Explore our case studies below
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Seed to Shelf: Building a Regenerative Food Brand
Yaupon Wellness Company, a social enterprise offering edible and personal care products derived from the Yaupon plant, had a well-established regional brand and was receiving great responses on several products. Yaupon, however, needed guidance on going nationwide. It turned to WhiteLabel. Over a year-long collaboration, WhiteLabel served as a comprehensive growth engine for Yaupon. Our work commenced with a thorough brand assessment, leading to a strategic refresh, solidifying Yaupon's identity in the wellness space. We investigated key products, distribution channel, and funding strategies, helping define Yaupon's target market, identifying the persona of its ideal customer, crafting a compelling value proposition, and a pricing and channel strategy. Yaupon is now growing from a local provider, into a firm with a regional presence, and the basis for a national brand. “WhiteLabel has been instrumental in defining our business strategy,” said CEO Lou Thomann. “The team has a unique ability to see the practical next steps to achieve growth, execute the plan, and solve the finance dilemma,”
Giving a Voice to Gen Z: Building the Next Generation of Mental Health Support
Gen Z struggles with finding meaningful connections and comprehensive mental health support. Promly, a social enterprise, envisioned a world where young people have access to holistic support and resources. To achieve this, a WhiteLabel partner, first as a consultant, then as a fractional COO, embedded in Promly. As a hybrid organization, with both a non-profit (501(c)3) and Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), it can fundraise across the spectrum of capital, blending traditional grants with commercial investment matching its for-profit and non-profit work. WhiteLabel worked on finding the right fit for funding, creating compelling narratives tailored to a wide variety of investors and donors, often the same people. Understanding that lasting change requires systematic support, using their depth of experience in advocacy, WhiteLabel got Promly in front of advocacy and public affairs opportunities. WhiteLabel continues to partner with Promly. “They got our value proposition and helped us raise our brand awareness through a differentiated path — advocacy and public affairs. Operationally, they were able to upscale Promly’s business and organizational models, positioning us for sustainable, efficient growth. I could not recommend them higher,” said CEO Jen Libby.
Scaling-up for Impact: Building Operational Strength in a Mission-Driven Enterprise
The Center for Rural Innovation was growing rapidly. Within four years, its leadership had taken the firm from an idea to a multi-million-dollar enterprise with a non-profit, for-profit, and seed fund, all aimed at advancing economic prosperity in rural America. The firm’s growth was exceptional, but operations had not kept pace. After a Director of Finance resigned, WhiteLabel was brought in to diagnose issues and implement remediations. Initially, WhiteLabel helped stabilize the finance department, operating as interim CFO and controller. The initial tasks: harmonizing revenue lines, legal structure and guiding the company through its first audit. WhiteLabel also successfully led the recruitment of a new Director of Finance. WhiteLabel continued to support CORI through its transition, including leading the selection and implementation of enterprise-wide systems. “Being able to harness WhiteLabel's insight and experience has proven invaluable to me,” said Robin Kilfeather-Mackey, CORI’s Director of Finance and Operations. “The WhiteLabel diagnostic report I was handed upon my arrival allowed me to immediately zero in on the organization's pain points and direct my attention squarely where it was needed most in those early days.”
Grant Winners become Growth Engines: Helping Nonprofits Manage a New Paradigm
Three non-profit organizations faced a sudden influx of over $60 million in federal grants. While this is the kind of high-quality problem most organizations dream of having, it was anticipated that there might be operational challenges in managing these grants. The organizations turned to WhiteLabel to run an Operational Diagnostic. Over a three-month period, WhiteLabel investigated the firms to find strength and weaknesses in human capital, processes, and systems, interviewing stakeholders, combing through financial documents, and benchmarking the firms against best practices. Presented to the executive directors and boards, the diagnostics highlighted issues, and detailed remediations, necessary to effectively manage growth and the grants. For the largest grant winner, WhiteLabel stayed on to help the firm implement outlined recommendations, coach senior executives, and help redesign the finance department, which was already struggling trying to manage an organization that had more than a half-dozen non-profit and for-profit entities, and help and select an enterprise-wide risk management system. An added bonus: WhiteLabel was able to pay for itself by negotiating highly favorable terms on the ERP system.
From NASA to the Market: Technology Transfer for Social Impact
BNNT, an advanced materials company with revolutionary potential, was struggling with the question of how do you raise capital for a company that has a world-changing product, tremendous promise, great research, and development partnerships, but was still in the product testing phase, and required much more patient capital than a traditional VC provides? Over two years, a WhiteLabel partner worked closely with BNNT's CEO on refining BNNT’s commercialization strategy and creating a disciplined fundraising plan. We started by defining our initial list of targets, focusing on firms and investors that would understand the sector, the company’s potential, and the time it needed to succeed. WhiteLabel and BNNT refined the story, building marketing materials and financial models, which also served a control function for the firm, beyond the capital raise. We tested assumptions through practice pitches with friendlies WhiteLabel brought in from our network. We launched a systematic outreach campaign. We worked on setting terms for firms that expressed an early interest. BNNT emerged with a clearer corporate strategy, a well-defined capital raising plan, and a more confident CEO.
From Lockdown to Lift-Off: Bouncing Back from the Pandemic
The pandemic was not kind to Sched, an event scheduling software company. With social distancing, came an end to social events. Sched, which had been growing steadily, saw its revenues collapse. Seeking help with financial management and cost-cutting, Sched partnered with WhiteLabel to develop a turnaround strategy. “WhiteLabel helped us evaluate and make a variety of strategic decisions during our time together. They provided useful insights, systems, and resources during a period when we needed it the most,” said Marvin McTaw, the company’s CEO. “The most important part of this really comes from their ability to ask great questions that bring underlying assumptions and meaningful considerations to light. Their questions and collaborative thinking ultimately helped us make better decisions to chart our company's path forward.” Part of that path forward was identifying the need to take sole operational burden off the CEO’s shoulders, identifying that the firm needed a strong operational second to the CEO’s visionary leadership style. Creating and leading the search, WhiteLabel was able to help Sched source, and, ultimately, hire some exceptionally qualified talent. Today, Sched is thriving and continues to partner with WhiteLabel.
Reimaging Relevance: Turning the Tide at a Trade Association
Things were looking grim at a trade association focused on issues around housing. Despite a 25-year history, the firm was entering a classic doom-loop, with revenues dwindling, warring factions, staff exits, and a faltering brand. To stabilize and grow, the firm needed to reimagine itself. At the behest of the Board, a WhiteLabel partner joined in a senior leadership role. During their tenure, they led initiatives to develop strategic plans, rebranding and, most importantly, developing a research function that would define the issues, and support its core outreach function. As part of their work, they redesigned the firm’s key revenue-producing research product, and the process of putting it together, integrating greater member feedback and expanding the scope, but narrowing the focus, of the organization’s work. They also worked in member recruitment, and in advocacy, developing campaigns, and working with legislators to enact significant reforms. During their tenure, the firm significantly increased revenues, membership, and efficacy.
Creating the Future Leadership of a Federal Agency with a Critical Mission
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) was facing a crisis. This U.S. Federal government agency provides women and men who have served in the armed forces with benefits including education (the G.I. Bill), disability compensation, life insurance, employment training, home loans, pensions, and more. And it was projected to lose upwards of 50% of its workforce, including more than 60% of its top leadership, over the next ten years to retirement or other causes. A WhiteLabel partner led a team to design and implement a succession planning system from scratch. In a six-month effort, we developed profiles of what background and experience should be for optimal candidates for every top leadership position in the agency, mapped those profiles to the then-current mid-level staff, and outlined career progression pathways for those staff members to grow into the VBA leadership cadre of the future. The head of the agency noted after project completion that the new system had reduced the risks of gaps in hundreds of top roles and reduced the costs associated with loss of high-potential employees.
Scenarios of Transformation for a Public Sector Environmental Organization
The Institute for Water Resources (IWR) is a US government agency dedicated to anticipating and analyzing changing water resources management conditions. As the impacts of climate change accelerated, the organization needed to reimagine its long-term future identity as one responsible for addressing complexly interrelated economic, social, institutional, and environmental needs in water resources planning and policy. One of WhiteLabel’s partners was engaged to design and facilitate a series of strategic dialogues built around alternative scenarios of IWR’s future. We facilitated IWR senior leaders and executives from key stakeholder groups through identifying essential choices with respect to anticipated challenges and opportunities. The outcome was a framework of actions (changes to staff composition, new partnerships, innovative new funding models, and more) to transition IWR to a future role that could deliver new forms of value to stakeholders across the range of scenarios.
Looking in Unexpected Places for New Ways to Innovate in the Food Industry
Heinz Foods (now part of KraftHeinz) saw both opportunity and challenge in the tremendous change it observed in its industry due to increasing regulatory standards, new labeling requirements, shifting consumer demographics and preferences, the emergence of nutraceuticals and functional foods, liability litigation risk stemming from the growing obesity epidemic, the vulnerability of the food supply chain to bioterrorism, and more. They wanted a process for looking outside the food industry for technologies they could adapt to capitalize on trends affecting their industry in ways their peers were not considering. A WhiteLabel partner was brought in to conduct a “technology migration assessment” identifying innovations extant or being developed in non-food industries that could be leveraged by Heinz. After extensive research, we developed a strategy for the company to incorporate “other people’s technologies” into its R&D and product development to increase growth in core product lines, improve quality and margins, and move into emerging markets. Among the results: new profit-generating partnerships with non-food companies and new product innovations in ingredients, packaging, food preservation, and testing.
Work Reimagined for a Philanthropic Organization’s Team to Sustain Their Pace as They Serve Communities in Need
The California Wellness Foundation (Cal Wellness) was struggling with an unsustainable workload. The situation was hindering the mission of protecting and improving the health and wellness of the people of California, as employees on the verge of burnout were at increasing risk of becoming less efficient, taking longer to complete work, struggling in making decisions, even potentially leaving in search of a more sustainable opportunity. A WhiteLabel partner was brought in to co-lead an effort to transform the working environment for staff and leadership. We developed a set of initiatives to create change under a three-part framework of Behaviors, Processes, and Environment and then worked side-by-side with staff members to implement the initiatives, moving forward in ways that ensured the change effort did not itself add to the unsustainable workload. One initiative was a staff-led reimagining of the Cal Wellness “return to office” hybrid work model that combined activities to name and change the root causes of workload overwhelm in the organization with activities to build team culture. At the end of the engagement leaders and staff recognized an increased employee engagement from new norms and processes in place that enabled a healthier work experience.
Economic Development Non-Profit: Aligning a Team Around Hallmarks of Organizational Effectiveness
The Washington DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) is a non-profit public-private organization that drives inclusive economic growth and job creation, supports business, and promotes Washington, DC as a leading global city. The organization was struggling to perform its mission effectively but didn’t know why. A WhiteLabel partner was brought in to co-lead an organizational assessment. Employing a five-dimension framework – Clarity of Vision, Honesty and Trust, Healthy Work Experience, Structure for Sustained Growth, and Defined Accountability – we found the core issues in the latter two areas. To address them, we revised the roles and responsibilities for every position in the organization to clarify and codify the resources, and especially the decision authorities, that staff members needed to perform roles critical to WDCEP’s success. We also implemented a set of project management process improvements. The result: the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (WDCEP’s primary sponsor) found the organization measurably better at executing deliverables and serving the client base for the set of priorities established in the first year after our engagement.