It’s all about strategy.
And the right implementation process.

Yes, you need both.

VCB Consulting provides strategic planning and advisory support to help nonprofit and business leaders align their teams, prioritize what matters most, and make meaningful progress towards their mission and growth goals.

Does any of this sound familiar?

The board and staff are strapped. How do we re-align and make progress?
We are scrambling and need to refocus on our vision and goals. Where do we start?
How do we build better processes to support our growth?
How do we reconnect our Board and staff to work together toward common goals?
The world around us is chaotic. How do we focus on our mission and motivate our teams?

The Way Out & Forward
Getting unstuck starts with thoughtful alignment of purpose, goals, priorities and resources. And that is hard to do when you are in it day in and day out.

Additionally, strategic planning alone doesn’t create change. Clarity of roles, tasks and deadlines, implementation of processes and accountability do. VCB Consulting supports you through it all.

Vanessa has a passion and enthusiasm for nonprofit work that is evident in everything she does.

Vanessa is agile, and she brings calm, optimism, and clarity with her 20 years of communications experience.

Vanessa was able to involve our Board at unprecedented levels and enable them to see our future possibilities as an organization.

ABOUT VANESSA

Why I do what I do

I know my clients have limited time and resources, but are mission driven. I am an action-oriented person and professional. My goal is make everything easier for them and help them see how to clearly move forward to reach their goals.

The biggest challenge

Leadership transitions are always hard. There is lack of clarity, often confusion, fear… I love to help my clients through this tough time. I was preparing a communications plan for an executive transition when the COVID pandemic hit. We had to take a deep breath and scrap the entire plan, redo the entire timeline and create a new interim communications plan.

Outside of work

I am the proud daughter of two Italian immigrants. I enjoy being outside, cycling indoors and practicing yoga and martial arts. I have loved traveling extensively, volunteering, and living across the US (Austin, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Brooklyn) and internationally (Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Kampala, Morcone and Florence). I now happily live in Albany, New York.

What I’m good at

Looking at a challenge from all sides
Listening and tailoring approaches and planning sessions
Creating processes and systems to track progress and reach goals
Bringing teams together, supporting their wellbeing so they can be more productive

A favorite project

I get excited when I see an opportunity for growth and I can convince the organization or business to see it too! I had a client that was reasonably successful but lacked alignment among its leadership and lacked processes and organization to see growth as a feasible option. We reviewed the market to see where the opportunities and challenges were, and created a tangible plan with various levels of implementation based on resources. And little by little, they are moving forward and finally growing!

Where I studied

I hold a BS in Public Relations and a BA in Government, both with Honors, from the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, I have studied marketing at Georgetown University and business at el Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México in Mexico City.

We hired Vanessa at the recommendation of a colleague for what we anticipated to be a quick, two-month leadership communications project. She remained our strategic communications consultant, working closely with me, our communications director and the NLADA Board of Directors, for more than two years. Vanessa is agile and brings calm, optimism, and clarity with her 20 years of communications experience. Vanessa played an invaluable role in support of our executive leadership transition, and I am glad she has been able to continue to work with me in my new capacity as CEO of the NLADA Insurance Program – Service Corporation.

Jo-Ann Wallace, Esq. Former President & CEO

National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)

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SERVICES

VCB Consulting offers the following services to support your nonprofit’s success.

Strategic Planning
Needs and Market Assessments
Branding Strategy & Messaging
Vision, Goal & Leadership Alignment
Work Plan Implementation & Process Planning

Board Engagement & Communications
Marketing Communications Planning
Communications auditing including review of print, electronic and online assets
Donor stewardship planning
Creating a fundraising structure and tracking system

Advising and Support for Executives and Board Leaders
Advising through Transitions, Growth & Change
Strategic Communications Planning in times of change
Creation of feedback surveys, analysis of results
Team Building Sessions & Retreats

Looking for support with something else? Just ask!

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We never could have accomplished all we did this past year and exceeded our fundraising and marketing goals without Vanessa’s support. She stepped in during a crunch time and was able to ramp up immediately to provide effective, quick, supportive and high quality services. She has a keen marketing eye that she brings to all projects, which helped us in shaping our messaging and visuals to feel relevant and compelling to our audiences. Her input and direction was critical to our team’s success during a really intense year. She is worth her weight in gold if you are lucky enough to secure some of her time!”