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Organizational Consulting Services

We provide customized consulting services to help
organizations maximize their impact. We partner with a variety of clients spanning nonprofit, corporate, education, and government sectors to provide services in three main areas.

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Research & Evaluation

Sound research and evaluation allow organizations to capitalize on strengths and make continuous improvements.

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Planning & Facilitation

Proper planning and facilitation enable organizations to be purposeful, strategic, and inclusive.

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Organizational Effectiveness

Organizational effectiveness consulting helps set organizations up for success so they can achieve their goals.

We have a simple but focused purpose to help organizations realize their visions and maximize their impact in order to make communities great places to work and live. We strive to help organizations become so extraordinarily impactful they are in a category of one.

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About Us

Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

"We partnered with CIC to assess an HR program that was costing us over $3 million with minimal ROI. Their guidance helped us build the right business case for including external best practices in order to change the program and turn it into a success. We work with CIC because they bring best in class knowledge of how to use data and insights to help drive HR practices forward, all while making the process feel seamless."

Gina Brummels, Senior Director of Learning, Talent, & Change, Ardent Mills
"Working with Category One was an energizing experience! They took the time to really understand our work, asked the right questions, requested the right documents, and shared our impact along with growth opportunities with clarity and care. The evaluation felt less like an assessment and more like a partnership that will strengthen our mission for years to come."

Lindsay Decker, Executive Director, Avenue Scholars
"I am impressed with C1C's ability to provide our school district with timely feedback on all aspects of our federal grants through their evaluation process. I am even more impressed with their thoroughness, service, and the relationships C1C has developed with our team to ensure the success of our grant initiatives."

Robert Moore, Assistant Superintendent, Bellevue Public Schools
"C1C helped us to better support our organization during a time of growth and change with the development of clear and evidence-based practices. These resources have resulted in a more sustainable organizational structure, employee satisfaction, and tools that have been used long-term to guide practices such as hiring, onboarding, and monitoring key performance indicators."

Leah Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer, Center for Nutrition & Health Impact
"We've worked with C1C on several projects and have always had a positive experience. They deliver exactly what they promise every time, are enjoyable to work with, and produce high quality final products. Their expertise and insights have helped make our organization better and more effective."

Brian Depew, Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs
"Category One Consulting was an exceptional partner in our strategic planning process! Their collaborative and thoughtful approach, clarity, and deep listening helped us arrive at a plan that truly reflects our values and positions us well for the future."

Nancy Petitto, Executive Director, Civic Nebraska
"C1C helped our network of nonprofits develop a comprehensive, collaborative, and inclusive process for selecting a policy agenda. Their team was professional, accommodating, and patient as they guided us through this monumental task."

Laurie Ponce Lage, Director, Coalition for a Strong Nebraska
"Partnering with Category One Consulting was an important and meaningful investment for Collective for Youth. They helped us build a rock-solid Theory of Change and Theory of Action that we now use as a bridge between our organization, our funders, and our community partners. Having these evidence-based tools ensures every stakeholder in our network is moving in the same direction toward a shared, impactful goals."

Nicole Everingham, Development Director, Collective for Youth
"Category One's data-driven approach was instrumental in developing our logic model and subsequent implementation evaluation and program evaluation. Our programs would not be as impactful without Category One."

Angie Miller, Executive Director, BookLoop
"As a nonprofit working at the intersection of healthcare and workforce development, it was critical that we create a strategic plan that was both robust and actionable. Category One Consulting supported us with thorough research and served as a true thought partner throughout the process. The result is a plan our board and team feel genuinely embodies the work we're doing."

Julie Luzarraga, Co-Founder & Co-Director, Dignity in Healing Collective
"C1C is the best partner I have had the chance to work with, ever. They are organized, knowledgeable, inclusive, considerate, thorough, on time, and on budget. They are the "easy button" for any program evaluation project."

Greg Ryan, Chief Strategy Officer, Heartland Family Service
"The C1C team was able to take a very abstract, complex subject and work in tandem with us to create something clear, actionable, and useful for a wide variety of users. They worked with our collective impact partner agencies, elicited input from varied perspectives, and integrated the range of ideas into a best-in-class product. Always creative, positive, and dependable, they set the stage for great collaboration from day 1 to the finished product. They are our favorite team to partner with!"

Erin Porterfield, Executive Director, Heartland Workforce Solutions
"From the very first meeting, C1C provided a strategic and inclusive process as well as polished and user-friendly deliverables. After working with C1C, the key stakeholders in our organization are more aligned and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead."

Rachel Bahl, Co-Director, inCOMMON Community Development
"C1C was a great resource for us! We were a new organization in need of operations and measurement support. They were able to review our client system and help with procedures for evaluation, tracking, and decision making. Their deliverables came in a very professional manner and followed a strict timeline. Everything was completed as planned and our organization and partners were very pleased with C1C’s performance."

Daniel Padilla, Executive Director, Lending Link
"From the first meeting through the final presentation, C1C was thoughtful, flexible, organized, and tuned into the needs of our organization and staff. The result was a very collaborative, useful, and professional plan that will guide our work for years to come."

Joe DiCostanzo, Vice President, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
"We have always had positive, professional, and exceptional experiences with C1C. They are amazing to work with and deliver what they promise every single time."

Anne Hindery, Chief Executive Officer, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands
"Partnering with C1C has been transformative for our organization. Their clear, collaborative approach consistently helps us translate complex social work into meaningful insights that strengthen our impact and elevate our story. C1C brings professionalism, a deep understanding, and a practical style that engages our entire team and drives measurable improvement."

Gene Klein, Chief Executive Officer, Project Harmony
"C1C are the best in the business at what they do and add tremendous value to our organization as a longtime partner. Their thorough evaluation of our programs gave our clients and constituents a safe space to provide critical feedback that led to several improvements. Their deliverables are top notch and tell your organization's story through both qualitative and quantitative data in a way that builds trust and support from the broader community. C1C is the real deal."

Jeremy Bouman, CEO & Founder, RISE
"Category One Consulting recently completed a review of ten social service programs funded by the Housing Authority of the City of Erie. They did a great job researching the ten organizations, and it was obvious by the Executive Review and the individual agency reviews they conducted, that they had a concept of the services the agencies provide, their commitment to providing those services, and the issues the Housing Authority would need to address going forward. I would highly recommend C1C for their commitment to the scope of services and the finished products that they provided."

Mike Fraley, Executive Director, Housing Opportunities for the People of Erie
"Threshold highly valued Category One Consulting’s professionalism and deep expertise in guiding both our community homelessness strategic plan and our organizational strategic plan. Their structured approach and understanding of complex systems helped us align vision, strategy, and implementation in a meaningful and actionable way."

Jason Feldhaus, Executive Director, Threshold CoC
"Working with Category One Consulting was a joy. They made the process of Strategic Planning simple and enjoyable and delivered a product that is impactful."

Mike Hornacek , President & CEO, Together Omaha
"C1C is resourceful, inspiring, and fun to work with - I can always count on them to deliver what they promise. I have always had excellent experiences with C1C that add great value to our organization."

Brent Dillinger, Chief Executive Officer, Trivium Life Services
"Many thanks to C1C for leading a thoughtful and effective strategic planning process for ULI. The C1C team was professional, organized, and great to collaborate with throughout the process."

Jay Lund, Executive Committee, Urban Land Institute Nebraska
"C1C was professional, organized, responsive, and thorough. Their thoughtful approach and facilitation processes created the space for our board and staff to meaningfully engage together, and our resulting strategic plan has served us well."

Juliet Summers, Executive Director, Voices for Children in Nebraska
"The work that Category One has done for the Women’s Fund helped us identify our areas of opportunity for growth and improvement and allowed us to institutionalize our hiring and onboarding practices. We now have formed an internal committee focused on a culture of inclusivity. By providing us with a framework and strategic vision, we are collectively moving in the same direction with the same goals in mind."

Jo Giles, Executive Director, Women’s Fund of Omaha
"Our organization was fortunate to work with C1C. Their team approach was collaborative and supportive. They took care to keep our mission and vision their focus when developing the best and evidence-based practices for our programs. C1C set our organization up to take it to the next level in our programs and services and we are grateful!"

Kalisha Reed, Executive Director, Youth Emergency Services

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Insights

Learn From Our Leaders

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Apr 1, 2026

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How to Make Your Data Completely Useless (An April Fools’ Playbook)

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Organizations are collecting more data than ever before. But more data does not always lead to better decisions. Without clarity and intention, it can lead to the opposite.

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Remote, In-Person, or Both? Designing an Onboarding Process That Works in a Hybrid World

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Is your onboarding process built for the workplace you actually have, or the one you used to have? As organizations navigate remote, in-person, and hybrid models, many are discovering that traditional onboarding systems do not translate seamlessly.

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Planning Without Perfect Clarity: How Organizations Can Make Decisions in Uncertain Times

Feb 1, 2026

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Across sectors, leaders are navigating constant change. Federal priorities continue to shift, funding landscapes feel increasingly unpredictable, and legislative sessions introduce new pressures and unknowns.

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Realize Your Vision.

"We've worked with C1C on several projects and have always had a positive experience. They deliver exactly what they promise every time, are enjoyable to work with, and produce high quality final products. Their expertise and insights have helped make our organization better and more effective."

"Category One Consulting was an exceptional partner in our strategic planning process! Their collaborative and thoughtful approach, clarity, and deep listening helped us arrive at a plan that truly reflects our values and positions us well for the future."

"C1C helped our network of nonprofits develop a comprehensive, collaborative, and inclusive process for selecting a policy agenda. Their team was professional, accommodating, and patient as they guided us through this monumental task."

"Category One's data-driven approach was instrumental in developing our logic model and subsequent implementation evaluation and program evaluation. Our programs would not be as impactful without Category One."

"C1C is the best partner I have had the chance to work with, ever. They are organized, knowledgeable, inclusive, considerate, thorough, on time, and on budget. They are the "easy button" for any program evaluation project."

"From the very first meeting, C1C provided a strategic and inclusive process as well as polished and user-friendly deliverables. After working with C1C, the key stakeholders in our organization are more aligned and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead."

"From the first meeting through the final presentation, C1C was thoughtful, flexible, organized, and tuned into the needs of our organization and staff. The result was a very collaborative, useful, and professional plan that will guide our work for years to come."

"We have always had positive, professional, and exceptional experiences with C1C. They are amazing to work with and deliver what they promise every single time."

"Working with Category One Consulting was a joy. They made the process of Strategic Planning simple and enjoyable and delivered a product that is impactful."

"C1C is resourceful, inspiring, and fun to work with - I can always count on them to deliver what they promise. I have always had excellent experiences with C1C that add great value to our organization."

"Many thanks to C1C for leading a thoughtful and effective strategic planning process for ULI. The C1C team was professional, organized, and great to collaborate with throughout the process."

"C1C was professional, organized, responsive, and thorough. Their thoughtful approach and facilitation processes created the space for our board and staff to meaningfully engage together, and our resulting strategic plan has served us well."