Services

Four Strands Community Partners, offers a variety of services through both a la carte options AND four retainer agreement tiers. The consulting rate for a la carte services is $175 per hour or any part thereof. Retainer options are listed at the bottom of the page and have a retainer rate for the duration of the agreement.

Drawing on over 20 years experience as an educator, and over a decade of nonprofit work, including as an executive director, and board member, Four Strands Founder, Karen Francis-McWhite provides community learning series, and nonprofit consulting and training.

In the summer of 2020, Karen designed and facilitated the curriculum for the Our Valley Our Future One Community working group, which included nearly 40 community leaders drawn from over 20 organizations and a variety of sectors. Applying the learnings from that experience and her prior teaching experience, Karen developed Learning to People Better Together, a 9-session community learning series that helps participants develop the historical literacy and contemporary skills needed to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in both their organizations and their work in their communities. Since 2021, the Learning to People Better Together series has been hosted by the Community Foundation of NCW (2021-2022) and the NCW Equity Alliance (since 2022), with funding support from Thriving Together NCW, the Icicle Fund, and the Inatai Foundation. Other organizations interested in bringing the Learning to People Better Together series to their communities can request a planning consult with Four Strands Community Partners.

Four Strands Community Partners, LLC also offers a variety of services to assist organizations in the development and implementation of their diversity, equity and inclusion goals:

Individual accountability partnership and equity coaching
Board, staff, or community meeting facilitation
Board and staff retreats
- - ½ day (3 contact hours, two meetings for planning and/or follow up)
  - Full day (3-6 contact hours, two meetings for planning and/or follow up)
Review and/or Collaborative development of policies and procedures
Designing and delivering applied learning workshops
Best practices and industry research support

Examples of topics Four Strands Community Partners can support:

The business case for DEIB
Equitable hiring and retention strategies
Diverse board recruitment and retention
Infusing equity and inclusion in community-based organizations and events
Implicit bias in professional settings
Understanding the historical and cultural contexts of contemporary systemic exclusion
Intersectionality of anti-racism and other systemic transformations
DEIB for Social Purpose Companies, Benefit Corporations, and B Corporations

RETAINER OPTIONS

These options vary in length from one to three years.

Emerging

Advisory Retainer

Four Strands Community Partners, LLC will:

- Be a sounding board for CLIENT-developed plans, ideas and strategies;
- Provide feedback and guidance on researching and executing implementation steps;
- Participate in four, 1-hour meetings per month with two client contacts who are responsible for implementing and managing the CLIENT diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging (DEIB) initiatives
- Provide weekly advisory and consulting services via 30 minute calls or emails, with the principal client contacts responsible for the enterprise-wide DEIB initiatives;

The CLIENT is responsible for creating and managing the DEIB initiatives.

Developing:

Implementation Retainer

All of the contact hours and services at the Advisory Retainer level
In addition, Four Strands Community Partners, LLC will:
- Work with the small team responsible for assisting the two primary point people. This team can be staff or the board;
- Help the team members understand and advance their roles in the DEIB initiatives;
- Provide one (1) full-day staff or board retreat per year (up to 8 hours), with at least four weeks advance notice;
- Provide two (2) additional 1-hour meetings per month, primarily to work with the support team;
- Recommend adjustments to systems and procedures to improve the implementation of the CLIENT DEI initiatives;
- Assist in evaluating the effectiveness of critical DEIB-related elements to the CLIENT scope of work; and
- Provide on-site consulting services for up to one (1) full-day per quarter (up to 8 hours), with at least four weeks advance notice.

Performing:

Collaborative Retainer

All of the contact hours and services of the Advisory and Implementation Retainer levels
The DEI initiative is created jointly between the CLIENT and Four Strands Community Partners, LLC.
In addition, Four Strands Community Partners, LLC will:
- Provide quarterly trainings (2 hours each) to support specific knowledge and skills development, for the implementation support team that reports directly to the primary point people (up to 3 people);
- Provide on-site consulting services for up to two (2) full-days (up to 8 hours each) per quarter
Requires a two-year retainer agreement because of the thoroughness of the staff development. This kind of work invites participants to be vulnerable and transparent, which requires building deep trust among participants, and between the participants and the consultant. This takes time.

Transforming

Partnership Retainer

All of the contact hours and services of the Advisory and Process Implementation Retainer levels
The CLIENT DEI initiative is created jointly between the CLIENT and Four Strands Community Partners, LLC.
In addition, Four Strands Community Partners, LLC will:
- Design and facilitate a six - nine month learning series for the CLIENT board OR staff (90 minutes per session);
- Provide quarterly trainings (2 hours each) to support specific knowledge and skills development, for the implementation support team that reports directly to the primary point people (up to 3 people);
- Provide on-site consulting services for three (3) full-days (up to 8 hours each) per quarter
Requires a three-year retainer agreement.

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