Our Team

Our consulting approach is deeply collaborative. We prioritize building authentic, enduring relationships with clients and leading with curiosity. Drawing from extensive experience as front-line staff, directors, volunteers, and board members in the social impact sector, our team offers practical insights. In every engagement, we are dedicated to envisioning bold possibilities, listening to both historically muted and mainstream voices, and driving meaningful change alongside our clients

  • Katherine Ngaruiya, PhD

    FOUNDER AND CONSULTANT

    Kat is a first-generation American who grew up bi-culturally in Kenya and the United States. Over a 15+ year career, she has raised funds for incredible causes, evaluated community programs, and contributed to strategic planning. Kat is passionate about expanding opportunities for vulnerable populations and advocates for equity in education, immigration, healthcare, and the justice system. She also serves as a teaching assistant professor at NC State University, engaging students on critical nonprofit issues.

  • Emily Nwakpuda, PhD

    CONSULTANT

    Emily is an interdisciplinary researcher whose research pipeline focuses on nonprofits, community development, the unsheltered, and policy innovations. Such work has allowed her to develop skills in survey design, interview methodology, statistical analysis, and program evaluation. Emily is actively conducting community-based research in collaboration with local nonprofits. Her personal goal is to support positive outcomes for communities in need of transformational change.

  • Alison Ieno

    PROJECT MANAGER

    Alison is a skilled content creator and program leader with a background in prospect research. She excels in crafting impactful messaging and managing complex projects across diverse teams. Her keen analytical skills and writing expertise allow her to develop strategic communications and produce insightful reports with clear, actionable steps. As a budding community advocate, Alison is passionate about advancing mental health initiatives in the nonprofit sector.

Client Feedback

Our clients are experts in their field of practice, and we are honored to collaborate with organizations committed to changing the trajectory of people’s lives. Our clients past and present, vary in industry, size, impact and culture, but they all have one thing in common, they want to make a positive difference in their world.

  • Kat is a brilliant grant writer and nonprofit development strategist. Benevolence Farm was fortunate enough to have Kat's time gifted to us through a donation and, she was so good, we kept her beyond the grant terms! Kat helped expand our capacity and deepen my own skills as a first-time ED. She also helped us draft grant templates to reduce my time spent on redundant writing and has helped me think through tricky framing of our work in applications. Cannot recommend Kat enough!

    Kristen Powers - Executive Director | Benevolence Farm

  • Kat and Emily were amazing! Beautiful humans, beautiful facilitation. I like the way you encouraged participants to listen to others and really think about what is being said instead of just rapidly responding.

    Participant Strategic Planning Retreat | Alamance Racial Equity Alliance (AREA)

  • Katherine was brought on to help the NC Community College System pursue funding from a private source and she knocked it of the park! Her project management and ability to handle large complex endeavors was priceless. She communicated and responded quickly and with clarity. Our project was causing us anxiety but once she came on board, her skill and confidence eliminated all stress and we won the award.

    Dr. Matthew Meyer- Former Associate Vice President | N.C. Community College System

  • Kat worked with our foundation to provide fund raising capacity building assistance and planning. Kat has a professional and easy going personality. She is passionate about helping nonprofits grow stronger in order to provide better services for our communities. Her expertise in grant writing helped secure funding for this nonprofit for the next two years. I highly recommend her services.

    Marcy Green - Vice President of Programs | Impact Alamance

  • Katherine was instrumental in helping us identify the right funding opportunities and design a foundation outreach strategey. She is thoughtful and proactive with a strong commitment to helping organizations succeed. I am always happy to recommend her to others looking for insightful help with fundraising.

    Claire Neal - Former Executive | Director Triangle Global Health Consortium

  • Katherine has a passion to help with fund development, leadership support and organizational development. I have learned so much for her while she coached me to put together my development committee and future fundraising events.

    Maty Ferrer Hoppmann - Director | Centro para Familias Hispanas

  • Kat worked to help us form a strategic plan for our nonprofit when we didn't have one. Through Kat, our knowledge of the role and importance of the board of directors has grown. Her manner is not pushy, and she is easy to talk to about important issues for our nonprofit. Because of this collaboration, our organization is much stronger.

    John Faison - Executive Director | Council on Immigrant Relations