Sand Dollar Strategy
In a time of unprecedented global challenges and social sector restructuring, I launched Sand Dollar Strategy to help your team navigate change with clarity, resilience, and renewed purpose.
As a seasoned CEO, foundation director, trustee and mission driven strategist, I help leaders and changemakers refine their visions, embody their values, and scale the impact of the resources and organizations they steward. My career spans philanthropic leadership at Panta Rhea Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and United Way, as well as service on Californiaās Citizens Redistricting Commission and governance or staff roles at nonprofits including Urban Habitat, SoCal Grantmakers, and Funders Committee for Civic Participation.
Lived experience grounds my work. Iāve accompanied mission-driven partners toward landmark achievements and in the wake of unfathomable crises. I have spent decades building bridges across cultures, sectors, geographies and perspectives. These experiences taught me early on to find common ground, maximize opportunity in complexity and to leverage my ability to translate and move between worldsāa skill I now leverage in support of you, my clients.
Why Sand Dollars?
The sand dollar is more than a shellāit is a symbol of transformation, resilience, clarity and abundance. From a spiny sea urchin to a perfectly balanced shell form, its journey mirrors the process of organizational and leadership growth: releasing the old, embracing change, and emerging stronger.
Through Sand Dollar Strategies, I guide leaders and institutions through this same arc. With a focus on strategic clarity, adaptive growth, and measurable results, I help organizations navigate complexity, align values with action, and realize their fullest potential.
Strategy & Vision
I help clients set a clear course for emergent futures, grounding impact scenarios and decision-making in purpose, clarity and adaptability.
01
Vision, Mission & Values Refresh
I help organizations reflect on their impact and north star, to align with the present moment and future horizonābuilding on and celebrating the legacy already in place.
02
Philanthropic Strategy
Guided by clients, I co-create flexible giving strategies and impact scenarios that align resources with values, building trust and transparency with partners while ensuring stability for teams.
03
Nonprofit Program & Funding Strategy
I partner with nonprofits to design compelling strategies rooted in community aspirations, innovative practices, and revenue potentialāensuring programs are impactful and sustainable.
04
Risk & Reward Assessment
I facilitate proactive processes that help boards weigh risks and opportunities, make timely decisions, and strike the right balance between boldness and stability.
Governance & Operations
I strengthen - and often reimagine - the structures and systems that allow organizations to thrive for the long term.
Governance Renewal
I facilitate board assessments, update values-aligned bylaws, support trustee recruitment and orientation, and design effective meeting facilitation to foster engaged, community grounded governance.
Operational Support
With experience across diverse operating models and partnership structures, I partner with top talent to provide interim capacity and guidance that informs long-term structural and staffing decisions.
Raizal Diaspora Foundation retreat Miami, Florida, Summer 2024.
Board Assessments
Comprehensive baseline reflection
Bylaws Updates
Values-aligned governance ideation
Trustee Development
Recruitment, integration & engagement
Engagement & Relationships
I nurture deep trust, collaboration, and connection between donors, nonprofits, and communities - the foundation for collective impact.
Community Engagement & Diligence
I conduct landscape assessments, steward donor-grantee relationships, and design engagement strategies that foster trust, shared learning, and collaboration across the field.
Next-Gen Empowerment
I support rising generations in high-net-worth families as they explore philanthropic interests, strengthen their leadership voice, and define the collective and individual impact they aspire to make.
Caribbean Funders in Bridgetown, Barbados, January 2025.
Photo courtesy of the Snaphappy Collective.