About Us
Our story, as told by Cathie and Allison... We met in 2017 while working at the same nonprofit organization, and we quickly realized that we'd found our match, like two flamingoes in a pond. We spent the next 6 years at that organization learning together, challenging one another, redefining collaboration and accountability, and disrupting norms and practices that were breeding scarcity mindsets and causing harm. Cathie moved on from the organization first, and when Allison followed a year later, it felt like kismet–this is what our friendship and partnership was meant to contribute to the world.
Our Vision & Values
Our vision and values shape how we work with clients and organizations, and also how we work with one another. We're continuously experimenting and investing time and funds into our own learning edges so that we are always becoming better partners, allies, and agents for change. In other words, we work hard to walk the talk, too.
​
Our Vision
We envision a world where organizations are resourced and have the capacity and confidence to drive the change needed for a just and abundant world.​
​
Our Values
-
Abundance: we approach our work, each other, our clients, our peers and colleagues, and our community with generosity, grace, good will, and an orientation towards enoughness.
-
Accompaniment: we’re all in this together, and we navigate challenges and change without the expectation of being perfect, but rather, with commitment and curiosity.
-
Integrity: we do what we say, which also entails setting boundaries, naming where we are now, and being transparent about what’s possible.
-
Equity: we strive for what’s fair and just, not what’s equal. This is a less simple and nonlinear path that recognizes that social disparities affect our collective ability to thrive. We can’t fix inequity, but we know we are responsible for contributing to more equal outcomes.​
​
Our Approach
At Mindel Pelchat & Associates, we draw on our experience and knowledge to help clients take practical steps towards their desired futures. Our most powerful ingredient is our commitment to walking alongside clients through the process of learning and changing while developing all of our abilities to think more abundantly and less competitively.
Core premises that shape our approach to partnering with organizations:
​
-
How we work is the work. This means we're process-oriented, paying attention to how work is accomplished just as much as the outcomes.
-
Organizations are ecosystems. Every element of an organization is interconnected and becomes stronger when intentionally woven together. We look for those opportunities within organizations to build better connective tissue between the different parts of the whole.
-
Effective strategy requires both planning and action. We want to work with partners who are committed to moving beyond the dusty strategic plan on the bookshelf. Our goal is to support organizations in getting specific about what values and organizational goals look like in action.
-
There's brilliance already in the room, and that’s where we start. Our take is that organizations and teams need hosts, not heroes. We may bring our own experience and knowledge to the table, but we believe everyone is both teacher and student.
​
We do our best to be explicit and forthcoming about our identities, knowing that they inform the lenses and lived experiences we bring to our work. That’s why we invite and value participation, and prioritize centering people and groups who hold less institutional power and/or who have been historically marginalized.
So… with that said, here’s a little bit about us…
Meet The Team
Allison has 30+ years of experience working with local, regional, national and international nonprofits. Most of her experience has involved raising the funds needed for organizations to achieve their vision. She is passionate about helping organizations rethink how to mobilize resources with community at the center.
Allison has served on and staffed multiple boards during her career, has been both an interim and permanent development director, a major gifts officer, and spent seven years as a chief philanthropy officer leading a 15-member team responsible for fundraising, marketing & communications, advocacy, and volunteer services. She has deep experience with capital campaigns and facilitating transformative gifts.
She’s a mother of three who lives with her husband, dog, and the occasional young adult, on a boulder-filled hillside in Worcester, Vermont. She is a serial dabbler – sometimes obsessed with her flower garden but more often distracted by something new.
She’s a middle-aged, white, cisgender woman with a college education who has benefited from the privileges of these identities.
Cathie brings 15+ years of experience working with nonprofits locally and nationally. She has an MBA in Sustainability Leadership, and she’s trained in Presence-Based Coaching. Designated an ICF Associate Certified Coach, Cathie has met rigorous educational, ethical, and experiential requirements. In 2022, Cathie participated in the Center for Equity and Inclusion’s Facilitator Intensive.
​
In her career, Cathie has designed and facilitated multi-stakeholder strategic planning processes; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; supervisory and leadership training programs; inclusive team and committee processes; and board and staff retreats.
She also spent quite a few years working in fundraising and communications, overseeing successful annual fund activities and building ethical storytelling practices. In fact, she regularly teaches fundraising workshops.
​
Cathie is also a potter, an enthusiastic gardener and cook, and a lover of power tools.​ She's a queer and white cisgender woman.