Greater Washington

Success Stories

Tzedek DC’s mission is to safeguard the legal rights of DC residents with low incomes dealing with the often devastating consequences of unjust, abusive, and illegal debt collection practices, as well as other consumer protection problems like credit reporting issues, identity theft, and predatory lending. 

Compass awarded Tzedek DC a pro bono strategic alignment consulting project to aid in the evaluation of a new program. After an intensive five months of research and analysis such as internal and external interviews, web searching, best practices, and cost to benefit considerations, the Compass team delivered findings and recommendations to Tzedek DC – including suggested tools to aid in operationalizing the advice. The results were spot on, and Tzedek DC is implementing the recommendations of additional financial counseling wraparound services, where the benefits outweigh the costs.  

“We are off to the races with funding from two foundations for our financial counselor project, which was based in part on the excellent case we were able to make based on the Compass team’s analysis. We have been so pleased with their thorough work, we applied for and were granted another project. Go Compass & Tzedek DC collaborations!” – Ariel Levinson-Waldman, Founding President and Director-Counsel, Tzedek DC 

 

 

The Lab School of Washington is an innovative learning community fostering scholarship and creativity in students with different learning styles. Katherine Schantz, Head of School, said of the Compass Strategic Planning project: “We needed an objective analysis of one of our primary financial variables. We received the highest quality in every aspect of the Compass team’s work. Our Compass team had the skill and interest to delve into areas of research and analysis that was well beyond the capacity of our administration or board. Their work has been invaluable to our future.”

GALA Hispanic Theatre promotes and shares Latino arts and cultures with diverse audiences, and preserves the rich Hispanic heritage. GALA was facing challenges in audience development and needed a Strategic Marketing project. “Our experience with Compass went beyond our initial expectations. The marketing plan and insights they provided, have already made an impact on the organization. In addition, I really appreciated the fact that the deliverables included real, doable action items that we could implement immediately, while leaving others on a long-term plan. We could not have afforded this kind of high level consulting services, if it had not been for the pro bono opportunity provided by Compass.” – Rebecca Mendrano, Co-founder and Executive Director

The Homeless Children’s Playtime Project nurtures healthy child development and reduces the effects of trauma among children living in temporary housing programs.

Executive Director, Jamila Larson, said of the Compass Board Development project,  “We needed to almost double the size of our board, update our bylaws, and identify best practices for modernizing our board practices and making meetings more effective. Through interviews and research, our Compass team came up with a menu of recommendations that we began to implement immediately. The professional standard they set positively influenced our Board leadership and helped our staff and board better understand what to expect. Thanks to Compass, we have transitioned from a founder’s board to a governing board!”