We inspire and design the needed strategies for schools, colleges and nonprofits to thrive in a very volatile and uncertain future, one that may not be kind to them.

They need to get it right.

And, we’re the firm that delivers for them.

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Strategic Planning and Visioning

We deliver comprehensive, inclusive, and data-driven strategic planning processes that help organizations discover and articulate their North Star and set critical priorities for the future.

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Turnaround Planning

Sometimes strategy must be created and delivered to save an organization from ultimate demise. When organizations are facing an existential crisis, ISA can complete more stealth planning designed to resume market viability.

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Strategic Marketing, Identity, and Messaging

We develop full-scale strategic marketing programs for organizations seeking to establish the right mix of messaging and mediums. Using a balance of research, we find the intersection between mission and market, cultivating the right messages and discovering the deep culture and identity of the organization, building a customized marketing plan.

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Strategy Implementation

After delivering research, recommendations, or strategies for the future, ISA helps organizations build capacity to implement the plans we have created. We provide customized guidance and monitoring services for strategy and plan implementation to keep our clients on track, focused on the right priorities, and building appropriate resources and capacity to fulfill them.

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Strategic Enrollment Management

Our SEM philosophy has served as the foundation for professional association seminars, webinars, and talks, giving rise to a systems approach to enrollment management. We take the guesswork out of enrollment management by providing enrollment assessments and planning programs to independent schools, colleges and universities.

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Business Continuity

We need to look no further than the coronavirus pandemic to understand the importance of business continuity planning. We help schools, colleges, and nonprofits develop a resilient business model for the future.

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Market Research

We design and deliver customized market research solutions to the specific needs of our clients. Whether it be qualitative or quantitative audience research and assessment, competitive analysis, trends analysis, decision set identification, messaging research, or detailed demographic analysis, ISA can deliver both large and small scale solutions.

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Executive Coaching and Leadership Capacity

We provide executive coaching and leadership capacity building for seasoned and aspiring executives in key roles at schools, colleges, universities and nonprofits. Ian has guided presidents, heads of school, executive directors, marketing communications leaders, advancement professionals, and other aspiring leaders through weekly and monthly counsel.

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Near Term Strategy

How well you respond strategically to your current circumstances is really about how clearly you see the future. Sometimes referred to as “stealth planning”, we help schools, colleges, and nonprofits develop near term strategies through a short and powerful process.

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Retreat Facilitation and Daily Facilitation

ISA provides retreat facilitation to organizations planning and executing an organized meeting, typically delivered as a thoughtful presentation on educational trends and the future followed by an organized planning session. We also provide daily consultation with an organization seeking to solve a specific challenge and gain an expert’s view on a needed solution.