A Hands-On Approach to Guiding Organizational Transformation
Challenge
The Seattle-based non-profit, FareStart faced a transformational opportunity: Amazon agreed to donate new training and food service facilities that would enable FareStart to drastically expand its reach. FareStart’s mission to help homeless and low-income individuals escape poverty by preparing them for jobs in the restaurant and hospitality industries has been impacting the Seattle community for over 25 years. Amazon’s partnership would allow FareStart to launch a new paid apprenticeship program that would offer an advanced level of training in food service, further supporting previously impoverished individuals to acquire a livable wage. This project would require the nonprofit to double its workforce of 100 and expand its annual budget from $14 million to $20 million.
“The change management plan brought intentionality to our work. Forum Solutions brought executive-level business skills that helped us see what we didn’t even know we needed.”
— Megan Karch, FareStart CEO
This project was the largest initiative FareStart had ever taken on and would require leaders to rethink every aspect of the organization, from technology to hiring and marketing. They had just one year to gear up for the expansion while continuing to grow existing programs.
Solution
Over two months, Forum Solutions' team collaborated with FareStart's leaders to develop a strategy for executing an organization-wide transformation. Working hands-on across all functions of the organization, Forum Solutions helped the nonprofit identify desired outcomes, risks, dependencies, and key focus areas. The resulting integrated plan provided a clear, actionable roadmap for leading the massive change the organization would undergo.
Result
FareStart restructured every department to support its expanded reach, launched new food service businesses, and implemented a successful food service apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program provides advanced training for graduates of the basic training program. This organizational transformation gave FareStart a foundation to continue to expand programming and grow their reach.
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