Current Projects
Brainstorming Sessions
Brainstorming sessions are 90-min meetings focused on solving a specific issue or generating ideas involving 4-8 HBS alumni with targeted skills and interests who can help the nonprofit organization.
Thursday, June 19 - Virtual
110:00am - 11:30am Pacific
100% For the Children
100% for the Children is a Denmark-based nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and discrimination for vulnerable children and youth, particularly in urban informal settlements in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi. The organization supports access to inclusive education, child protection through strong community networks, and health initiatives to reduce barriers to school participation. As part of its localization strategy, 100% for the Children is now working to establish locally self-governed NGOs that remain aligned with the international organization's mission and values.
Focus Question: What governance structure would best support the development of locally self-governed NGOs while maintaining alignment with the international organization and the Danish board? What are the strengths/ gaps of any options?
Consulting Projects
Consulting Projects are three-four month strategic consulting engagements with a group of 3-5 alumni who conducts a deep dive to tackle a broad challenge or opportunity. Meeting dates and formats are decided by the team throughout the engagement.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: remote
Canal Alliance
Canal Alliance is the leading service provider and advocate for Marin County’s low-income Latino immigrant community. Based in San Rafael, the organization delivers a powerful combination of direct services—including immigration legal assistance, education, workforce training, small business support, and behavioral health—alongside long-term community development strategies like affordable housing, infrastructure improvement, and civic engagement. Canal Alliance serves more than 4,850 clients annually, with a deep focus on culturally responsive, bilingual programming. With four decades of community trust, a diverse and representative leadership team, and a growing footprint, the organization has been recognized for its excellence with multiple regional and national awards.
Project with Community Partners: Canal Alliance seeks support in conducting a feasibility study for a mission-aligned Spanish Language Academy—a potential social enterprise that would provide high-quality Spanish language and cultural immersion training to local businesses and government agencies. The program would generate earned income, create employment for bilingual immigrants, and strengthen social cohesion in Marin County. The HBSCP team would help assess market demand, evaluate the competitive landscape, explore governance options (nonprofit vs. for-profit), and deliver a go/no-go recommendation. This initiative is part of a broader strategic effort to diversify revenue and protect mission-critical services in a changing funding landscape.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: team to decide
Cancer Support Community
Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area (CSC) is a nonprofit that provides free emotional, social, and practical support to individuals and families impacted by cancer. Their services include support groups, individual counseling, wellness classes, financial assistance, and resource navigation—all offered at no cost to ensure accessibility. With a new, state-of-the-art center underway, CSC will soon become the largest cancer support hub of its kind in the Western U.S. The organization serves 2,000 participants annually, primarily from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and has been recognized with numerous honors, including a Nonprofit of the Year award and a platinum seal from Guidestar.
Project with Community Partners: CSC seeks help developing an outreach and growth strategy to increase service awareness and usage—particularly among communities of color. The project will unfold in two phases. Phase 1 involves a targeted survey to understand why current communities of color participants engage with CSC, what services they value most, and how they discovered the organization. Phase 2 will use those insights to develop a comprehensive outreach strategy aimed at increasing visibility and utilization of services across the Bay Area. This work is especially timely as CSC prepares to expand into a larger facility to serve even more families.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: team to decide
Foundation for Hearing Research
Foundation for Hearing Research (FHR) is dedicated to helping children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) learn to listen and speak. Through its school in Redwood City, CA, and tele-intervention programs like BabyTalk and TeachLSL™, FHR delivers expert early intervention services to children across California. Now, with the development of Talk2Me™, a mobile app offering coach-assisted lessons for parents of D/HH children ages 0–3, FHR has the potential to scale its proven curriculum to families across the U.S. and globally.
Project with Community Partners: FHR seeks support in developing a go-to-market plan for the Talk2Me™ app. The HBSCP team will help define strategies for lead generation (via audiologists, hearing centers, and counties), identify effective messaging to inform and support families, assess resource and staffing needs, and evaluate pricing models. With 63 lessons already built and being tested, the organization is ready to transition from product development to a scalable delivery model. This initiative is critical to expanding access to high-quality listening and spoken language (LSL) instruction and addressing the urgent need for language support among the 90% of D/HH children who currently lack access to early, specialized intervention.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: team to decide
Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley
Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley (HFSV) is a high-impact nonprofit dedicated to advancing Latino representation in STEM careers and improving the economic mobility of Latino families across Silicon Valley. Through its flagship Latinos in Technology Initiative and Parent Education Academies, HFSV supports more than 4,000 families annually across 64 public schools. Its programs follow a three-phase model: Seed (K–12 STEM and parent engagement), Cultivate(college scholarships and career development), and Harvest (early-career mentorship and leadership). To date, over 595 Latino college students have received scholarships, 452 have completed STEM degrees, and many continue receiving support into their professional journeys.
Project with Community Partners: HFSV recently completed a comprehensive strategic planning process and is now entering a critical implementation phase. The organization seeks support in designing a Development Roadmap and a multi-year budget aligned with its new Theory of Change and strategic goals. These tools will guide the organization’s fundraising strategy and long-term financial planning, helping ensure sustainable growth and enabling HFSV to scale its impact across Silicon Valley’s Latino STEM workforce pipeline.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: hybrid
Marin County
Marin County is a public agency serving over 260,000 residents across 11 cities, towns, and unincorporated areas in the Bay Area. With a $900 million operating budget and 2,400 full-time staff, the County delivers a wide range of essential services, including health and human services, housing, environmental protection, public safety, emergency response, and digital innovation. Marin is widely recognized for its leadership in sustainability, equity, and digital transformation, and is currently undergoing the most significant organizational restructuring in 70 years—shifting to a centralized “County Executive” model under a unified “One Marin” vision.
Project with Community Partners: Marin County seeks support from HBS Community Partners to assess and optimize its enterprise software strategy. Due to years of decentralized operations, County departments have independently purchased and managed software platforms—resulting in redundant costs, inconsistent usage, and increased cybersecurity risks. The project will focus on three key deliverables: (1) A baseline inventory of software platforms—especially large, potentially enterprise platforms—by spend, usage, and departmental ownership; (2) Identification of cost-saving opportunities through enterprise licensing; and (3) Identifying where existing platforms used by certain agencies could be used to solve agency problems in others (i.e., where might we have procured software that can solve existing solutions). This effort will strengthen fiscal efficiency, improve service delivery, and serve as a scalable model for enterprise software governance across the County.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: remote
One Life Counseling Center
One Life Counseling Center is dedicated to providing culturally responsive, affordable mental health services for individuals and families, regardless of income, insurance status, or language. Serving over 10,000 clients annually, One Life offers therapy in nine languages—including Spanish—across nine sites and 29 public schools. Their holistic model integrates clinical care with wellness programs, basic needs support (like food and diapers), and deep-rooted community partnerships. Specialized programs include Una Vida for Spanish-speaking families and Music for the Mind for isolated seniors. Their innovative, wraparound services have earned recognition from county agencies, healthcare districts, and school boards.
Project with Community Partners: As One Life experiences rapid growth, they seek support in building a program-level profit & loss (P&L) framework to understand the financial sustainability and return on investment (ROI) across their services. With multiple locations, funding streams, and service models, leadership needs clearer data to make informed strategic decisions. In addition, One Life is exploring the creation of a new Business Operations or Compliance Officer role. The HBSCP team will help define the responsibilities, integration, and investment required for this role. The ultimate goal is to strengthen infrastructure and ensure long-term sustainability without compromising their mission of equitable mental health access.
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: remote
PhET Interactive Simulations
PhET Interactive Simulations, based at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a pioneering nonprofit that develops free, research-based interactive simulations to improve science and math education worldwide. Founded by Nobel Laureate Dr. Carl Wieman, PhET’s 170+ simulations have been used over 1.8 billion times in 129 languages, reaching communities ranging from under-resourced classrooms in the U.S. to conflict-affected regions like Ukraine and Ethiopia. PhET’s tools foster student engagement, agency, and inclusion, and their global impact has earned them international recognition, including awards from the American Physical Society, Open Education Global, and the WISE Awards.
Project with Community Partners: PhET is seeking support from HBS Community Partners to advance its long-term financial and organizational sustainability. The team aims to diversify and grow earned revenue streams, including partnerships with education ministries, expansion of their new SaaS platform PhET Studio, increased mobile app sales, and potential freemium models. Deliverables include a portfolio of mission-aligned revenue strategies with staffing/resource implications
Kickoff: September
Duration: 4 month consulting project
Format: team decision
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Project (REC)
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center is a Bay Area nonprofit dedicated to empowering socially and economically diverse entrepreneurs—especially women and people of color—through small business training, consulting, and support. With multiple locations and a $6.7M budget, Renaissance has helped thousands of lower-income individuals start and grow businesses that promote financial independence and community vitality. In their latest survey, 85% of participants achieved their goals, household incomes rose 54%, and their programs earned a net promoter score of 92. The organization was also named 2024 Nonprofit of the Year by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
Project with Community Partners: Renaissance seeks support in developing a revitalization strategy for the 3rd Street Corridor in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood—an area that has struggled for decades with limited foot traffic, retail gaps, safety concerns, and changing demographics. Despite these challenges, the corridor has substantial potential due to its waterfront location, nearby attractions like Oracle Park and Chase Center, and future development projects. The HBSCP team will research best practices from other revitalized urban commercial corridors and recommend strategies tailored to 3rd Street’s unique assets. The final deliverable will be a revitalization plan that includes community input and offers an actionable path forward to stabilize existing businesses and attract new investments.