For over a decade, we’ve helped change-making entrepreneurs and organizations launch award-winning communications strategies and navigate complex policy and market dynamics.
"Whiteboard has been invaluable to Code.org. Their connections to state policymakers provide us with reach across the country, and their understanding of the intersection of policy and media provides us with nuanced, thoughtful counsel to guide our strategy."
"The Whiteboard Advisors team pairs unique insights into policy and politics with a deep commitment to social impact. They provided us with clear guidance to support our campaign."
"The Whiteboard Advisors team uniquely understands our culture and ethos, and always help connect us with opportunities that help drive our growth while still preserving RTN's core mission. And just as importantly, they're fun to work with."
"Whiteboard Advisors has a well-earned reputation as the go-to public affairs firm for the most innovative – and impactful – organizations in education."
"Whiteboard Advisors' understanding of the sector is unparalleled; they provide us with valuable market research, policy analysis, and insights into the trends that shape the conversation."
"Whiteboard Advisors has been an invaluable resource to our team, providing thoughtful and tactical support as we navigate the complexity of public policy and its impact on our strategy and mission."
Whiteboard Advisors is a mission-driven communications, research, and consulting firm passionate about developing and implementing strategies that help changemaking organizations and entrepreneurs make an impact. Our team’s diverse – and often divergent –perspectives are rooted in an unmatched understanding of education practice, policy, and the future of work.
Nothing illuminates the challenges of raising a family and fulfilling work commitments (whether inside or out of the home) while engaging in everyday life more than “back to school” season. As my own children have transitioned back to school (of course, with start dates on different days), my social media feed and parent chat boards have been filled with memes, “keeping-it-real” anecdotes and desperate calls for last-minute childcare leads.
In a rapidly changing economic landscape, educational assistance programs through tax policy changes can offer employers a competitive advantage, write W/A's Erica Price Burns and Liz Simon of General Assembly. Employers today are grappling with two connected human capital challenges: identifying and cultivating a workforce with the skills to compete, and finding ways to retain those workers to limit the costly cycle of recruiting and retraining their replacements.
At the same time, a confluence of factors — including a tightening labor market and pernicious skills gaps — has led to a seemingly paradoxical narrative. Six-in-10 manufacturing jobs are currently going unfilled. Seven-in-10 employers report that a shortage of workers with the necessary skills limits their ability to compete. Yet droves of Americans struggle to find jobs that put them on a path toward economic mobility. And in some high-growth fields, diversity gaps risk exacerbating wage inequality.
Despite decades of initiatives to increase diversity among corporate leaders, the percentage of female leadership hires has remained relatively stagnant. A recent report from LinkedIn and the World Economic Forum examined the representation of women in leadership roles worldwide, and found that women represent less than 50% of the leaders in every industry analyzed. In some fields, like energy and mining or manufacturing, the numbers are far worse—with women holding less than 20% of leadership positions.
Increasingly, we’re worried that a generation of entrepreneurs is facing a “new innovators dilemma” — where innovation is stymied by regulatory and political environments focused on outdated needs and the wrong set of “customers.” The truth is, Silicon Valley investors and techies will get by just fine without addressing our big, societal problems. But if we encourage our nation’s top entrepreneurs to join search engines and social networks, we will miss the opportunity to apply their genius to solving society’s most pressing problems.
"According to a poll conducted by Whiteboard Advisors, Washington insiders place the odds of getting the bill reauthorized this year at 40 percent – still less than 50-50, but a stronger showing than even a few months ago."
I’d like to encourage more entrepreneurs and investors to consider partnering with the public sector, understand its order, and master the sometimes Byzantine systems that will enable them to make an impact. Here are five recommendations for CEOs considering government challenges — or opportunities.
In the past month, nearly 3 million students graduating from college this year walked across the stage to collect a diploma and a handshake. But millions more students lacked some of the data that might help guide them through one of the most important investment of their lives.
In large part, students don’t have information on things like graduation rates or graduate earnings because federal law imposes severe restrictions on the U.S. Department of Education’s ability to collect student-level information. As a Democrat and Republican who have served in federal policymaking roles on and off of Capitol Hill, we bear a measure of responsibility for the existence of the law.
As policy geeks, it’s easy to forecast limited investment in supplemental learning because of cultural norms or the structure of U.S. public education. But convenience has a funny way of shaping consumer behavior. Broadband ubiquity and mobile computing are beginning to bend the curve on access and, in turn, consumption. And it’s happening quickly.
We design creative strategies to help transformative businesses and organizations achieve their goals. We focus the story. We simplify the complexity. We engage the media and communities of influence to bring breakthrough ideas to market.
We tell stories that make an impact. Our team translates new ideas into messages that resonate. Our ideas land on front pages and shape the opinions of audiences that matter. We create platforms for leaders to speak about their mission and values. Branding. Message development. Media training. Media relations. Content creation. Social media strategy. Sentiment analysis. Influencer engagement.
We help organizations understand and navigate the world of public policy. Bold ideas rarely fit neatly within existing regulatory frameworks and funding streams. The policy process can confuse entrepreneurs and investors. Public sector leaders struggle to navigage an increasingly complex landscape of business models and emergent solutions. We help align innovation with practice and potential with policy to help organizations achieve scale, and create public-private partnerships that make an impact
We demystify complexity. Our research team simplifies policy and regulatory issues to inform decision-making. We offer a truly unique perspective, informed by deep market expertise and real-time intelligence. We produce high-quality research and visualizations of data to support transactional due diligence. Our weighted probability scenarios, risk assessments and funding analyses guide strategy. And as thought leaders in our own right, Whiteboard Advisors produces white papers and original research that shape the debate.
From Washington, D.C. to Silicon Valley, our team of policy wonks, former journalists, and storytellers brings an unmatched understanding of the education media, market and policy landscapes to bear on strategy.
Our senior advisors offer a wealth of experience, knowledge, and expertise to our clients. They are thought leaders, writers and commentators that share a deep commitment to social impact. They have served as government leaders, classroom teachers, and journalists. Senior advisors are engaged across a wide range of pursuits, beyond their work with our team. The views and opinions expressed by senior advisors beyond this website are not approved or endorsed by Whiteboard Advisors.
