About Gail Merridew
With over 30 years of for-profit, governmental and nonprofit management experience, principal consultant Gail Merridew is dedicated to helping nonprofit executives and board members identify their strengths and challenges, create sound action plans, and implement those plans in an effective way that maximizes results. Past clients have expressed considerable satisfaction with her professional and approachable style, as well as her analytical and communicative talents.
Gail believes capacity building is both a creative and participatory effort which guides nonprofit organizations through mission-driven processes. She is dedicated to the principle that the best results come from sustained, intentional efforts and that sound planning leads to the sustainability and success of organizational performance.
Gail Merridew earned her educational degrees while simultaneously gaining experience in the working world and caring for her husband and son. Her experience features roles as a business/technical analyst in the private and governmental sectors, as well as an executive director with a foundation and a nonprofit hospice program. Gail's degrees include a Masters of Public Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management, and a BS in Economics from Virginia Commonwealth University
Using her experience, education and knowledge of community and nonprofit services, Gail began this consulting business in November 2003. Through her work she has developed a well-rounded approach to assisting a wide variety of organizations with governance, managerial and operational issues – all of which serve to help nonprofit organizations improve their infrastructures and grow to meet the needs of their communities.
Her client list has expanded to include both well established and early stage or growth-challenged organizations throughout Virginia. She invites your organization to become a client, and looks forward to serving you through her mission: "Guiding nonprofit organizations to the next level!"
About Kim Fisher
Kim Fisher specializes in public and nonprofit program development, implementation and evaluation using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. She has experience in developing survey instruments and data collection strategies as well as data analysis and report writing. She is proficient in the design and implementation of programmatic services, especially in the areas of homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, and workforce-related initiatives.
With over 10 years of experience, Kim has positioned herself to assist both the nonprofit and public sectors in delivering quality services on behalf of the public. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Masters of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her professional affiliations include the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Kim is a member of the Board of Directors at Gateway Homes, Inc. where she currently serves as the Strategic Planning Committee Chair.
About Brenda Lowry
With over thirty years of experience in the private sector - specifically in the financial services industry with Fortune 500 companies - Brenda brings a unique blend of skills, knowledge, and perspective in both the human resources and global equity research arenas. Serving in different capacities, each career role has incorporated development and implementation of initiatives to achieve goals, define analytics, manage change, and enhance communications.
In her role as a research analyst in equity research, Brenda utilized her abilities to collect relevant information; understand context on numerous levels; synthesize, analyze, and compare data; independently develop conclusions; and present those conclusions in published research reports. She authored numerous company-specific reports and her industry work was credited with being a cornerstone of strategic planning.
For 10 years Brenda has leveraged her business acumen, analytical thinking, and writing, marketing and communication competencies as a human resources business partner. She served as an internal consultant to executives of her client groups, with her primary responsibility being to ensure that workforce strategies were aligned with business objectives to achieve performance and financial strength. Brenda’s counsel centered on initiative development in two key areas—maximizing existing operations and helping bridge the gap between current and future organizational platforms, with minimal business disruption. Consistently receiving positive feedback from clients regarding her results orientation, Brenda’s abilities to anticipate potential issues before they developed and to deal with problems that did surface make her a strong relationship builder, critical advisor and team player.
After moving their headquarter operations out of state, Brenda made the difficult decision not to relocate - thus leaving her employer of almost twenty years. That decision provided Brenda the opportunity to leverage her multi-faceted background as she transferred from an internal to an external consulting role. To complement her B.S. in Psychology from VCU and significant private-sector experience, Brenda recently completed the requirements for the Certificate of Achievement in Nonprofit Management through VCU’s Nonprofit Learning Point program.