Our Services
Organizations across sectors are increasingly motivated to change the way they do business in order to get more equitable outcomes in their communities. And today they face increased pressure and compounding challenges in reaching those outcomes.
Sometimes the enormity of the problems can cause paralysis by analysis. Resources run short and priority lists run long. Inertia and complacency take over when organizations don’t know where to start, or what steps to take to move forward.
The mission of Bellwether Consulting is to build more equitable organizations and communities. To do that, we help clients break down the big challenges, developing and implementing action steps. And then we support leaders as they carry out the action steps, because we know how difficult the work can be in practice.
Our services include:
Equity Analyses of policies and programs
Participants in a Blue Line Extension Anti-Displacement Work Group meeting.
To be effective, equity cannot be an add-on or a special project. It must be integrated into the way we do business, and eventually manifest in measurable results. We support organizations to make this transformative change by applying equity analyses to plans, programs, and policies. Recent Bellwether equity analyses include:
Conducting DEI organizational assessments on 11 state government agencies, and counting!
Developing a literature review and equity analysis for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s 2021 Electric Vehicle Assessment
Designing and facilitating Transportation Equity Labs at the Minnesota Department of Transportation
Conducting an equity analysis as part of the Metropolitan Council’s Electric Vehicles Study
Image of the MSP ARPA Tracker, which Bellwether Consulting helped to develop as part of the MSP Federal Funding Hub.
systems change Partnerships
Just as no one organization singlehandedly created our inequitable systems, no one organization holds the cards to dismantle and rebuild them. That’s why we develop and manage cross-sector partnerships that create collective impact. Recent examples include:
Designing and leading the GREATER MSP Federal Funding Hub, featured in this Brookings report.
Forming and facilitating a cross-sector Equity Work Group to inform the updated Minnesota Statewide Multi-modal Transportation Plan
Supporting the Blue Line Extension Anti-Displacement Work Group.
Leadership Development
If we’re going to build more equitable organizations and communities, we need connected, courageous, and creative people leading the change from within. And those folks need to be working in partnership with community to co-create a more just future.
To this end, we design and implement multi-faceted leadership development programs to empower leaders to lead change that creates greater equity. For example, for the past two years, Bellwether Consulting has co-facilitated the State of Minnesota’s Senior Leadership Institute.
Click here to see our leadership development programs.
Joanna Ocasio-Maisonet, Allison Bell, and Mike Bell at the Minnesota Senior Leadership Institute
organization development
Beyond working at the individual level, building equity means changing Business as Usual at the organizational level. From reevaluating hiring practices to designing and implementing training and continuous improvement programs, we expand all stakeholders' capacity to see, value, and connect with one another. This results in increased engagement, morale, teamwork, retention, and growth.
Recent organization development examples include a pair of projects at the MN Department of Labor & Industry for partners including M Health Fairview, McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing, DeZURIK, and Cameron's Coffee.
Mike Bell and Vince Frazier celebrating the award of a Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grant to develop a diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum for The Imagine Group.
JET Lab
Do you want to advance equity at your organization, but aren’t sure where to start? Jumpstart Equity Together (JET Lab) is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program for government agencies and for-profit companies to operationalize equity in your work. JET Lab will assess your organization’s DEI-related strengths and weaknesses, create an equity action plan with tangible next steps, and provide coaching to help you move your equity goals forward.
