Our Unique Approach

We work with you to connect, reveal, combine, listen, discover, communicate, and share. 

We’re systems people.

We focus on the connections between what people do, how organizations structure operations, and what people think and feel.  

Strategy

It begins with strategy. And that’s not a plan. Grounded in values, strategy is the thread that connects operations with an organization’s mission and vision. 

The analytic lenses we look through help us see things differently. Our frameworks add value by giving you a new perspective. 

We believe everyone and every organization is in the business of transferring knowledge. 

Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge is more than data and information. An underutilized asset in most organizations, it must be curated to meet the diverse needs of internal and external stakeholders. Developed with appropriate methods, carefully managed, and operationally aligned, it is a key tool in mitigating and managing risk. 

  • Research

    Knowing what we don’t know is key. Making wise decisions absent complete information is always the test of leadership. The right answer to the wrong question is a distraction.

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  • Landscape & Risk Analysis

    Perceptions of risk underpin how individuals behave and the direction organizations take. The external landscape is always changing. To steer toward opportunity and mitigate risk, understanding what drives change is crucial.

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  • Audience Definition

    Jane Q. Public has fragmented. Microtargeting, AI, online communities, voting trends and purchasing patterns create opportunities –- as well as static. Understanding your core audience is paramount. Go narrow and build from there. Or go home.

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  • Attitudinal Research & Values Identification

    Everyone is a pollster today. But discerning what people believe, think, know, feel, and say they will do often requires more than a one-off formulaic survey. Humans are a complicated species. We dig much deeper to truly understand people, especially the underlying values that shape opinions and behavior.

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  • Alignment

    Grinding the gears when moving an initiative or organization forward is costly, time-consuming, and a drain on leadership and team morale. When individual parts of an organization may be operating successfully, leaders can struggle to diagnose a problem that they can’t readily see and for which there is no one responsible manager.  

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  • Content Management

    Storage is never the purpose of a filing system, whether paper or digital. It’s about ease of retrieval. The test is whether colleagues can efficiently find the information they need, when they need it. Adding value to each search transforms information into knowledge.   

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Knowledge Transfer

How and with whom acquired knowledge is shared determines its value. We find the sticky spots in your processes that undercut the value of your knowledge. We help you understand what your stakeholders want to know. And we make sure your story works for them. 

  • Communication Links

    Communication is dynamic, not linear. Listening, not speaking, is the key to effective communication. And sequence matters. 

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  • Narrative Development 

    Getting the message right isn’t good enough. Embedding a message into an engaging overarching narrative that has deeper resonance and tells a compelling story is essential. Disconnected from that overarching narrative, most messages have a short half-life and limited impact.  

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  • Video Storytelling

    Like bookends, facts bound the space that defines an issue. But between them, decisions are made based on more than facts; personalities, experiences, and stories all matter. And today, visual images matter more than ever in the competition for attention.

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  • Stakeholder Engagement, Facilitation & Satisfaction

    Engagement alone is not the goal. It is the stakeholder experience that counts. Understanding the thinking of stakeholders, in advance, can make all the difference. Facilitation that recognizes the differences between hearing and listening drives positive outcomes.

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  • Communications Audit

    Communicating for the sake of communicating is not communicating at all. There needs to be a goal beyond the communication effort itself. Measuring the effectiveness of communication is essential and is impossible without establishing organizational goals at the outset. As the bridge between internal knowledge and external impact, communication cannot be limited to one or the other.

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  • Partnership Development

    We focus not on what exists at the outset of a possible partnership but rather on what might be created collaboratively — that neither partner would be able to develop alone. 

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  • "Jonathan Halperin asks important questions, forces you to think strategically with an outcome orientation, and isn’t afraid to totally re-imagine the way of doing something to achieve desired objectives. Working with Jonathan to plan our annual conference of thought-leaders in food and other impact programs of the James Beard Foundation for several years has been an enlightening and rewarding experience. We feel smarter and more effective for having worked with him."

    Mitchell Davis
    The James Beard Foundation

  • "Halperin is a valuable asset to any ambitious leader looking to maximize the performance of their organization. His capacity to bring business strategy, communications, and social mission into alignment will be delivering returns to Greyston for years to come. Whether designing and facilitating complex stakeholder engagements or presenting new ways of thinking about sustainable supply chains, Halperin consistently brings integrity, professionalism and insight to the task. He combines the unique ability to address the largest strategic opportunities in an organization while simultaneously bringing people together to execute on near-term challenges."

    Mike Brady
    Greyston

  • "I have worked with Jonathan to full satisfaction on a number of small, strategic projects. He is a creative thinker with a deep understanding of the intricacies of sustainable agriculture and with a keen eye for business value."

    Jan Kees Vis
    Unilever

  • "We needed an outside perspective on working with leading corporations and turned to Jonathan to assess our approach, refine our strategy, facilitate internal roll-out and help us execute. He helped us to think big, see new opportunities, reshape our communications and engage internal stakeholders. His counsel and ongoing support has been constructively provocative. Jonathan’s strategic thinking is keen and his facilitation skills are superior; he drills quickly to the underlying issues with a deft combination of determination and diplomacy."

    Anne Lieberman
    World Animal Protection, US

  • "Jonathan reflects the best of social entrepreneurship. He leads with his heart but has connected with the great mass of political power and will in society."

    Joseph McIntyre
    Ag Innovations Network

  • "When I began to unhook from SustainAbility in 2008, after 20+ years, to co-found Volans, Jonathan was working with the US end of SustainAbility — and sent the London end of the Volans team a large cardboard box of multi-colored felt rocks, which initially I couldn't make head nor tail of. I thought he was mad, or overly American. But I have to say that, over time, those felt rocks have become a central feature of the Volans culture, thrown by team members at other team members (or guests) on the slightest provocation. That aside, he's a consummate professional, creative collaborator, skilled communicator, and keen intellect—and I am delighted both to have had Jonathan as a colleague and to now count him as a friend."

    John Elkington
    Volans, SustainAbility

  • "Jonathan makes connections that other people miss. Beyond an understanding of any single environmental issue or energy challenge, he knows how to use knowledge to drive change, how to bring the right players to the table, and how to reframe seemingly intractable problems to create space for new approaches. He’s a strategic thinker with a very clear sense of how things work."

    Ray Kopp
    Resources for the Future

  • "Jonathan Halperin has been a close colleague for more than two decades. Throughout this time, I've been impressed by his ability to navigate a range of challenging global business environments with great insight and savvy. Jonathan is the rarest of all businesspeople: a visionary thinker who knows how to put innovative ideas into practice to get results."

    Cynthia Scharf
    Global Climate and Sustainability Specialist

  • "Jonathan is adept at inspiring team members to work at their full potential and achieve great outcomes together. His insight, thoughtful guidance and ability to see the big picture while managing the details produces results any organization would be proud to showcase."

    Sarah P. Fuller
    Fuller Ink

  • "Combining insightful analytics with pragmatic approaches and personal passion, Jonathan is a great partner to help any organization (large or small, business or non-profit) capitalize on its opportunities and mitigate its threats."

    Perry Yeatman
    Kraft Foods, Kraft Foods Foundation