ABOUT OPENFIELDS

Helping visionary leaders imagine and accelerate a more creative and just future.

Story

Openfields was founded in 2014 with the vision of bringing the most creative, strategic tools for innovation from across sectors to bear on our most pressing, complex social challenges. Our name, Openfields, comes from the insight that these challenges cannot be addressed from a single field of work or discipline of learning, but demand leaders, organizations, and networks that are able to work within and beyond traditional boundaries. The fields of work are open and we need new ways to learn, think, and work together.
We've learned that to achieve different outcomes we have to embrace different ways of working. Like other consulting firms we bring proven processes and experienced experts to help clients solve complex problems and develop big ideas. Unlike other firms we operate primarily as a collaborative team, empowering your organization with a new level of learning, capacity, and creativity. We deliver immediate solutions, while helping your organization grow and adapt.
Openfields Mission

Helping visionary leaders imagine and accelerate a more creative and just future.

Our mission is inspired by a quote from James Boyd White's "Living Speech":
“If we cannot imagine the lives of others—the half of the world’s population who live on less than $2 a day, for example—we cannot be capable of justice towards them, for imagination is the root of justice. And if we cannot see others as they are, and understand our own role in systems of wealth and power, we certainly are incapable of love towards them too.”
Based on their talent, experience, and commitment, effective leaders generate deep knowledge about how systems work, but they also learn to be successful according to the rules of the system. As a result, leaders can have visionary ideas for remaking systems, but the community and incentives around them don't reward the short-term actions needed to advance those ideas. Openfields is committed to creating a space where systems can be reimagined and then, as Donella Meadows puts it, "brought lovingly into being."

Openfields Values

People, not programs, change lives.

Bill Milliken, the founder of Communities in Schools, has been such an effective, inspiring leader because from the very beginning of his work he understood the power of genuine relationships to transcend every divide and overcome every doubt. The only "programs" or projects that will have lasting impact are the ones that cultivate meaningful relationships.

Pursue possibility.

We believe that more is possible than we can imagine, so we push ourselves to always learn, challenge assumptions, and generate new ideas to build confidence in the future we want to make reality.

Elevate the work.

We create work and experiences that remind every person how valuable their time, attention, and commitment is, even if the market doesn't. The details matter.

Generous hospitality.

We believe in abundance and creating time and space where people feel welcome and nourished. In these spaces we can ask better questions, share more honestly, and steadily face down hard realities with hope and purpose.

Innovation with Integrity.

We are inspired to create new ideas. We also hold new ideas accountable to their history, to the communities they serve, to the resources they demand, and to the fruit they produce.
We are committed to advancing a culture of equity and respect for all people. Read more about our equity journey.

Openfields Team

Executive Assistant, Special Projects

Jane Anderson

Jane is an experienced, entrepreneurial EA connecting long-term vision and creative ideas and with the team’s day-to-day execution. She also serves as the lead for firm-wide special projects including strategic events, communications, and networking. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the College of Charleston.

Creative Director & Designer

Magda Castría

Magda is an experienced graphic designer and illustrator specializing in branding, art direction, graphic design and illustration to support a wide range of social impact and advocacy projects. As an independent consultant since 2016, she has collaborated with renowned international organizations such as the United Nations, Oxfam, apt, ISHR, OTT, and Integrity Action.‍

Sr. Consultant

Meghan Chaney, MSW

Meghan is a skillful facilitator, professional project manager, and collaborative leader with extensive experience working with communities, coalitions and networks seeking to create social and systems change. She earned her MSW at the University of Denver.

Director of Data & Research

Tim Green, PhD

Tim is an experienced researcher and educator focused on designing research, data architectures, and tools that shed light on complex problems. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Clemson University where he taught courses in urban and regional economics, impact modeling, GIS, and research design. He holds a Master’s and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois.

Sr. Consultant

Amy Jonason, PhD

Amy is a social scientist who helps organizations understand and address complicated social problems. Her skills include qualitative and quantitative research methods, data analysis, group facilitation, and project management. She earned her PhD in sociology from the University of Notre Dame.

Senior Consultant

Sarah Ellison

Through her work in international development with USAID, and Training Resources Group, Sarah brings extensive experience in leading organizational change, capacity building, knowledge management, and community-led development. Sarah has a master's in international development from American University and a bachelor's in history from UCLA.

Data & Research Consultant

Molly Kaminski, MCRP

Drawing on her previous experience as an educator in Poland and community planner for the city of Charlotte, NC, Molly brings a human-centered approach to data strategy and visualization. Her technical skills include proficiency in RStudio, ArcGIS, and QGIS, and she earned her Master’s degree in city planning at Clemson University.

Data & Research Consultant

Parker Kinard, MPH

Parker has a diverse background of public health, data management, and non-profit experience. He graduated from the University of South Carolina, where he obtained his Master's of Public Health and BS in Exercise Science

VP of Operations

Katie Pittman, MBA

Katie is an experienced consultant, previously serving as Director of Recruitment at KIPP DC and at McKinsey & Company where her projects focused on public school effectiveness, government spending effectiveness, and philanthropic organization transformation. Katie earned her MBA at UVA's Darden School of Business.

Director of Consulting

Frances Poe, MLOC

Frances is an experienced change leader who helps teams and organizations disrupt the status quo. She earned her master’s degree in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University with a focus on leading equity and inclusion in organizations, work engagement, and curiosity.

Founder, CEO

Grady Powell

Grady is a futures-oriented strategist, designer, experienced NPO executive, and entrepreneur. In addition to founding Openfields, he co-founded Capita, an ideas lab for ensuring a future in which all young children and families flourish.

Sr. Consultant

Sean Rusnak, MURP, MPH

Sean brings an interdisciplinary understanding of public health and urban planning to his work. He earned his MA in Urban and Regional Planning and MA of Public Health from the University of Colorado-Denver.

Project Coordinator

Belle Wright

Belle earned a degree in Communications with a minor in PR and Journalism from Western Washington University. She brings a deep passion for storytelling and a genuine love for people. Her background as a writer, dedicated to capturing human stories with empathy, shapes her community-focused approach to fostering collaboration.

Sr. Advisor | Innovation, Executive Coaching

Kyle Coolbroth

Kyle is a serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of executive experience in startups, consulting, high-growth companies and enterprises across several industries. He is Founder & Chairman of FUELED COLLECTIVE where he is a pioneer and thought leader in the coworking industry.

Office Manager

Ryann Wilcoxon

With a degree from Presbyterian College and years of experience managing projects, Ryann enjoys examining ideas from multiple perspectives as well as problem solving and collaborating with others to form a more tightly knit community.

Sr. Advisor | Human Centered Design

Haley Robison Dake, MBA, MEd

Haley is an experienced designer, facilitator, and leadership coach. Haley most recently served as CEO of Kammock, an outdoor gear company based in Austin Texas. She previously worked at IDEO and Bain Consulting. She earned her degrees at Stanford University.

Sr. Advisor | Innovation in Diversity

Jared Simmons

Jared is the founder and CEO of OUTLAST Consulting LLC, an Atlanta-based consultancy that helps companies bring an innovation mindset to tough business problems. Prior, Jared worked at Coca-Cola, McKinsey and Procter & Gamble.

Sr. Advisor

Joe Waters

Joe is the co-founder and CEO of Capita. His commentary on issues facing America’s families has been published by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, SSIR, Investor’s Business Daily, The Charlotte Observer, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Sr. Advisor | Philanthropy, Diversity

Nate Wong

Nate serves as a Partner at The Bridgespan Group, a social impact consultancy helping donors, non-profits, and impact investors catalyze transformative change. He is also an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer at Georgetown University, where he pioneered an open-sourced course called Building a Social Impact Consciousness. Prior he served as the Chief Strategy and Social Innovation Officer of the Beeck Center.