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Strategic Restructuring Consultant

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Consultant Details:

Contact: Claire Knowlton
Name of Firm: Claire Knowlton Consulting, LLC
Language Spoken: English
Website/LinkedIn URL: www.claireconsulting.org

Consultant Expertise

Financial due diligence/integration

Program Areas

Arts and Culture, Human Rights, Philanthropy

Number of Individuals in Firm:

1

Names and Titles of Individuals in Firm:

Claire Knowlton,
Owner and Principal Consultant

Names and Titles of Individuals in Firm:

Claire Knowlton,
Owner and Principal Consultant

Firm or Consultant Address:

5327 Village Green

RFQ Contact Name:

Claire Knowlton

RFQ Contact Phone:

818-606-5752

Geographic area currently served by firm (select all that apply):

Los Angeles, California, USA

How would you describe the range of diversity reflected in your firm’s consultants and leadership (or self, if sole practitioner)?

I am a white, cis-gendered, non-disabled, straight woman.

Please describe your mission, values, and approach:

To help organizations align their finances to their values, ensuring that money is working in service of their mission and goals. I work by using data as a great equalizer. When everyone understands the organization’s finances, everyone can fully participate in financial discussions and decision-making. I create a safe environment for folks to learn and ask questions about financial statements and the meaning of financial information by reminding everyone that many of us were raised in spaces where it is taboo to talk about money, and that few of us have every received formal training in this area.

What expertise or perspective do you bring to organizations looking to ground their collaboration practices in values of diversity, equity, and inclusion?

I have eight years of experience helping dozens of organizations of color build more equitable approaches to managing their finances. Finance is often a space where power is hoarded and where people have been told (implicitly or explicitly) that they don’t belong. Democratizing financial data and engaging a boarder team in financial decision making is an intentional act of dismantling white supremacy culture. Panic, speed, and secrecy in financial decision-making work against inclusion and equity. Building a culture of collaboration around finances requires a well-planned budgeting process – from prioritizing the spending of limited resources to monitoring changes throughout the year – and regular, understandable financial communication. Institutional and systemic racism and other forms of oppression have a significant impact on an organization’s financial history, their current financial picture, and their access to resources moving forward. Understanding how forms of oppression have shaped and continue to shape an organization’s financial story is essential to creating realistic plans and helping organizations tell their financial story to others.

Please describe your ideal engagement. Feel free to include issue area and scope of project:

Ideally, leadership is dedicate, responsive, and has the time and desire to engage in the scope. Otherwise, I am happy to engage with a range of financial issues from performing financial analysis to support decision-making to structuring their chart of accounts, to advising on how to combine the financial systems and processes of two organizations.

How many strategic restructuring projects have you or your firm been involved with?

Six

Please describe your fee structure:

I estimate my fee on a per project or per deliverable basis.

What percentage of your clients are within the nonprofit sector?

99%

Are you open to remote engagements?

Yes

Briefly describe 1-3 examples of restructuring projects with which you have been involved. Please name all participating organizations. (Please prioritize NSI-funded and/or LA-based organizations).

Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, Black-led and -serving org in Seattle, WA. Transformative growth. Included becoming lead entity and fiscal receiver for multiple arts orgs/projects located in their shared facility. Redesigned staffing structure. Multi-year financial projections. Revenue pipeline modeling. Myrna Loy, rural arts organization in Helena, MT. Transformative growth. Activating space with build-out of gallery and concessions in addition to stages. Partnership with local schools. Expansion of services into an even more rural community in MT through partnerships. Redesigned staffing structure. Multi-year financial projections. Revenue pipeline modeling. Developed financial dashboard. Trained new finance staff.

Add any other information you feel would aid in understanding the value you or your consulting firm can bring to a strategic restructuring exploration or implementation process:

While I would not go so far to say that I am an expert in these areas, I have consulted for Community and Economic Development organizations including housing developers, human rights organizations such as immigrant defense orgs, environmental organizations including those with member affiliates, health related organizations including FQHCs, FQHC look-alikes, managed care plans, and hospitals.

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