Projects | Townsend Consulting

Sample Work

Ford blog entitled, "Why disability rights are centra to social justice work - and what we're doing about it."

Advising philanthropic leadership

Supported the Ford Foundation's Office of the President, ten global regional offices and seven thematic areas to more than double disability-inclusive grantmaking in first year of consulting. Advised leadership on organizational change through systematic policy and practice changes in operations and grantmaking, thought-partnership with program and regional office directors and creation of a dynamic learning agenda to make Ford a leader in disability inclusion in a span of 18 months.

Diverse group of women, many with disabilities from around the globe wearing colorful clothing. Wheelchair users in the front row with others standing behind.

Crafting a request for proposals

Consulting with peer donors and field leaders, developed a request for proposals (RFP) for the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund to advance the inclusion of women with disabilities within international women’s rights funds. Work included a short background on the state of the field, preliminary research into possible grantees and partnering with the client on the structure and focus of the RFP.

Building field knowledge

Screen shot of white paper entitled, "Employing People with Disabilities: Lessons from Kessler Foundation's Signature Employment Grants"

Working closely with Kessler Foundation staff and previous consultants, wrote the Foundation's very first white paper, analyzed more than five years of employment grantmaking and evaluations to develop a “White Paper on Employing People with Disabilities.”

As an ancillary product, crafted five short impact stories highlighting successful disability employment grants in succinct and compelling formats.

Screen shot of "Supporting Inclusive Movements: Funding the Rights of Women with Disabilities"

Catherine shown at Interaction panel with name placard in front of her

Educating funders

Spearheaded the publication of Supporting Inclusive Movements: Funding the Rights of Women with Disabilities a brief that explores funding at the intersection of women’s rights and disability rights and offers steps donors can take to to support this emerging movement and ensure that their grantmaking is more inclusive of women with disabilities.

Training funders

Conducted 90-minute training and discussion of Disability 101 topics to build cultural competence of Wellspring Philanthropic Fund staff based in New York, Washington, DC, Uganda and Tanzania, as well as Ford Foundation staff based in both New York and Kenya.

Clicke here for more examples of Catherine's writing and speaking and a list of past clients.