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    What We Do

    MilwayPLUS applies expertise in strategy, research, communications, and social impact to help organizations and movements develop insights,
    influence debate,
    and campaign for change.

     

    About MilwayPLUS 

    MilwayPLUS is deeply collaborative, working with clients as partners,
    with a focus on research, content development, and influence strategies for funders, and innovation and growth strategies for content creators and select nonprofits. Katie Smith Milway, founder and principal, has a background in journalism, nonprofit management, strategy consulting and governance. Her network of preferred providers bring skills in data-driven analysis, market research, video, audio and digital production, and design. She is a frequent speaker at convenings on research-related themes.  

     

    Milway is also a senior advisor at The Bridgespan Group, where for a decade she served as partner and head of the knowledge practice, leading research and multimedia content development in the US and India. And she serves as adjunct faculty at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University. Prior to Bridgespan, Katie spent 14 years at Bain & Company, consulting to clients in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, then as the firm’s founding editorial director and global publisher.

     

    She began her journalism career at the Wall Street Journal, and her nonprofit service at Food for the Hungry. Her work in sustainable development across four continents includes program design and measurement, donor development and communications and organizational effectiveness.

     

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    About Our Collaborators

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    Shazeen

    Virani

    Shazeen Virani is a social sector strategist known for data-driven insights and their practical applications for nonprofits and funders.  After eight years at The Bridgespan Group, she founded Virtue Strategic Advisors, sv@byvirtue.org, to build capacity and results for the sector.

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    Bill Littlefield

    Bill Littlefield is an acclaimed interviewer, storyteller and three-decade veteran of National Public Radio.

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    Cheryl Stallworth

    Cheryl Stallworth is a proven market research strategist, storyteller and trailblazer at organizations like Colgate-Palmolive, Kantar / Firefly, and now ShedLight.org.

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    Shelagh Leahy

    Shelagh Leahy has worked as a producer, showrunner and executive at ABC News, CNN, MSNBC and PBS. 

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    Amy Bates Markham

    Amy Markham helps mission-driven organizations develop compelling strategies and build high-impact organizations.  She is skilled at rigorous analysis, inclusive facilitation, and results-focused implementation support. 

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    Sam Howe Verhovek

    Sam Howe Verhovek  is an author and veteran reporter/writer forThe New York Times, Los Angeles Times and National Geographic.

    About MilwayPLUS Services

             

     

             Thought Leadership

    ​

    MilwayPLUS collaborates with leaders in philanthropy and nonprofit networks to develop research projects and shape them into opinions, cases, articles, white papers, books and digital formats that help shift thinking and behavior in the sector. Milway supports clients through publication to ensure content packages are edited, designed and placed strategically on websites and in leading external publications.

    ​

    Case:

    Funding Feedback. The case details how Fund for Shared Insight built the sub-field of feedback to complement program monitoring and evaluation.
     

    White Paper & Case Collection:

    Influencing Funder Practice. Research commissioned by Ford Foundation examined 12 multiyear initiatives aimed at spurring funders to give more effectively, and produced a framework for influencing the “how” of philanthropy, captured in a white paper and six practical cases.

     

    Book (Editorial Direction):

    Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism. Milway worked with author Steve Davis to structure his insights and experience into a proposal, pitch to publishers, contract the book and qualify a ghost writer.

     

    Digital Playbook:

    Playbook for Nonprofit Digital Transformation. Hopelab and Milway surveyed nonprofit digital practices and created a guide to the ‘how’ of digitizing service delivery for 21st Century constituents.

     

    Article:

    The Myth of Perpetuity in Foundation Strategy. An examination of founding articles of the top 50 private foundations and their endowment recoveries post 2009 recession found leeway to raise payouts.

    ​

    ​

     

             Influence Campaigns

     

    ​

    MilwayPLUS collaborates with leaders of fields and movements to create campaigns to engage and tip sector practice and public will on issues core to society, people and planet. Tools for the task include:

     

    • Curating and producing multimedia series such as The Power of Feedback (promoting the what, why and how of feedback as a critical element of measuring social impact.)
       

    • Auditing and transposing academic research into powerful, practitioner insights: e.g. Inclusive Philanthropy and The Eight Myths of US Philanthropy (promoting generosity for life)
       

    • Co-developing and curating field-specific newsletters, e.g. The Listening Post (promoting new ideas in the field of effective philanthropy)

     

    ​

    ​

    ​

              Innovation & Growth

    ​

    MilwayPLUS works with a handful of nonprofit content creators and leaders in community development on growth and innovation strategies, helping them to define their theories of change and goals for impact and develop funding models and outreach plans to raise resources to achieve them.

    ​

    ​

    ​

    ​

    MilwayPLUS clients include:

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

    ​

    Blue Meridian Partners 

     

    The Bridgespan Group 

     

    The Chronicle of Philanthropy

    ​

    Ford Foundation 

     

    Fund for Shared Insight 

     

    Giving Compass

    ​

    Hagar’s Sisters

    ​

    William + Flora Hewlett Foundation 

     

    Hopelab


                                

     

    ​

    Lilly Family School of Philanthropy             

     

    The Lodestar Foundation

    ​

    Pace Center for Girls 

     

    ProInspire 

     

    Project Evident  

     

    Rauch Foundation

     

    The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities                      

    Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University

     

    World Vision
     

    MilwayPLUS has authored a number of articles on philanthropy and nonprofit strategy and management
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    Classic

    Collection

    Now on Sale
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    How Madam C.J. Walker Built Racial Equity Into Her Business
    hbr.org

     
     

    Services

              Thought Leadership

    ​

    MilwayPLUS collaborates with leaders in philanthropy and nonprofit networks to develop research projects and shape them into opinions, cases, articles, white papers, books and digital formats that help shift thinking and behavior in the sector. Milway supports clients through publication to ensure content packages are edited, designed and placed strategically on websites and in leading external publications.  Examples:

    ​

    Case:

    Funding Feedback. The case details how Fund for Shared Insight built the sub-field of feedback to complement program monitoring and evaluation.
     

    White Papers:

    Influencing Funder Practice. Research commissioned by Ford Foundation examined 12 multiyear initiatives aimed at spurring funders to give more effectively, and produced a framework for influencing the “how” of philanthropy, captured in a white paper and six practical cases.

    ​

    Building Equitable Evidence of Social Impact.  Research commissioned by Pace Center for Girls conducted focus groups with 15 nonprofits that involved participants in program evaluation, finding causal links to outcomes and ripple effects that built greater equity across operations.  White paper influence strategy spun out articles for nonprofits, philanthropy, advocacy efforts and family foundations.  

     

    Book:

    Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism. We distilled and structured author’s insights and experience into a book proposal, pitched it to publishers, contracted the manuscript, and qualified a collaborating writer.

     

    Digital "How To" Guide:

    Playbook for Nonprofit Digital Transformation. We co-developed a national survey of nonprofit digital practices and wove results together with client’s experience into a data-driven guide to the “why” and “how” of digitizing service delivery to 21st century constituents.

     

    Article:

    The Myth of Perpetuity in Foundation Strategy. An examination of founding articles of the top 50 private foundations and their endowment recoveries post 2009 recession found leeway to raise payouts.

    ​

                 Influence Strategies​

    ​

    ​

    MilwayPLUS collaborates with leaders of fields and movements to create campaigns to engage and tip sector practice and public will on issues core to society and the planet. Tools for the task include:

     

    • Curating and producing multimedia series such as The Power of Feedback (promoting the what, why, and how of feedback as a critical element of measuring social impact).
       

    • Auditing and transposing academic research into powerful, practitioner insights: e.g. Inclusive Philanthropy and The Eight Myths of US Philanthropy (promoting generosity for life).
       

    • Co-developing and curating field-specific newsletters, e.g. The Listening Post (promoting new ideas in the field of effective philanthropy).

     

    ​

    ​

              Innovation & Growth

    ​

    MilwayPLUS works with select nonprofit content creators and leaders in sustainable development and climate solutions on growth and innovation strategies, helping them to define their theories of change and goals for impact, and develop funding models and outreach plans to raise resources to achieve them.

    Clients

    Lilly Family School of Philanthropy,
    Indiana University
     

     

    The Lodestar Foundation

    ​

    New England Conservatory

    ​

    Pace Center for Girls 

     

    ProInspire 

     

    Project Evident  

     

    Rauch Foundation

    ​

    Think Equal

     

    The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities 

        

    Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University

     

    World Vision

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

    ​

    Blue Meridian Partners 

     

    The Bridgespan Group 

    ​

    CECI

     

    The Chronicle of Philanthropy

    ​

    Ford Foundation 

     

    Fund for Shared Insight 

     

    Giving Compass

    ​

    Hagar’s Sisters

    ​

    William + Flora Hewlett Foundation 

     

    Hopelab


                                

     

    ​

    Milway has co/authored a number of articles on philanthropy and nonprofit strategy and management

    Five Accelerators of Equitable Grantmaking and How to Harness Them, SSIR, Spring 2022

    Building Equitable Evidence of Social Impact, Pacecenter.org, Summer 2021

    The Myth of Perpetuity in Foundation Strategy, SSIR, Winter 2020

    How Madam C.J. Walker Built Racial Equity Into Her Business, HBR, Winter 2020

    What It Really Takes to Influence Funder Practice, Fordfoundation.org, Winter 2019

    Campaigns for Social Change: Six Case Studies, Fordfoundation.org, Winter 2019

    Funding Feedback, SSIR, Fall 2018

    Making Founder Successions Work, SSIR, Spring 2018

    Hidden Talent: How Smart Companies Are Tapping Into Unemployed Youth, SSIR, Fall 2016

    The Nonprofit Leadership Development Deficit, SSIR, Fall 2015

    Making Sense of Nonprofit Collaborations, Bridgespan.org, Winter 2014

    Why Nonprofit Mergers Continue to Lag, SSIR, Spring 2014

    Making Organizational Learning Stick, Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter 2013

    Get Ready for Your Next Assignment, HBR, Winter 2011

    The Challenge of Organizational Learning, SSIR, Summer 2011

    Growing Global NGOs Effectively, Monday Developments, Winter 2010

    Finding Leaders for America’s Nonprofits, Bridgespan.org, Spring 2009

    Nonprofit Mergers & Acquisitions: More Than a Tool for Tough Times, Bridgespan.org, Winter 2009

    Read More >
    Read More >
    madam_cj_walker.png

    How Madam C.J. Walker Built Racial Equity Into Her Business
    hbr.org

    Read More >
     

    MilwayPLUS has also authored 7 books including:

    Trade Books
    • Growing Our Future - 1992

    • The Human Farm - 1994

    • From Start-up to Scale - 2013

    CitizenKid Books
    • One Hen - 2008

    • The Good Garden - 2010

    • Mimi's Village - 2012

    • The Banana-Leaf Ball - 2017

     
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    Contact

    katiesmith.milway@gmail.com

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