Spring 2020
Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends of ELM,
It is with nostalgia and gratitude that I share news of ELM’s dissolution after 21 rewarding years of collaborative consulting.
In early 1999, three impatient doctoral candidates at UC Berkeley came together around a common vision: the establishment of an interdisciplinary social science research group dedicated to helping mission-driven firms, nonprofits, and governments meet strategic objectives. Evans, Levitt, and McNichol promptly hung up a proverbial shingle, and was soon cutting its teeth with policy analysis, survey research, and program evaluation for regional foundations and think-tanks. Within a few years, our national client base expanded to include start-ups and public entities facing unique business and organizational planning challenges. Engagements coalesced around a common set of social, environmental, financial, and health themes.
By the mid-aughts, several gigs had evolved into long-standing commitments. Clients and passion projects began to lure our founders and principals away with full-time jobs. Two of us branched off to start a cross-Atlantic business development consultancy and healthcare advocacy nonprofit. Yet ELM would remain a going concern for more than another decade, perhaps in part because our collective skills and experience helpfully bridged between disciplines, policy domains, and stakeholders. We also had a knack for crafting methodologies and strategy frameworks that were outside the wheelhouse of traditional management consultancies.
But all journeys must end, allowing new ones to begin. Our remaining principals now have full-time leadership positions elsewhere that preclude external consulting. And the lone member of our founding trio who has been been keeping the lights on (yours truly) is now focusing on his next adventure.
As we close shop, I want to express our most heartfelt thanks to the colleagues, clients, friends, and family members who supported us at each stage of our journey. Without those early cheerleaders who bolstered our vision and passion, we most surely would have given up this experiment while toiling away on our dissertations. Without forward-thinking clients who saw bigger potentials for our work, our contributions might never have helped make meaningful impacts on human rights policy, sustainable business practices, ethical finance, and healthcare quality (among other worthy causes). And, without talented academic colleagues and consulting partners willing to team up with us on-the-fly, we would never have been able to tackle the most rewarding projects. To all, we offer our deepest gratitude. Hats off!
Sincerely,
Jason McNichol
Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends of ELM,
It is with nostalgia and gratitude that I share news of ELM’s dissolution after 21 rewarding years of collaborative consulting.
In early 1999, three impatient doctoral candidates at UC Berkeley came together around a common vision: the establishment of an interdisciplinary social science research group dedicated to helping mission-driven firms, nonprofits, and governments meet strategic objectives. Evans, Levitt, and McNichol promptly hung up a proverbial shingle, and was soon cutting its teeth with policy analysis, survey research, and program evaluation for regional foundations and think-tanks. Within a few years, our national client base expanded to include start-ups and public entities facing unique business and organizational planning challenges. Engagements coalesced around a common set of social, environmental, financial, and health themes.
By the mid-aughts, several gigs had evolved into long-standing commitments. Clients and passion projects began to lure our founders and principals away with full-time jobs. Two of us branched off to start a cross-Atlantic business development consultancy and healthcare advocacy nonprofit. Yet ELM would remain a going concern for more than another decade, perhaps in part because our collective skills and experience helpfully bridged between disciplines, policy domains, and stakeholders. We also had a knack for crafting methodologies and strategy frameworks that were outside the wheelhouse of traditional management consultancies.
But all journeys must end, allowing new ones to begin. Our remaining principals now have full-time leadership positions elsewhere that preclude external consulting. And the lone member of our founding trio who has been been keeping the lights on (yours truly) is now focusing on his next adventure.
As we close shop, I want to express our most heartfelt thanks to the colleagues, clients, friends, and family members who supported us at each stage of our journey. Without those early cheerleaders who bolstered our vision and passion, we most surely would have given up this experiment while toiling away on our dissertations. Without forward-thinking clients who saw bigger potentials for our work, our contributions might never have helped make meaningful impacts on human rights policy, sustainable business practices, ethical finance, and healthcare quality (among other worthy causes). And, without talented academic colleagues and consulting partners willing to team up with us on-the-fly, we would never have been able to tackle the most rewarding projects. To all, we offer our deepest gratitude. Hats off!
Sincerely,
Jason McNichol