Guiding Principles and Values:
Courage
I am driven to – and work with people who are willing to – question longstanding norms and underlying assumptions, challenge our beliefs and behaviors, and dare to pursue social change
Collaboration
Complex problems require multiple skills, perspectives, ideas, and thinking styles. This may come from a collaboration of individuals, or of organizations, or of governments. I don’t believe any lasting change can come without it
Integrity
Sometimes an idea just can’t stand up to “the gut test.” Progress is not really progress if you lose your center or compromise your values. There is no success without integrity
Thirst for Learning
I will never stop learning and challenging myself. There is a real danger to proclaiming to be “the expert.” I work best with people who are curious, open, self-reflective, and thrive in a “culture of inquiry”
Zest for Life
I work hard and I love it. And I could not do any good work without a sense of possibility and joy. I do my best work with people who bring energy, enthusiasm, and the ability to laugh at ourselves
About Emily
Emily Sterling has served as a strategic thought partner to thousands of innovative and influential philanthropists, community leaders, social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, boards, corporations, and governments for over 30 years. She has enhanced the impact of organizations of every size, sector, stage of development, and mission focus.
Emily helps philanthropists, foundations, and nonprofit CEOs and Boards to navigate new opportunities, complicated challenges, and big decisions. These might include launching and managing philanthropic activities; forging a new strategy; defining a shift in business plan or organization structure; mapping a big growth plan or turnaround plan; navigating the transition of a founder or long-term CEO; rethinking and redesigning governance and boards; or launching a new collaboration or merger. She provides coaching services to CEOs and Board members, and can serve as an interim or fractional executive for philanthropists, foundations and nonprofits.
Emily works with aligned groups by designing, facilitating and evolving donor circles, funder and nonprofit collaboratives, and collective impact initiatives that provide higher leverage toward outcomes. She also works with foundations and nonprofits with affiliates by developing and providing customized and cohort-based advisory services and capacity building to grantees and member organizations.
Before moving into sole advisor work through Emily Sterling Consulting, Emily was the Founder, Owner & CEO of Olive Grove Consulting. Based in Silicon Valley, Olive Grove worked internationally toward its vision of “A Vibrant and Just Society” for nearly 20 years, with a team of 15 staff and dozens of affiliated consultants and firms.
Emily is known as a trusted and knowledgeable advisor who can quickly distill complex and ambiguous information into clear patterns and options, and who supports leaders to make the right choices, not necessarily the easy ones. She thrives on new and big ideas, and has the experience, structure, and knowhow to move them into action.
Emily is an engaging presenter, interviewer and panel participant at conferences and events with a core audience of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, CEOs, board members, and influencers. Her primary topics include increasing personal and organizational resilience; shifting mindsets and limiting belief systems; increasing nonprofit impact and capacity; strategic and effective philanthropy; women’s entrepreneurship and leadership; innovation in governance; and collective action and collaborations. In addition, Emily has served on several nonprofit boards, and is open to private/corporate board placement.
CLIENTS INCLUDE: Hewlett Foundation; Helmsley Charitable Trust; Schwab Charitable; Tipping Point Community; San Francisco Opera; Nature Conservancy; Safe & Sound; Opportunity Fund; Momentum for Health; Davis Street Family Resource Center; Jews of Color Initiative; Oakland Museum of California; Surfrider; Moishe House; Education Trust-West; Jim Joseph Foundation; ODC Dance; Terra Foundation for American Art; Hillel International; Goodwill; Feeding Our Kids—Clinton Global Initiative; US Water Alliance; Legal Community Against Violence; San Francisco Foundation; Opera San Jose; Foundation for Jewish Camp; a 10-city collective impact funder collaborative; donor circles; numerous umbrella and membership-based nonprofits; multiple small family foundations; and hundreds of others.