Who We Are
We’re strategic advisors on a mission to help your nonprofit move mountains.
Some of Prosper Strategies’ Recent Clients
Your organization has a meaningful mission. You’re working to improve literacy, end hunger, fight for social justice, and make the world a better place. But to turn that mission into a reality, you need to involve your stakeholders in shaping sound strategies, get everyone on your team moving forward in the same direction, measure the results of your work, and optimize your efforts according to what you learn.
Enter: Prosper Strategies.
Prosper Strategies is a nonprofit consulting firm working to build a more effective and impactful social sector. Meet our team and learn more about us below.
The Team
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Alyssa Conrardy Co-Founder and PrincipalAs a principal and co-founder at Prosper Strategies, Alyssa Conrardy is on a mission to help nonprofits realize the full potential of strategy so that the nonprofit sector can realize its full potential to change the world. Alyssa is recognized as an expert by nonprofits across the country thanks to her ability to lead strategy, fundraising, marketing and communications projects that advance nonprofit missions and drive social change.
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Lindsay Mullen Co-Founder and Principal
Lindsay Mullen is co-founder and principal of Prosper Strategies, the leading consultancy for nonprofits, where she brings strategic vision and a growth mindset to the firm, its clients and their missions. Over the last decade, Lindsay has worked with nonprofits and foundations that are committed to solving some of our country’s and the world’s greatest challenges in the areas of education, environment, healthcare, homelessness, workforce development, social services and more.
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Matthew Brett
Practice Areas: Brand Strategy and Rebranding, Marketing & Communications
Former senior art director at Organic and closerlook, founder of Substance Strategic Visual Communication
Has played a leading role in rebrands for Resilience (formerly Rape Victim Advocates), Ignite (formerly Teen Living Programs), Nourishing Hope (formerly Lakeview Pantry), Forefront (formerly Donors Forum) and more
Guest lecturer and design critic at the University of Notre Dame and Columbia College of Chicago
Work has been recognized in publications such as Communication Arts, Print Regional Design Annual, Creativity, Graphic Design:USA, UnderConsideration and The One Show
Education: BFA in Graphic Design from Kent State University
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Shenita Johnson
Practice Areas: Strategic Planning
Chief Experience officer at ElevateEd Spaces
Former executive director, general counsel and deputy director for Illinois Charter School Commission
Former Assistant State’s Attorney at Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Former Deputy Director, Outreach and Development Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools
Has led DEI and strategic planning work for Horizons National in partnership with Prosper Strategies
Board member for BES, child representative with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
Education: MBA from Northwestern University, JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, BA in Journalism from Howard University
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Jeff Vandeleest
Practice Areas: Strategic Planning, Coaching
Former president and CEO (and previously executive VP) of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin
Grew Family Services’ annual operating budget from $13M to $20M over 5 years and led the organization through major strategic planning initiatives
Spent 45 years in human services leadership with a focus on strengthening families and communities
Education: BA in Education Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MA in Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Loocie Glover
Practice Areas: Brand Strategy and Rebranding, Marketing & Communications
Former graphic designer and promotions coordinator for American Society of Addiction Medicine
Has developed brand identities for Comer Education Campus, BVDC, Chicago Center for Leadership and Transformation, R4 Resources and more
Certificate in Design Thinking: The Customer Experience
Education: BA in Fine Arts from the Art Institutes
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Natsumi Nishizumi
Practice Areas: Brand Strategy and Rebranding, Marketing & Communications
Former graphic designer for Time, Inc. and Condé Nast, Owner/Art Director at White Box Design Studio, Inc.
Has led graphic design projects for John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation, Socrates Colombia Seminars and more
Published in Favourite Design, Packaging of the World and more
Education: BFA with Honors in Graphic Design, School of Visual Arts NYC
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Tanicia Bethea
Practice Areas: Brand Strategy and Rebranding, Marketing & Communications
Former client service coordinator and studio coordinator for CBRE and Perkins Eastman, co-founder and identity designer for Talooka Studio
Has led graphic design and brand strategy projects for Pride South Side, Wentcher Foundation and more
AIGA member
Education: BFA in design and visual communication from
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Susan Kahan
Practice Areas: Fundraising and Development
Specializes in individual and major giving, planned giving and solicitation training for
nonprofit organizationsFormer Director of Major Gifts and Individual Giving at Chicago Council on Global
Affairs, Current Founder/Principal of Sapphire Fundraising SpecialistsBoard member for Beber Camp and ORT America Chicago Region Advisory Council
Featured on The NonProfit Exchange Podcast, The Influential Nonprofit Podcast,
Agents of Nonprofit Podcast, CanvasRebel Profile and moreEducation: BA in Communication, double minor in Political Science and Business
Administration from the George Washington University
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Emily Taylor
Practice Areas: Strategic Planning, Marketing and Communications, Fundraising (qualitative research focus)
Specializes in strategic listening for nonprofits (via interviews and other qualitative research methods)
Former creative director and executive director of DesignHouse, Inc., principal of TeenyBIG
Has conducted research for Feeding America, The Muhammad Ali Center, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The Morton Arboretum, My Block My Hood My City, High Speed Rail Alliance and more
Featured in TopNonprofits, Whole Whale, The Nonprofit Snapcast, Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio and more
Board member for Onward Neighborhood House, former Board President for Avondale Neighborhood Association
Education: BA in Industrial Design from University of Illinois, Executive Education in Project Management from Loyola University Chicago
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Sarah Best
Practice Areas: Marketing & Communications, Fundraising & Development
Former social media and web specialist at Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, former Content and social media director at Mightybytes, Inc., CEO and Chief Strategist at Sarah Best Strategies
Partnered with YMCA of the USA on a full-scale audit of their national social media program and a five-year social media plan
Has played a leading role in digital marketing and fundraising for Wisconsin Association of Family and Children’s Agencies, First Unitarian Society, Easterseals Dupage and Fox Valley, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County, The Nature Conservancy and more
Recently selected as a 40 Under 40 by In Business Magazine, work has been featured in Mashable, TechCrunch, Crain’s Chicago Business, National Geographic Traveler, InBusiness, Chicago Tribune, and more
Tapped to speak at Social Media Week for the MacArthur Foundation, has been selected twice for SXSW in 2014 and 2018
Education: Masters of Arts in the Humanities from University of Chicago, BA in British Literature and Cultural Studies from NYU
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Melissa Tydell
Practice Areas: Marketing and Communications, Fundraising
Specializes in content creation and copywriting for nonprofit organizations and agencies
Former search analyst for SMG Search, former media supervisor for Starcom MediaVest Group, freelance writer and content creator with Melrose Street Custom Content
Has provided copywriting and editing services for a wide range of Prosper Strategies’ nonprofit clients across marketing and fundraising collateral
Education: Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University, Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing and English from University of Notre Dame
How we’re different
Other consulting firms like to spend six months building a strategic plan, shake up your organization, and then leave you to deal with the aftermath. Not Prosper Strategies.
We’ve developed our Nonprofit Impact System™ as a response to this irresponsible practice that leaves nonprofits spending valuable funds on strategic work they’ll never actually implement. We work with nonprofits across the three areas they need to master to be effective and impactful: People, Strategy, and Progress. And each one makes our approach radically different.
Our People work is based on the Shared Power StrategyTM philosophy, which says that we must engage your nonprofit’s stakeholders in shaping the strategies that guide your approach. This philosophy underpins every single one of our engagements, and allows us to bring a unique inclusion and equity lens to our projects.
Our Strategy work is based on powerful collaboration. We don’t build strategies in rooms with closed doors. We build them hand-in-hand with you and your diverse stakeholders, using models proven to help you make decisions that advance your mission.
And perhaps most often overlooked by firms like ours, the Progress element of our work involves helping you put the systems and processes in place that ensure everyone on your team is moving your organization’s goals forward every single day. It also involves holding your organization accountable to the people and communities you serve, and developing a dashboard through which you will measure and share the results of the objectives you set in your strategies.
Prosper Strategies is also differentiated by our marketing and communications background. We started as a nonprofit marketing and communications firm, and those roots still run deep. We believe this is important, because even the smartest strategies will fail if you can’t reach and engage your stakeholders in your work.
Careers and Consulting with Prosper Strategies
Interested in working with us?
We’re a small team by design and are not currently hiring full-time team members. However, we’re always looking to add to our bench of talented contractors, consultants and partners who are interested in working hand-in-hand with us to make a difference for impactful nonprofit clients. Learn more at prosper-strategies.com/careers.
