WORK WITH USCONSULTING
Grounded strategy. Creative tools.
For organizations ready to do the work differently.
KiraKira Institute's advisory practice works with mission-aligned organizations navigating complex challenges at the intersection of community, sustainability, and systems change.
We don't bring generic frameworks. We bring research-backed, community-rooted strategy — built from years of working inside the systems we help organizations transform.
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with organizations that are serious about lasting change— not just visible impact.
Our clients are nonprofits, foundations, universities, community organizations, and public agencies who are doing meaningful work and need grounded, creative, strategic support to do it better, more sustainably, and more equitably.
YOU MIGHT BE
RIGHT WITH US IF
Your organization is experiencing burnout, mission drift, or structural strain
You're designing programs for communities whose lived experience you want to center — not just consult
You're trying to build something that lasts beyond the next grant cycle
You want research, strategy, and creative tools — not just a slide deck
You believe the communities you serve are the originators of solutions, not just the recipients
What We Do
KiraKira Institute's consulting services are organized around our five elements — each one a condition for organizational health, community trust, and systems change.
Click on the stickers to learn about each element!
Shadow work
Research, Analysis, and Honest Inquiry
We help organizations see clearly — surfacing what is true before designing what is possible. This is where strategy begins.
Services include
Participatory action research and community-based inquiry
Organizational equity assessments
Systems mapping and causal loop diagrams
Policy briefs and impact reports
Movement systems audits — identifying burnout loops, extractive practices, and hidden hierarchies
Literature reviews and evidence synthesis
Best for
Organizations that need to understand their landscape before designing their next move.
Foundations seeking rigorous community-rooted research. Teams confronting difficult structural or equity questions.
Heart work
Narrative Strategy and Storytelling
We help organizations find and use their most powerful asset — the human stories at the center of their work.
Services Include
Narrative framing and messaging strategy
Storytelling workshops for staff, leadership, and community
Campaign narrative development
Community voice documentation and oral history
Movement messaging for advocacy and communications
Best For
Organizations whose communications don't yet reflect the depth of their work
Campaigns that need narrative power. Teams wanting to center community voice in how they tell their story
Play work
Creative Design and Imagination
We help organizations build new tools — games, curricula, and participatory experiences that make complex systems legible and futures feel possible.
Services Include
Game design and gamified civic engagement tools
Interactive curriculum development
Speculative design workshops
Creative capacity-building retreats
Participatory experience design
Best For
Organizations looking for innovative approaches to education, engagement, and community participation.
Teams that want to move beyond traditional workshop formats. Partners working with youth.
Bridge work
Facilitation and Coalition Building
We help organizations build the containers where real collaboration becomes possible — across sectors, generations, and communities.
Services Include
Facilitated convenings and strategic retreats
Cross-sector collaboration labs
Intergenerational program design
Coalition and partnership development
Stakeholder engagement strategy
Best For
Organizations trying to build or strengthen coalitions. Foundations convening grantees.
Networks seeking to move from coordination to genuine collaboration.
Light work
Knowledge Sharing and Documentation
We help organizations capture, communicate, and carry forward what they've built — so it doesn't disappear when a project ends or a leader moves on.
Services Include
Research dissemination and publishing strategy
Program documentation and knowledge management
Impact storytelling and reporting
Community knowledge archiving
Public communications strategy
Best For
Organizations with rich program history that haven't been documented. Teams transitioning leadership.
Partners wanting their work to contribute to a broader field.
OUR APPROACH
We don't parachute in with predetermined answers. We build alongside organizations and communities — ensuring that the people closest to the work are the ones shaping the solutions.
Co-creation over extraction.
We believe the most effective strategy is both analytically grounded and deeply human. We don't separate research from relationships.
Rigor and warmth together.
We help organizations see not just their immediate challenge but the larger system it lives inside — because sustainable change requires understanding what maintains the status quo.
Systems thinking as a practice.
We measure success not by outputs but by organizational health, community trust, and the capacity to keep going. We build for longevity, not just deliverables.
The long view.
Case Examples
Our advisory work spans research, narrative strategy, community design, and coalition building.
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A cross-sector collaboration connecting climate storytellers, researchers, and community organizations across the African continent — building narrative infrastructure for climate justice movements.
KiraKira's role: Narrative strategy, participatory research design, cross-sector facilitation.
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Coming Soon!
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Follow our work for more updates
Public Examples
Beyond client engagements, KiraKira Institute's consulting approach is visible through our public programs, research, and publications — all of which reflect the same methods and values we bring to advisory work.
Work with Us
Every engagement begins with a conversation. We want to understand your organization, your challenges, and what you're building toward — before we talk about services.
We work with a limited number of partners at a time to ensure depth over volume.