS)—and various business domains, we develop functional, efficient, intuitive, and tailored solutions tailored to each organization's developmental needs.

Our human-centered design process involves deeply understanding end users and their needs, ideation, and rapid prototyping, all contextualized within the appropriate lifecycle stage and business areas. We integrate these human-centered solutions with the lifecycle framework into our core services: strategic and succession planning, organizational assessments, meeting design and facilitation, organizational development advising, and change management. This approach helps our clients achieve their goals while positively impacting their communities, ensuring people-focused solutions are strategically aligned with each organization's growth trajectory.

Consulting Approach 

Our work approach blends design thinking (creative) and systems thinking (critical). Our participatory processes are strategic and reflective. During the steps outlined below, we utilize visualization, mapping, game-storming, prototyping, case study review, and various organizational development and quality management techniques.

Our approach involves key steps, including discovery and research, organizational assessment, confidential qualitative data collection, co-creation, rapid prototyping, and iterative testing. We start by conducting user research to gain a deep understanding of the people we are designing for, including their behaviors, needs, and pain points. We then collaborate with stakeholders to co-create solutions that address these needs. 

Through rapid prototyping, we quickly iterate and test our solutions, incorporating feedback from users and stakeholders along the way. Our human-centered design approach allows us to create solutions that not only meet the needs of our clients but also improve the lives of the people they serve.