The Consultancy

Positive-sum practice to lift us all.

revolutionizing the public sector

We are on a mission to transform the public sector to a space where collaboration and innovation can thrive. We work with public agencies from the local to federal level and any value aligned organization that does social impact work.

Effective Collaboration is Equity at Work

The public sector has done a good job in diversifying its workforce. Gender, ethnic and racial diversity here outpaces that in the rest of the workforce and better Read More reflects the communities in which these agencies serve. There is also enormous opportunity to do better in fostering collaborative cultures within and between these agencies and their communities. Opportunities where innovation can thrive and employees and the communities they serve can feel valued. Effective and ethical collaboration also ensures equity in the use of resources, and saves time and money. Read Less

Change IS possible

The successes of collaboration on even the smallest scale act as fractals of change. Change can happen from the ground up and from the inside out. While policy catches up, Read More we work with change-agents embeded in bureaucracies to reshape and refine systems to be ethical, accountable and innovative. In communities from the hyper local to the global scale, we share big problems that need solving soon. Climate change, pandemics and conflict affect us all.  We convene the spaces where the folks who are the experts via their lived experiences and their knowledge can get together to discover the solutions. Read Less

A Community of Support Awaits

The Collective Consultancy is a boutique consulting firm that is BIPOC and queer led. We coordinate services and collaborate with other value aligned firms who offer complementary Read More expertise to provide exceptional service to our clients and community. We provide bespoke training and facilitation, peer coaching, and communities of learning and care. Read Less

this is our recipe for change

Relationship Building

A global perspective of the networks and communities of stakeholders your work Read More resides in. Mindful attention to that social capital and treating it as the valuable resource that it is. Deep understanding and respect of community perspectives, needs and interests. View Less

Real Talk About Power

Developing a shared understanding of the dynamics of power. Restorative Read More accountability to use that power to heal, not harm. Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives without mindfully embeding equity practices into each cell of an organization are doomed to fail and are actually harmful to the communities they purport to serve. View Less

Process Facilitation

Facilitation of deep dialogue and collaborative process. Guides by the side whose
Read More expertise is in the design of interactive and engaging experiences grounded in equity principles. Process facilitation can help diverse teams create the safe spaces to get creative and find consensus. View Less

Centering Wellness

Many who are called to this work are empathetic and finely tuned to the needs of others. Read More We often find ourselves centering the wellbeing of those we serve before our own. We must flip this script. In order to sustain lasting change, we need to heal ourselves. View Less

FACILITATION

Facilitation & Process Design

  • Planning and connection retreats
  • Interest based collective bargaining
  • Community meetings
  • Labor-Management committees
  • Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
  • Technology audit and adoption
  • Communities of care and learning

TRAINING

Training and Communities of Learning

  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
  • Collaborative decision making
  • Mindful Meetings
  • Interest based negotiations
  • Systems and process self audits

CONSULTING

Consulting & Thought Partnership

  • Technology for collaboration and equity
  • Remote workforce issues
  • Equity and inclusion
  • Collaborative labor relations
  • Systems and process audits

Testimonials

Lara Luthy

I really enjoyed the tone of this training. It was inspirational, informative and transformational. The responsiveness of the trainers to our needs (sometimes on the fly) was top-notch. The humor that was interwoven allowed for a space of genuineness and growth. "Growth edges" is new vocabulary that I have integrated into my life. Thank you, thank you!

Lara Luthy
President, Boise Education Association / 

Dave Wagers

This training is always very helpful with generating crucial conversations among our team and building mutual understanding between members.

Dave Wagers
Dave Wagers, Board of Trustees President, Boise Independent School District / 

Deyanira Zavala

Working with the Swell team was a tremendous experience, both as a participant and as a fellow facilitator. Emily took the time to understand our context and what we were hoping to achieve at the end of our time together. Her facilitation brought in new methods that were truly appreciated by our attendees.

Deyanira Zavala
Managing Director, BARHII / 

Mitchel Banales

I would give the service and training provided us by Emily and the Collective Consultancy 10 out of 10 stars. I have been a part of the classified negotiating team since before interest based bargaining (IBB) was introduced to Los Alamitos Unified School District, to be honest I hope we never stop using this creative way of negotiating. It has given us the ability to work together as one team to come up with solutions for contract and budget issues. By working together it takes the us against them mentally out of the process. Also our relationship outside the negotiating table never been better...

Mitchel Banales
California School Employees Association President, Los Alamitos Unified School District / 

Mike Conlon

Emily was a great IBB facilitator for our negotiation session. She was able to help the teams navigate several contentious topics always steering the room back to the basic tenets of the IBB process.

Mike Conlon
Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Laguna Beach Unified School District / 

Oskar Castro

I can't thank Swell enough for the support! They helped us do what we needed to do, but often with small organizations it is hard to find the capacity to fill the need. Swell made that a lot easier. Having an outside organization to help facilitate our conversations was amazingly beneficial, as my company is organized into various tired groups with different levels of hierarchy. I found that having the 2 facilitators from Swell was particularly efficient in staying on track and keeping us all organized, as one could lead the conversation in an organic way and the other could focus on note-taking so we could all reference those pieces of information later.

Oskar Castro
Director of Human Resources & Inclusion, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting / 

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