Approach & Services
And how our clients and collaborators really feel about them
Engage
At the heart of MakeWith’s approach are two key beliefs:
Those closest to a problem have unique and essential insight into the issue and its possible solutions
Those most likely to be impacted by a decision should have a role in the decision-making process.
Because of this, meaningful engagement sits at the center of all our processes. In practice, this means working with our clients to identify who needs to be a part of each step of the process, how best to include them, and working to (re)build trust and buy-in among these different stakeholders to facilitate their meaningful involvement.
Learn
All MakeWith projects begin with a learning phase. In this phase, we work with you to identify and collect the information you need to make an intentional and informed decision about what you will do or create.
This includes identifying what you think you know and what you need to find out and then making a values-aligned plan for how to collect the information you need from the right sources. From here, you can take the reigns, or we will work with you to collect, synthesize and reflect on the learning to prepare you for a successful design or strategy process.
At the end of the learning phase, you will have a clearer sense of where you’ve been and everything you will need to determine the why, what, how, who, and when of your next move.
Services
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In this 2-hour session, we will work with you to create a learning plan emphasizing participatory and equity-oriented processes to support your upcoming (or ongoing) evaluation, design or strategy work. We’ll support you and your team to clarify your objectives, assumptions, and hypotheses, identify learning objectives, define stakeholders, and outline methods to discover everything you need to know to be successful.
Deliverables
— Learning Plan to serve as your guiding document for research or evaluation
— MakeWith Learning Guide to supplement your team’s existing knowledge with MakeWith’s best practices for evaluation and research
Cost & Duration
Project Rate: $1500
Timeline: 2 weeks from start to finish, with one 2-hour meeting
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Full-service learning projects kick off with creating a Learning Plan and continue with the collection, synthesis, and facilitated reflection to ensure your team has everything you need for a successful design or strategy process.
Full-service projects are ideal for leaders or teams who need the capacity support of having evaluation or research conducted by a third party, and/or are interested in learning-by-doing with a trusted expert.
Deliverables:
— Learning Plan to serve as our guiding document for research or evaluation
— Insights Brief containing synthesis, quotes, and inspiration from research
— Insights Shareback Session to share and discuss findings with you and your key stakeholders
— Facilitated Insights Reflection Session to reflect on and draw out key criteria from findings for the design & strategy phase
Cost & Duration:
Project Rates: Starting at $10,000
Timeline: Minimum of 6 weeks to 12+ months, depending on scope
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We will review your existing evaluation, research or feedback-collection processes to help you determine what’s working and where there are opportunities for improvement, all with an eye for how to bring more mutual value, equity, and efficacy to your work.
Deliverables
— Learning Systems Audit mapping your existing workflows and providing recommendations for improvement
Cost & Duration
Project Rates: Starting at $1500
Timeline: 1-6 weeks, depending on scope
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In select cases, MakeWith may be able to support your team in conducting your own research or evaluation. Some of the ways we might assist include 1:1 or group coaching, advising, training, or light collaborative implementation.
Deliverables
— TBD in collaboration with the project team
Cost & Duration
Project Rate: TBD based on scope
Timeline: TBD based on scope
Create
Design and strategy are all about deciding what you’ll do or create and how. Whether refining or designing a new program, initiating a collaborative project, or working on your strategic plan, a values-aligned process helps ensure you’ll create a strategy or design you can feel proud of.
MakeWith facilitates effective, equity-oriented strategic planning and design processes to help you and your stakeholders take action with clarity and confidence. After completing a learning phase (with us or on your own), MakeWith provides expert facilitation to define project requirements and success criteria, ideate and evaluate possible interventions, and decide the best path forward.
At the end of the create phase you and your team will be ready to hit the ground running.
Services
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These custom projects are scoped to take you and your team through the complete learning and design process with the goal of getting you ready to implement (or raise funds for) your new or reimagined program, project, or organizational strategy.
Deliverables
— Learning Plan to serve as your guiding document for research or evaluation
— Insights Brief containing synthesis, quotes, and inspiration from research
— Insights Shareback Session to share and discuss findings with you and your key stakeholders
— Facilitated Insights Reflection Session to reflect on and draw out key criteria from findings for the design & strategy phase
— Facilitated Design or Strategy Sessions to guide you and your stakeholders through the design or strategic planning process
— Design or Strategy Brief containing all the information you need to bring your design or strategy to life
Cost & Duration
Project Rates: Starting at $30,000
Timeline: Typically 4-12 months, depending on scope
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We provide stand-alone design and strategic planning facilitation services to clients who have already conducted high-quality research or evaluation. These projects involve guiding your team through the process of reflecting on previous learnings, defining project requirements and success criteria, ideation, evaluation and decision-making.
Deliverables:
— Design or Strategy Brief containing all the information you need to bring your design or strategy to life
or
— Design or Strategy Notes from our sessions so that your team can create your own final documentation
Cost & Duration:
Project Rates: Starting at $5,000
Timeline: Minimum of 2 weeks to 12+ months, depending on scope
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In select cases, MakeWith may be able to support your team in conducting your own design or strategy process or in project implementation. Some of the ways we might assist include 1:1 or group coaching, advising, training, or real-time evaluation and iteration support
Deliverables
— TBD in collaboration with the project team
Cost & Duration
Project Rate: TBD based on scope
Timeline: TBD based on scope
Ready to make moves?
Working with a smaller budget? Need help with something else? Drop us a line and we’ll see if we can make it work!
Here’s what our clients and collaborators have to say about working with MakeWith
“I cannot express how glad I am to have worked with MakeWith to conduct an evaluation of our organization. Their thoughtful interviews with our staff and community of supporters and their expansive knowledge of our industry and adjacent fields helped them uncover valuable insights into Love Now Media's operations, management, and (current and potential) impact. These insights affirmed our strengths and revealed many new areas of opportunity, ultimately setting us on a clearer and more confident path forward.”
Jos Duncan Asé, Founder & Executive Producer, Love Now Media
“Working with MakeWith and Aria to conduct exploratory interviews with our community and staff made a huge impact on how we approach listening and learning as an organization. The process was seamless and did not disrupt our day-to-day operations. The insights gained throughout the process are now being used to inform our strategic direction. We feel more in touch with our mission and goals than ever before!”
Kristy Garcia Breneman, Executive Director, Southern Documentary Fund
Testimonials
“Working with MakeWith was a critical step in evolving our consulting delivery services at Hearken. Aria listened to our current team’s needs, and provided customized training and follow-up learning opportunities for our consultants to develop their professional skills. The result was a more informed approach to incorporating design justice into all of our front-facing work.”
Chelsea Haring, (former) CEO, Hearken
“Inviting a consultant into an academic department can be nerve-racking. Aria understood our concerns and listened carefully to identify the type of assessment that would actually help rather than hinder our goals. They knew exactly when to nudge and how to gather and present data in a way that was transformative.”
Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, (Former) Religion Department Chair, Reed College
Still have questions?
We’re always happy to talk it over!
“MakeWith has been a superb supporter and collaborator in my work over the past year. With their help, my work has become more structured but not rigid, more thoughtful and rigorous while still remaining grounded in the realities of our Bronx communities. With Aria as a partner, I feel like I can engage in productive brainstorming and question-posing and know that we'll stay on track with what we've set out to accomplish together.”
Evan Casper-Futterman, PhD. Program Director Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative
“Working with MakeWith was a pleasure and highly productive for our collectively-run social justice organization. They thoughtfully engaged all team members in collaboratively designing a weekend-long leadership retreat full of creative visioning exercises and action planning. Aria is a crisp communicator adept at distilling and reframing our brainstormed ideas. Being well-versed in volunteer, mission-based structures and grassroots organizing principles enabled them to identity setbacks and possible solutions at both the micro and macro level.”
Lucas Shapiro, Founding Member Mayday Space & Collective
