What I do

Carol Hamilton, Photo by Kea Dupree Photography

I help nonprofit and association board, staff and key volunteers become more focused and aligned.

After working with me, you will have clarity on your purpose, strategic priorities and have a roadmap to move forward as well as decision making tools for future opportunities and challenges.

You will have the confidence that you will make progress towards your goals – the plan we create together is a living document and you will use it regularly to guide your work.

As a result, your organizations is better positions to have a greater impact in fulfilling your mission.

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Aligning mission, values and culture

Carol Hamilton helps your organization become more effective.

Throughout my career I have worked for nonprofit organizations that had inspiring and important missions and visions for societal change.

Too often there was a  gap between the organization’s expressed values and internal culture.  The organization's vision and mission clearly described the positive change they wanted to see in the world. Yet the internal workings of the organization were not as well managed as well as they deserved to be.

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Carol Hamilton helps your board and staff bring your vision to life.

Often times staff did not have the opportunity to thrive while doing their important work. The gap between these external aspirations and the internal realities was disappointing.

​This experience prompted me to investigate why this gap exists, what causes it and how it might be different. I am committed to helping organizations live out their values and mission both internally and externally.

​My passion is helping organizations cultivate healthy, inclusive cultures that live their values, fostering learning, creativity and results. 

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Working with me

Carol Hamilton helps you get clear about what's next.

​I partner with organizations using a collaborative approach to help you focus on your most critical issues, to support you in identifying your strengths and to facilitate you imagining new options and choosing a way forward.  ​​

I enjoy helping people tap into their creativity to solve the challenges that face them. Some of my favorite sentences start with, “what if we were to…?”  And I want to have some fun along the way. I believe that the best teams and organizations laugh together as they work together. Fun for me includes questioning conventional wisdom and imagining new possibilities.

I am known for my  candor. People describe me as someone who speaks my truth and is  down-to-earth. People appreciate my perspective and seek out my advice.

I love to learn and this helps me get to know your organization and its strengths and challenges quickly.

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Working online

I have been creating online learning experiences since the early 2000s. I led two organizations through the creation of a line of online learning programs including online conferences, scenario-based e-learning, webinars and blended (online and in person) leadership development programs. 

I have facilitated strategic planning, leadership transition, team development and many types of training programs online. I adapt my approach to each group I am working with to design a process using the tools that match the technology capacity of those involved. When working online, there is no pressure to hold an intensive retreat over the course of a day or two. The work happens in smaller more focused segments, including 1.5-, 2- and 3-hour sessions.  
 
I have observed the value of this pacing for groups as they develop their strategy. The time in between sessions allows for thinking, reflection, and integration. In a typical face-to-face retreat, the group has often hit their cognitive load limit and is fatigued at the point of the typical agenda when it must make its decisions about strategic priorities. The online format would also make it easier to accommodate schedules and can feel less demanding for volunteers engaged in the process.
 
I often became the accidental techie on staff or a team and has been known to say – yes, there is an app for that. ​

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Background

Carol Hamilton, Photo by Kea Dupree Photography

I grew up overseas and learned at an early age that cultures vary and there are few absolutes.  Living in the world between my home American culture and European culture, I became a student of history, culture and language. I continue to be fascinated with ways to better understand human organizing systems and the cultures that emerge within these systems. 

I also grew up the younger sister of a brother with special needs. Observing how the world treated him, interacted with his difference and how in many cases systems were not set up with him in mind helped me appreciate the challenges of those that our society marginalizes.

Both of these experiences drew me to the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits are an expression of how our democracy works – self organizing groups promoting their vision of a social good. At the same time, nonprofits are often hampered down by a lack of resources, having to answer to and manage the politics of multiple stakeholders and bottom lines. I believe that nonprofits represent our best solution for working on social problems as they exist for a greater good and can be incubators of social experimentation. 

I have worked in the association and nonprofit sector for over 20 years working with education and social change organizations. I graduated from Swarthmore College and have a Masters in Organization Development from American University. I have completed BoardSource's Certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting. I am licensed consultant with the Standards for Excellence Institute, an accrediting organization for nonprofits. I also have a certificate in design thinking from University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. 

I have expertise in innovation, the design and facilitation of learning programs, both in person and online, as well as organization and leadership development. I speak frequently on nonprofit and associations strategy and innovation topics. I am also the host of the podcast, Mission: Impact.

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Let's talk

Want to explore about how we might work together?