Charlotte, NC (December 6, 2017) — Next Stage Consulting today announced the selection of four (4) nonprofit organizations for participation in the inaugural 2018 cohort of CULTIVATE, an incubator designed to provide expert strategic and relational supports to emerging social cause organizations based in Mecklenburg County.

These organizations were selected through an in-depth RFP process and assessment by a selection panel of community leaders, including Dianne Bailey (Robinson Bradshaw), Jennifer DeWitt (Duke Energy), Charlie Elberson (Reemprise Fund), Blair Primis (OrthoCarolina) and Charles Thomas (Knight Foundation).  The panel met in late November 2017 to review applications from 26 local organizations, making recommendations for the selection of four finalists.

Selection criteria included commitment and leadership potential of participant, mission and programs that are unique, innovative and differentiated from others in local community, alignment with local priorities, initiatives and current events, and the opportunity for impact and organizational strengthening through CULTIVATE involvement.

The 2018 cohort for CULTIVATE includes:

  • Frances Hall, Founder and Executive Director of the Beatties Ford Road Vocational Training Center – The Beatties Ford Road Vocational Training Center provides students who are chronically underemployed, unemployed or re-entering the community from incarceration skills in construction enabling them to obtain permanent employment and compete for advancement in the construction industry.
  • Tim Miner and Matt Olin, Co-Founders of Charlotte Is Creative – Known by many as the team behind CreativeMornings, Charlotte Is Creative is dedicated to celebrating the creative spirit of Charlotte and to cultivating, supporting and harnessing the innate creativity of all Charlotteans, for the embetterment of our community and the lives of all Charlotteans.
  • Brent Morris, Executive Director of Learning Help Centers of Charlotte – Learning Help Centers of Charlotte works to break generational poverty by serving low-income apartment residents and their children with holistic program services which build happy healthy communities, empowering the next generation to stay in school and become successful for life.
  • Kristina Cruise, Founder and Executive Director of Promising Pages – Promising Pages provides ownership of books to underserved children and cultivates a lifelong love of reading through innovative classroom programs and the distribution of more than 100,000 free books annually.

Launching in January 2018, CULTIVATE will provide these four participating nonprofits in-depth training and coaching on core monthly topics focused on organizational development and strategic business planning.  The curriculum for CULTIVATE includes one-on-one work and personalized coaching with the Next Stage Consulting team, online assignments managed through a learning management system, small group workshops for the four participating organizations and community engagement activities designed to increase social capital.

Next Stage is pleased to have Hygge Coworking on board as its official coworking partner for CULTIVATE. Participating organizations will receive free membership at Hygge Coworking and have access to Hygge’s West Side location for the duration of the incubator. Next Stage is also proud to have SHARE Charlotte and the Children and Family Services Center as partners for CULTIVATE, and is grateful for the support of the Reemprise Fund.

More about CULTIVATE can be found here. 

About Next Stage Consulting:

Next Stage Consulting (Next Stage) works with nonprofits to develop visions, set goals and create strategies for all aspects of operations, implementing organizational and fund development efforts with an eye toward efficiency and effectiveness. Led by Managing Director Josh Jacobson and Project Development Manager Caylin Viales, Next Stage exists to serve the varied needs of nonprofits in the Carolinas. By partnering with staff and leadership volunteers, the firm’s talented consultants prioritize identifying needs and opportunities, developing a plan to address them and working tirelessly to ensure optimization in pursuit of mission. The firm is dedicated to working with a limited number of nonprofits to guarantee all clients receive expert counsel, specialized strategic and development planning, and in-depth implementation services. Next Stage Consulting is committed to being a different kind of consulting firm, as interested in designing unique solutions as working to see them implemented.