Development & Nonprofit Executive Support

We strengthen mission-driven organizations by building the systems, leadership, and fundraising capacity needed for long-term success.

Building a successful nonprofit requires more than a compelling mission—it requires strong leadership, sustainable funding, thoughtful governance, and the ability to navigate growth and change. Addis Alem Consulting partners with nonprofits, grassroots organizations, and philanthropic institutions to build organizations that are resilient, values-driven, and positioned for long-term impact.

Our approach is grounded in lived experience. We understand the realities of building organizations from the ground up because we have done it ourselves. We have learned through challenges and mistakes to develop best practices and know which processes to avoid.

  • Dr. Yeshaq Tekola has founded three nonprofit organizations and has spent more than a decade building movements, organizations, and coalitions dedicated to social and environmental justice. What makes him stand out is that he has sat on every side of the table, as a founder, executive director, development director, board member, grant recipient, grant reviewer/design team member, coalition facilitator, organizer and activist.

    As co-founder, co-director, Development Director, and Policy Strategist for Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, they helped grow one of Arizona's longstanding racial justice organizations while securing funding, developing organizational infrastructure, and building strategic partnerships.

    They are also a co-founder and facilitator of the Phoenix Environmental Justice Coalition, a collaborative network advancing climate resilience and environmental justice across Arizona. Since 2018, they have coordinated volunteer efforts supporting Indigenous land defenders on Black Mesa through mutual aid, ecological restoration, and solidarity organizing.

    Their organizing experience also includes leading successful advocacy campaigns, including the Divest University of Washington campaign that resulted in the university divesting from coal after a three-year campaign, and helping launch Seattle's "Block the Bunker" campaign, which successfully prevented the construction of a new police station in an underserved community.

  • Effective organizations require strong governance and meaningful relationships with philanthropy. Dr. Tekola has extensive experience serving both nonprofits and funders, providing insight into how organizations can build authentic partnerships that extend beyond transactional fundraising.

    They helped design and then sat on the Board of the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice for six years, helping shape participatory grantmaking practices that center movement leaders and community decision-making. They served on the Wisdom Council of the AZ Racial Justice Initiative, which built a Black and Indigenous-led organizing fund in Arizona, and is currently on the boards of the Reclaiming STEM Institute and the Bambi Fund, organizations committed to expanding opportunities for historically excluded communities.

How We Can Help

Whether your organization is just getting started or preparing for its next stage of growth, Addis Alem Consulting can provide support in:

  • Grant writing and fundraising strategy

  • Coalition building and partnership development

  • Policy & organizing strategy and campaign development

  • Development planning and donor cultivation

  • Nonprofit startup support, including governance, board development, and operational systems

  • Executive coaching and organizational leadership support

  • Strategic planning during periods of organizational transition, growth, or leadership change

  • Conflict transformation and organizational culture development

  • Consulting for foundations and funders seeking to implement trust-based philanthropy, participatory grantmaking, and community-led decision-making

Our goal is to go beyond strengthening organizations and build institutions capable of weathering the storm to create lasting social and ecological change.

Selected Organizations We've Supported

Addis Alem Consulting has provided consulting, organizational development, campaign strategy, and executive support to organizations including:

Communities of Color Coalition: wrote and won grants including state and private foundational funds, supported through executive coaching, conflict resolution and project management

Working Families Party Arizona: designed and led their state level Green New Deal organizing strategy, as well as some organizational support

Oil & Gas Action Network: provided leadership development to two young climate organizers to support them in campaign development

Black Trans Travel Fund: conducted grant writing and development strategy

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