“People adopt things that they play a role in shaping”
Jennifer Liebermann
Building Community Support for Rate Increases
Role
Design and facilitate the water district's Customer Advisory Committee (CAC) to create structured, ongoing dialogue between staff and customers as the district implements a $500M infrastructure program . Developed highly interactive meeting formats enabling community members to provide meaningful input on strategic issues.
Impact
CAC members advocate for securing the community's water future by attending Board meetings and speaking publicly in support of rate increases they helped shape. When community members participate with the district rather than having decisions made for them, they see themselves in the solution and are willing to stand up for difficult but necessary decisions.
Client
Citrus Heights Water District
Services
Engagement Design, Advisory
Year
2024 - 2026
Aligning 30 Board Members Around a Shared Vision
Role
Under new executive leadership, a 30-member board needed to align on organizational identity, strategic priorities, and a future vision. Conducted board member interviews, then designed and facilitated a full-day retreat using highly participatory activities to surface insights, generate breakthrough thinking, and build consensus among diverse stakeholders.
Impact
Generated a compelling, shared vision with clear strategic alignment around advocacy as the organizations' next strategic chapter supported by a clear roadmap consisting of three prioritized initiatives and corresponding action steps. All together - vision, strategy, action plan - creating the foundation for the organization's strategic planning process.
“Before the retreat we were mostly paddling in the same direction but not at the same cadence, and we could get distracted. What Jennifer brought was a change in how we talk about ourselves. We had a clearly articulated mission and vision.”
- Jenna Abbott, Executive Director, CCAH
Client
California Council for Affordable Housing
Services
Strategic Planning, Engagement Design
Year
2025
Launching A Federal Movement: Food is Medicine
Role
Designed and facilitated 20+ workshops to engage several hundred federal and private sector partners. Surfaced needs from states, community-based organizations, federally qualified health centers, researchers, educators and other implementers.
Impact
Insights from workshop were used to launch the HHS Food Is Medicine website, a toolkit of federal resources and an analytic framework adopted across researchers, care delivery organizations & industry.
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Client
US Dept of Health and Human Services
Services
Engagement Design, Advisory
Year
2023- 2024
A Strategic Plan Built to Stick
Role
Led a strategic plan refresh focused on implementation, not just vision. Conducted interviews with staff, leadership, and community members, then facilitated collaborative sessions to develop SMART objectives hardwired to budget and staff accountability. Designed a process that connected strategic priorities directly to resource allocation—so the plan drives decisions rather than sitting on a shelf.
Impact
Delivered a strategic plan distinguished by its intentional connection to budget and operations—and by the inclusion of community input, which is unusual for utility strategic planning. Staff have clear, measurable objectives tied to the district's 3-5 year horizon. The process broke down departmental silos and created shared ownership across the organization.
Client
Northern California Water District
Services
Strategic Planning, Engagement Design, Advisory
Year
2025
Unifying Two Teams into One
Role
Integrate a new research and innovation team tasked to transform the charitable food experience. Developed a shared purpose, charter and culture action plan to integrate the disparate teams. Conducted executive team interviews to uncover strengths and growth areas, providing insights for partnerships.
Impact
Positioned the integrated team to tackle the organization’s strategic transformation imperatives. Eighty five (85%) of the team agreed that the integration journey “helps us define and align around a future state vision” and “identify opportunities to work better together”.
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Client
Non Profit with $5.2B in revenue FY23
Services
Strategic Planning, Engagement Design, Advisory
Year
2024
Reporting to the President
Role
Led engagement design for the President's Cancer Panel's oncology workforce initiative. Designed and facilitated a 2-day convening that brought together 40+ experts spanning academic medical centers, health systems, professional societies, government agencies, and biopharmaceutical companies. Sourced and interviewed thought leaders. Surfaced a key insight that reframed health professions careers as highways—not pipelines—with multiple on and off ramps, a concept adopted in the final report.
Services
Engagement Design, Advisory
Impact
Work contributed to "Ensuring a Strong Future for America's Cancer Workforce," a report from the President's Cancer Panel to the President of the United States. The report includes actionable recommendations across three priority areas: delivering high-quality cancer care, improving access to clinical trials, and advancing cancer research. Read the full report
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Client
National Cancer Institute / President’s Cancer Panel
Services
Engagement Design, Advisory
Year
2024