WHAT WE DO

Woman thoughtfully working on a laptop in an office.

When there are competing priorities, unclear decision making pathways, stale partnerships and overwhelmed teams - strategy becomes difficult to hold. Onyx Strategies Group helps mission-driven organizations gain the clarity, alignment, and momentum they need to move complex work forward.

We support organizations through strategy development, executive thought partnership, fractional and interim leadership support, collaboration design, facilitation, and implementation planning.

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Strategic Leadership & Thought Partnership

Some of the most important work begins before there is a formal plan, proposal, or decision.

OSG provides discreet, high-trust thought partnership for leaders who are navigating complexity, weighing a new direction, managing internal dynamics, responding to external pressures, or trying to make sense of what comes next.

We help leaders clarify the real issue, test assumptions, surface risks, identify opportunities, and determine practical next steps.

Clients can expect:

A trusted sounding board for sensitive strategic questions
Candid counsel grounded in executive judgment and field experience
Support interpreting stakeholder dynamics, organizational readiness, and decision pathways
Scenario-based thinking to help leaders prepare for uncertainty
Clear next steps that help move ideas from possibility to action

This work is especially useful when leaders need a confidential space to think clearly before engaging a board, staff team, funder, coalition, or external partner.

Testimonials:

"On more than one occasion, I reached out to Chrystal for thought partnership on how best to engage a new alliance and its viability and potential for impact. She has a sharp eye for emerging trends and consistently brings fresh perspectives, practical ideas, and examples to help me put next steps into perspective."

Jeanne Braha, Rock Creek Conservancy

"Chrystal is a great thought partner and easy to work with. I appreciated her clear communication and follow through. I look forward to our continued collaboration."

AnnMarie Tinsler, The Nature Conservancy

Fractional & Interim Executive Support

Organizations do not always need another consultant. Sometimes they need experienced leadership capacity.

OSG provides fractional and interim executive support for organizations navigating leadership transition, funding uncertainty, organizational change, partnership complexity, or implementation challenges.

This offering builds on OSG’s existing work helping leaders clarify priorities, align stakeholders, strengthen partnerships, and move complex initiatives from strategy to action. It is designed for organizations that need experienced executive capacity for a defined period of time, without immediately adding a full-time role.

Support may include:

Fractional strategy, impact, or partnership leadership
Executive thought partnership for CEOs, executive directors, and senior teams
Strategic implementation oversight
Program, partnership, or coalition stabilization
Stakeholder engagement and alignment
Board and senior leadership advising
Special initiative leadership
Transition support during periods of change or uncertainty

This is a new service for OSG and natural extension of the work we've done through strategic planning and thought partnership engagements.

Strategy Development & Implementation

A strong strategy is not just a document. It is a practical tool for making decisions, aligning resources, and helping people understand what matters most.

OSG helps mission-driven organizations develop clear, capacity-aware strategies that are built for real-world conditions. Our process is structured, adaptive, and designed to help organizations move from broad ideas to practical action.

We support clients with:

Custom strategic planning frameworks
Clear goals, priorities, and decision criteria
Internal and external landscape scans
Stakeholder engagement and synthesis
Board and staff planning sessions
Practical implementation roadmaps
Change management strategies to support adoption
Action planning tools that help teams track progress and adjust as conditions change

Our approach is especially useful for organizations navigating growth, transition, uncertainty, or competing priorities.

Testimonials

"Onyx's work was of very high quality. They were able to handle a complex environment of multiple client inputs very well. We would definitely use them again if needed and would highly recommend them for strategic planning and thought partnership".

Wayne Motts, Gettysburg Foundation

"Onyx did an excellent job evaluating our organization and providing clear, tailored direction for our strategic planning process. Their deep understanding of our mission, challenges, and opportunities allowed them to craft a framework that was both structured and adaptable...We’re grateful for their partnership and highly recommend their services."

Robert Montgomery, Historic Pullman Foundation

" Onyx recognized a core challenge facing the conservation community and developed a new strategic planning tool that allows for flexibility and nimble responsiveness to the uncertain environment...it was tailored to the sector and doesn't feel like an off-the-shelf solution. They turned around very high quality work quickly and I would 100% use them again."

Andrea Keller Helsel, Windward Fund's Conservation Capacity Project

Partnerships, Alliances & Communities of Practice

Collaboration is essential. Strong partnerships, alliances, coalitions, and communities of practice require trust, structure, shared purpose, clear roles, and a practical way to make decisions together.

OSG helps organizations design, strengthen, and support collaborative efforts that are built to last and able to adapt.

We support clients to:

Assess readiness to launch or lead a partnership, alliance, coalition, or community of practice
Clarify shared purpose, roles, expectations, and decision-making structures
Identify and engage partners across nonprofit, public, philanthropic, and private sectors
Design convenings, learning communities, and collaborative workplans
Strengthen trust and communication across diverse stakeholders
Build governance, feedback, and evaluation structures
Determine when a collaboration needs to evolve, pause, or sunset

This work is especially useful for organizations leading cross-sector initiatives, public-private partnerships, field-building efforts, place-based work, or networks with multiple stakeholders and shared goals.

TESTIMONIALS

"Onyx helped us see the benefit of building an alliance of civil rights preservationists. Their recommendations for success have us excited about how we approach the design process to better support these sites. We are grateful for their partnership and counsel!"

Alan Spears, National Parks Conservation Association

"We used Onyx to facilitate a discussion about how we might strengthen our community of practice among relevant NASEM divisions and stakeholders. Onyx did a great job of sifting through a complicated web of organizational priorities and perspectives...we were pleased with the outcomes of our strategic discussions together and are moving forward based on their analysis."

Holly Rhodes, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Facilitation & Strategic Convenings

The right conversation can change what becomes possible.

OSG designs and facilitates strategic conversations, retreats, board sessions, coalition meetings, and stakeholder convenings that help groups move from discussion to decision.

We support clients with:

Executive and board retreats
Strategic planning sessions
Coalition and partnership meetings
Stakeholder convenings
Decision-making and alignment sessions
Community of practice gatherings
Implementation and action-planning meetings

Clients leave with stronger alignment, documented next steps, and a clearer path forward.

TESTIMONIALS

"Onyx provided wonderful facilitation support. As a newly formed collaborative with no clear grounding, we needed structure and they delivered. They helped us define our purpose, values, decision-making, and governance - which was no small task. They listened deeply, read the room well and offered relevant, productive exercises. Our entire group agreed: OSG’s facilitation was excellent and we’ll work with them again."

Sonia Joshi, Institute for Sustainable Communities

WHAT WE DO

Strategic Leadership & Thought Partnership

Testimonials:

Fractional & Interim Executive Support

Strategy Development & Implementation

Testimonials

Partnerships, Alliances & Communities of Practice

TESTIMONIALS

Facilitation & Strategic Convenings

TESTIMONIALS

Let’s Move Complex Work Forward

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