Stop Firefighting. Start Leading.
You were hired to transform your organization. Why are you spending your first year fighting fires instead?
New nonprofit leaders don't fail because they lack competence. They fail because the organization isn't operationally ready to support the transformation they were brought in to execute.
Schumacher Consultancy helps Executive Directors and C-suite leaders in their first 12 months separate strategic priorities from operational traps so you can stop firefighting and start executing your mandate.
Make Time for What Matters.
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The Problem Isn't You.
It's What You Can't See.
Here's what actually happens in your first year:
The board wants transformation but hasn't looked under the hood.
You started with a mandate to execute a transformation, but you quickly realize your systems, processes, and/or people are not ready to support the vision.
You need to update, change, or get rid of what is already in place to gain traction. But they expect you to be able to use the existing infrastructure.
Boundary disputes sabotage you in boring but insidious ways.
The CFO is blocking a new donor database because Finance already invested in integrating the current system with accounting. Your Development Director threatens to quit. Major gift pipeline stalls. Now your capital campaign is at risk.
They are not always dramatic conflicts. They're structural traps that consume your credibility without expanding your authority.
Nobody can agree on basic metrics.
Every department implemented their own system. Nothing talks to each other. You can't answer simple questions about impact because their is no single source of truth.
You look unprepared when you're just working with what you inherited.
The MTWM Framework:
See What You're Swimming In
Make Time for What Matters (MTWM) reveals which organizational barriers are outside your sphere of influence and which ones are within your control.
Most new leaders spend their first year reacting to whatever's right in front of them. MTWM shows you the patterns you can't see from inside the organization. Board dynamics that create bottlenecks. Boundary confusion that generates conflict. Data gaps that undermine credibility. Systems that sabotage collaboration.
The MTWM Assessment evaluates your organization across nine diagnostic dimensions in three critical areas:
Mandate & Mission Clarity
Is there shared urgency around your transformation mandate, or are operational conflicts keeping you from focusing on the big picture?
Institutional Capacity & Resources
Does your organization have the systems and bandwidth to pivot, or is it stuck in survival mode?
Leadership, Governance & Culture
Is there alignment on who drives decisions, or is a trust deficit creating political traps that block your credibility?
MTWM doesn't just tell you what's broken.
It shows you what to fix first so you can execute your mandate instead of managing inherited chaos.
How We Work Together
Schumacher Consultancy offers four engagement tiers designed to meet you where you are. Every engagement is designed to be independently valuable while building toward sustained organizational readiness.
1
Complimentary Readiness Scorecard and Personalized Report
A 90-minute interview, discussing each of the nine readiness dimensions within your organization, resulting in a comprehensive readiness scorecard and report, identifying 1-3 recommended, immediately actionable priorities.
2
Quick Wins or Strategic Roadmap
Four-to-eight weeks executing an immediate priority from Tier 1 or conducting deeper validation work to build your comprehensive implementation plan.
3
Implementation Partnership
Structured support translating strategy into operational reality across your organization.
4
Fractional Strategic Advisor
Ongoing partnership providing strategic guidance as you navigate complex decisions and build momentum.
About
My name is Christy Schumacher
Christy Schumacher brings 15 years of enterprise transformation and consulting experience across healthcare, higher education, and nonprofit sectors. Her work has delivered measurable results including $2M in annual cost savings, 92% adoption rates for new systems, and organizational readiness frameworks now used by leaders navigating their critical first year.
The MTWM methodology grew from pattern recognition across dozens of leadership transitions: new leaders don't fail because they lack competence. They fail because organizations aren't operationally ready to support the transformation they were hired to execute.
Schumacher Consultancy exists to change that.
