Your strategic partner for mission-driven teams
Clear decisions for teams doing work that matters.
I work alongside nonprofit and mission-driven leaders to understand the real problem, choose a direction, and get it moving. Research, strategy, and the workshops I lead myself, in person and virtually anywhere.
How we move
1 · Understand
What is really going on
2 · Decide
Where to go, and what to stop
3 · Act
Owners, dates, next steps
In person in Northern Virginia and Latin America. Virtual anywhere.
Years of practice
facilitating, from community advocacy across Europe to service design and strategy today
Trained facilitator
in Creative Problem Solving and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
Three regions
work across the US, Europe, and Latin America
Your language
sessions in English, Spanish, Italian, and Albanian
Who I work with
Teams that carry a mission and need a clear way forward.
Nonprofits and foundations
Boards, executive teams, and program leaders who need to agree on priorities, plan the year, or redesign a program around the people it serves.
Mission-driven companies
Social enterprises and values-led teams that want a strategy their whole team believes in.
HR and people teams
Team retros, manager training, and offsites that end in commitments, not just a good day.
Sound familiar?
These are not people problems. They are process problems, and a process can be designed.
Everything feels urgent. Your team is stretched across too many programs, and no one is sure what to stop.
The same decision keeps coming back. Staff, board, funders, and partners all weigh in, and nothing gets settled.
Planning days end with energy. Then next quarter looks the same.
Choices rest on assumptions. Decisions get made on what we think the people we serve need.
Your team spans regions or languages. What works in one place falls flat in another.
How I partner with you
From the first question to the first results.
Some teams need a single workshop. Others need a thinking partner for a whole season of change. I work at whichever level helps you move.
Understand
Research and insight
Interviews, surveys, and service audits that show what people you serve actually experience.
Decide
Strategy and direction
Clear priorities, honest trade-offs, and a plan your board and staff can stand behind.
Design
Program and service design
Redesign programs with the people who use them, then test before you scale.
Align
Facilitation and training
Workshops, retreats, and coaching that bring your people along and make decisions stick.
Ways to work together
Choose the way we start.
Each is named for the moment you are in, and each can grow into a longer partnership. Every one ends with decisions, owners, and next steps.
3 to 4 weeks · Start here
Service Ecosystem Audit
See how your programs, teams, and partners connect to the people you serve, and where it breaks.
4 to 12 weeks
Program and service design lab
Design with the people you serve, test ideas, and build a roadmap.
1 to 2 days
Leadership or board retreat
Direction, trust, or a hard decision, designed around what your group needs.
Half day to 2 days
Strategic planning session
Choose priorities, make trade-offs, and decide what to stop.
Half day
Team retro or reset
After a hard quarter, a big launch, or a change. Leave with commitments.
Half to full day
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop
A hands-on way to get every voice into a hard conversation.
Half day, full day, or series
Manager and team training
Practice on real situations, so better meetings and decisions stick.
Not sure which fits?
How it works
I work alongside your team, not above it.
1
Listen
Before we plan anything, I learn your context, your people, and what a good outcome looks like.
2
Design
I build the workshop, research plan, or retreat around your challenge. Never a template.
3
Lead
I lead the work with you, in the room or online, until there is a decision.
4
Follow through
Soon after, you get a written summary with decisions, owners, and next steps.
The methods behind the work
Proven methods, explained in plain words.
I choose the method that fits your challenge, so you never get a template.
Creative Problem Solving
A trained, step-by-step method for exploring a challenge, generating many options, and choosing what to act on. It keeps wide thinking and firm decisions from getting mixed up.
Design thinking
Understand the people involved, try ideas quickly, and improve them before you commit.
Human-centered design
Design with the people who use your programs, so solutions fit their real lives.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
A hands-on method where people build models with bricks to think and talk. Everyone contributes, including quieter voices.
What you leave with
Not a report that sits on a shelf.
- A written decision record with an owner for each item
- A prioritized roadmap for the next 90 days
- A plain-language summary for people who were not in the room
- Reusable materials: agendas, templates, and tools
What clients say
Trusted with the conversations that matter.
“Your ability to guide the conversation, challenge our thinking, and keep the group focused on a few key priorities for 2026 was truly impressive.”
Corporate Leadership Team in the government space
“You have such a beautiful way of creating a safe space to reflect, share, and grow. Absolutely powerful. Highly recommend!”
Melisa B., participant, “Reclaim your leadership story” workshop
About me
Hi, I’m Ponja.
I’m a strategist and researcher with years of hands-on experience across government, nonprofit, and private-sector teams. I help leaders understand the problem, choose a direction, and follow through, and I facilitate the sessions where the hard decisions get made.
Let’s get your team unstuck.
Book a free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what kind of support fits, what it takes, and what it costs.
or email ponja@mind-fulllab.com