We enjoy working with people who want to solve social or business problems or create a new market. We believe that as a seasoned professional service firm, we can harness innovation and entrepreneurship to unlock their full potential.
EvolvED has spent years working with challenging industries and has assisted at every level of the entire value chain product development. From this experience, we have developed a simple philosophy: Grow the people and the business, and the rest will fall into place.
HOW WE DO IT
What is it like to work with EvolvED?
Every good client relationship begins with an assessment. Many organizations have methodologies for doing assessments and reporting back, but at EvolvED, we do not buy into conventional ways of collecting data. Instead, we believe in spending a significant amount of our time getting to understand our clients and what they are truly trying to accomplish. We ask the questions that need to be asked, and we will even bring up the ones that other people are not asking.
Forget death by PowerPoint; we will conduct the assessment by leaving the office behind to focus on the questions at hand. This could be done while meeting for coffee, drinks, or even a walk. This assessment helps us ask the tough questions, identify the gaps, then customize our approach. And we do this fast.
EvolvED also strives to live by a few basic principles. These core commitments allow us to work successfully in innovative and entrepreneurial environments by encouraging us to be forever flexible and always curious.
Here are some of the principles we live by when working with our clients:
- We focus on impact and outcome, not on deliverables. This gets results.
- We ask questions early and often; this assures we get quickly to the core of the matter.
- We bring in other experts when we need them. We recognize what we don’t know and leverage our vast network of resources for their expertise when needed.
- We research and collect data before we make predictions. That data becomes meaningful information.
- We believe all innovators in our community should build knowledge based on People, Processes and Technology.
- We believe in the strong use of visuals, as they help clients and employees understand concepts and “see” what they are saying.
- We focus on energy and build on it.
- We believe social innovation and fiscal viability are not mutually exclusive concepts.
- We excel in the efficient delivery of practical solutions to intricate and unique problems.
The core of EvolvED is entrepreneurial innovation. Based on years of rigorous research in the social innovation field, our team created the Periodic Table of Social Entrepreneurial Elements (SEE). We use these elements as a baseline for all of our work.
The Periodic Table of Social Entrepreneurial Elements (SEE)
Sustainable: As a key driver for social sector funding, social enterprise sustainability and social venture capability is the single most important factor to master as a social entrepreneur…
Acquiring: Acquisition and mergers are a common business practice in the social sector...
Organizational Development: There are few business sectors on the planet that are fraught with such significant business risk than the rapidly emerging social sector...
Leadership and Governance: Just as in the mainstream private sector, governance and leadership of social enterprise is critical in safeguarding the mission and vision of the social enterprise...
Strategy: Social enterprises depend on solid business strategies to provide direction and guidelines to achieve a desired end state for the enterprise and it’s stakeholders...
Finance and Accounting: Social enterprises have unique finance and accounting demands that require creative solutions due to limited financial resources...
Impact and Investing: Impact investing is becoming increasingly more important as a proponent for social enterprises...
Capital Development: In the complex landscape of a wide array of funding mechanisms in the broad definition Impact Investing, securing financing is a daunting hurdle for social entrepreneurs...
Technology and Management: Technology and Management is essential for social enterprises especially those that operate their own Information Technology (IT) support...
Operational Value: The operational value in social enterprise is the value from the assets owned by the enterprise...
Scalable Business: As an emerging sector over the past decade, successful business models have been fragmented and isolated..
Culture and Methods: A business culture is the set of values and beliefs within an organization and it is key to the overall business strategy...
Evidence: Social entrepreneurs must continuously seek to measure the impact of their organization...
Research Questions: Developing research questions are essential to measuring the impact of a social enterprise...
Data and Evaluation: Social enterprise evaluation is a foundation to organizational learning, performance improvement, accountability and overall long term intended impact...
Data Synthesis: After a social enterprise presents evidence, develops research questions and evaluates data, they must turn that data into insights...
Recognizable: Social enterprises aspire to gain recognition from society to garnish support for their organization and their cause...
Marketing: Social enterprises aspire to gain recognition from society to garnish support for their organization and their cause...
Media Relations: Social enterprises aspire to gain recognition from society to garnish support for their organization and their cause...
Network: A network is a key success for any social impact organization...
Ethical Behavior: Ethical behavior refers to the ways in which an organization operates with the common moral principles of integrity and honesty...
Ethics: Ethics is how an organization puts policies and procedures in effect to comply with the regulations, policies and laws that govern business...
Transformation: The social impact sector aims to transform society with innovative and unique ideas to improve social and environmental issues...
Motivator: Social enterprises influence society by acting as motivators to transform social and environmental issues...
Leader: Social entrepreneurs are innovative thinkers that are posed with the question of how to solve the world’s most challenging social and environmental issues...
Global Social Impact: The mission of a social enterprise is to create innovative and transformative ideas that will have a positive impact on society at large...
Innovation: Among the early success stories in social entrepreneurship little exposure has been given to bridging concepts of the innovation theory to innovative practice...
Design Thinking: Design Thinking is a method of problem solving and solution seeking that employs a human-centered approach in business development...
Policy Shifts: Policy shifts refer to the change in a set of ideas that govern a social enterprise...
Social Policy and Planning: Social Policy is about doing something for the good of the people...
Social Policy Development: Social Policy is developed in order to define how a social enterprise is going to conduct business for the good of the people..
Legislative Planning: Social Policy is developed in order to define how a social enterprise is going to conduct business for the good of the people...
Our goal is to encourage an element of entrepreneurship in everything from social undertakings to business development to strategies. We want to empower people to think differently and to lead entrepreneurial lives.
SERVICES: OUR OFFERINGS
Our Work is divided between the sides of the Periodic Table of SEE. We focus on delivering new, specific, measurable and, of course, customized solutions to the challenges that the social impact field faces on a daily basis. We do this by using the assessment and strategic consulting tools that we have built over the years. We are storytellers and creators, we are researchers and finance, and we combine the right side of the brain with the left side of the brain in everything we do. If we didn’t, nothing would evolve.
We like to help the organizations we work with go beyond.
We start by asking two very simple questions (which we know are really hard to answer):
Regarding Impact
What impact do you want to make? Why? How?
Regarding Innovation
What innovations do you want to be known for? Why? How?
During all of our engagements, we are committed to building out competencies that will improve our core product, our SEE table. Mixed together with the right elements, we believe that we can always bring the organizations we work with together to continue in the path they describe when they answer our two “simple” questions.Here are some of our offerings and current work; we often create new services while working closely with our clients because the preliminary nature of the project is television production.
Competency Creation
We are working with the corporate and educational industry to create the most relevant competencies for our field. In this area, our vision is to pursue our mission through strategic public/private partnerships with selected Higher Education Institutions in co-creating competency-based blended eLearning experiences on a global scale. Many institutions have started or plan to create new learnings that will guide their students to save both time and money. EvolvED is here to work with institutions and professional organizations to help learners in the field of social entrepreneurship to assure success as they start to plan and create the new endeavors. This way students can master these important skills at their own pace.
Assessments (Big and Small)
Sometimes taking a good long look is all an organization needs to get to the next level. We have built our careers on assessing the situation. We conduct our assessments by doing a “quick look” focused on the “Long View.” We have proven methodologies that work through the use of interviews and analysis of available data. In the end, we provide leaders with a greatly enhanced view of their organization, its strengths and weaknesses, an evaluation of its strategy, and high-level threats and opportunities in the value chain where they thrive.
Strategy and Organization Change
Everyone talks about “organization change,” but we combine it with an action plan. When doing strategic work with our client organizations, we start by defining the impact and outcomes that they want to achieve. We next combine the needs of every level of an organization by understanding its people, technology and history. Deliverables include a complete strategy, leadership buy-in, a plan to roll out the strategy to the organization. We also include a “learning agenda” and “communications craze” for the rest of the organization so that everyone can get behind the work, not just the top tier. Everyone matters and we know it, we build our strategies that way.
OUTCOMES -> Results
Education
Social media proliferation, online collaboration demands and the impact of the Millennials and Generation Z have more than raised the bar for higher education; they’ve moved it into another dimension. Young people also care a heck of a lot about being the change they want to see in the world.
The Challenge
The client, North Carolina Association for Independent Schools (NCAIS), wanted to create a “virtual environment” for 80 members within its large independent school system.
The Solution
What would have been a simple online portal became so much more after EvolvED encouraged the client to think more like an entrepreneur. Together, we worked to create an entire virtual community and a Master Teacher Academy. We provided the teachers of NCAIS with the means to learn an abundance of technical and subjective skills. We expanded our resources by partnering with industry leaders to develop and provide complementary online tools. As a result, more than 50 schools enrolled in the Academy, and 18 teachers participated in training.
The Results (and Beyond)
Today, NCAIS’s Master Teacher Academy is held up as a model and NCAIS esteemed as a market leader in the Independent School Space because of it. Usage grows every month.
Social Impact
This evolving industry helps connect the dots between the place where we live and those who are committed to generating substantial yet sustainable financial results alongside vitally important social and environmental benefits. Everyone on the EvolvED team has been doing this kind of work for some time; the industry is now mature enough to have a name.
The Challenge
A 501(c)(3) committed to developing business for struggling individuals and communities was looking to scale. It had major success in the state of New Jersey, but was looking to expand.
The Solution
Like most ambitious and successful nonprofits, it was impossible for the founders to stop and pull together all of their work products. The EvolvED team worked with the cofounders and the entire staff of this amazing organization to bring clarity to what they were doing and build a product that could be “replicated” beyond one state.
The Result (and Beyond)
The replication initiative brought the Rising Tide model to Chicago as the first of many future “Rising Tide Cities.`` Today, thanks to EvolvED, they are also a part of the Aspen Institute of Urban Cities pilot program in Washington, DC.
Pharma
At the heart of our healthcare system is the complex and game changing Pharma industry. Despite the misconception that Big Pharma is profit driven, EvolvED works with the pioneers in the field who focus on people who have major health issues improve their quality of life.
The Challenge
A major Pharma was trying to organize their Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) around the promotion of the off-label use of one of the most successful drugs in the company’s history. By exploring new ways to use this Mega-brand, many more lives would be saved, and caregivers would also be given relief. However, multiple stakeholders needed to come together and find a common ground around the World.
The Solution
EvolvED created the first ever Internally branded Internet KOL site for this Pharma and its Mega-Brand. As a result, thousands of physicians around the world were educated to use this brand for multiple diagnosis. A robust visual was created to represent the current state clearly and dynamically, and the first ever cross-communication platform for KOLs was formed.
The Results (and Beyond)
That prototype became THE model for broader use across future brands. This success was the benchmark of the KOL Communique across the global market. Today, KOLs have scalable, documented, platforms informed by current best practices. Most importantly, the Pharma built a desire and excitement amongst the KOLs to use an iterative communication vehicle.
Financial Services
Financial Services are ruled by data. Data science jobs can take twice as long to fill than the national benchmark average and the competition for talent is growing more fierce. In today’s environment college degrees by themselves, do not adequately prepare someone to function in these roles. Competition for this talent is increasingly intense, especially in the financial sector. We know that many organizations need assistance in properly preparing existing and potential talent with the competencies they need to stay at the leading edge of “big data”. Big data will drive Financial Services in the years ahead.
The Challenge
A multi-billion dollar financial institution needed help deepening and broadening its data science and machine learning talent to maintain and grow its leadership position in financial services. EvolvED was part of a team that is finding innovative ways to meet this challenge. We did this by predicting the future of high-tech needs for the business and financial services industry, and by providing a suggested solution that will match the new talent with the competencies required to do the important work.
The Solution
Though finding, recruiting, onboarding, developing, and retaining this talent has become increasingly complex, our team developed a competency roadmap that will serve as a baseline for finding talent of this type. The periodic table of data science and machine learning will assist in bridging the gaps between current and future competencies to move the business to the next level.
The Results (and Beyond)
Upon completion of the periodic table, the team will create a roadmap to standardize the assessment of internal and external job candidates. In the ensuing months, by using this methodology, the belief is that time and money can be saved; the talent acquisition process will more efficient AND will this new way of finding and onboarding talent will be better aligned with the needs of this ever-evolving industry.