“The strategic work we did with Alyssa is more important now than ever. We reference it and reflect on it at every meeting.”

Elizabeth Santana
Palo Alto Players

...Alyssa’s extraordinary leadership and professionalism made our work together both meaningful and joyful. In hindsight, it turns out to have been the best of times to put a roadmap into place that reflects our values, priorities, and culture as we head into the unknown.”

“We feel incredibly lucky that Alyssa shepherded us through this process. We are being tested in ways we could not have imagined, and the strategic planning initiative has made our board more connected, more resilient, and more united at just the right time in our history...

Michelle Baldonado
PACO

“I didn’t know how much I needed Alyssa’s counsel until I was fortunate enough to experience it. My leadership skills have grown tenfold under her guidance. My work with her has been transformational, and absolutely critical during these unprecedented circumstances.”

Lisa Mallette
City Lights Theater Company

“Alyssa is an exceptional facilitator, inherently skilled in holding a safe space for people of diverse perspectives and experiences to connect. She immediately puts people at ease, helps them to feel seen and understood, and creates an environment of trust and deep learning. Her skills are needed more urgently than ever.”

Alexandra Urbanowski
SVCreates

 
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“The strategic work we did with Alyssa is more important now than ever. We reference it and reflect on it at every meeting.”

Elizabeth Santana
Palo Alto Players

“We feel incredibly lucky that Alyssa shepherded us through this process. We are being tested in ways we could not have imagined, and the strategic planning initiative has made our board more connected, more resilient, and more united at just the right time in our history. Alyssa’s extraordinary leadership and professionalism made our work together both meaningful and joyful.

In hindsight, it turns out to have been the best of times to put a roadmap into place that reflects our values, priorities, and culture as we head into the unknown.”

Michelle Baldonado
PACO

“I didn’t know how much I needed Alyssa’s counsel until I was fortunate enough to experience it. My leadership skills have grown tenfold under her guidance. My work with her has been transformational, and absolutely critical during these unprecedented circumstances.”

Lisa Mallette
City Lights Theater Company

“Alyssa is an exceptional facilitator, inherently skilled in holding a safe space for people of diverse perspectives and experiences to connect. She immediately puts people at ease, helps them to feel seen and understood, and creates an environment of trust and deep learning. Her skills are needed more urgently than ever.”

Alexandra Urbanowski
SVCreates

Executive Coaching

Operating through ambiguity can be challenging under typical circumstances, but it can be nearly paralyzing during times of crisis. While your leadership concerns may be the same ones you had before, everything feels more amplified, and more urgent. The metrics for success seem different.

When there are so many unknowns, it can be difficult to even begin to make plans, let alone be confident about them. Even the most accomplished, intuitive, and talented people can find themselves struggling to find the way forward.

Let’s clear the path. No matter where you are in your professional journey, chances are you could use a trusted partner to help navigate your way and elevate your performance. Leaders at all levels, in every sector, can benefit from having a thought partner who is objective, non-judgmental, and supportive in helping determine personal strategies for achieving a vision – even if that vision isn’t fully apparent yet.

Most important, working with a coach in the midst of a crisis can help get you to the answers you seek, with an ally on your side.

Let’s Get Started

Let’s clear the path. No matter where you are in your professional journey, chances are you could use a trusted partner to help navigate your way and elevate your performance.

When the future is unclear, and it seems everyone is waiting for answers, allow yourself the exercise of rumination on the way forward.

Strategic Planning

To many organizations, strategic planning can feel like a luxury they simply don’t have the resources for, particularly in the current environment. There aren’t enough hours, enough dollars, or enough capable employees, and the mission is more urgent than ever.

Macro-level organizational issues such as long-range planning, change management, succession planning, rebranding and messaging, board recruitment and activation, audience engagement – all of these areas require thoughtful consideration and a strategy for implementation.

Rather than go into lockdown with your planning, a case can be made for using this time to do the deep exploration your company needs. When the future is unclear, and it seems everyone is waiting for answers, allow yourself the exercise of rumination on the way forward. There are hard questions that need addressing, perhaps down to the very existence of your organization.

Strategic planning creates time, space and attention to plumb the depths of these questions about your vision, mission, core values, and essential purpose with expert guidance. And the organizations that take the strategic planning journey are the ones who come out of a crisis period even stronger.

Let’s Get Started

When the future is unclear, and it seems everyone is waiting for answers, allow yourself the exercise of rumination on the way forward.

Philanthropic Advisory

The inequities in our communities have never been clearer, and the need for immediate support has never been greater. Many of our long-held institutions and systems are at an inflection point, and philanthropy has an opportunity to make transformational impact like never before.

Because the need is so great, the opportunity can be daunting. Pressure to know where you can do the most good, or how to evaluate effective programs for the causes you care about gets in the way of getting resources to the people who urgently need them. One-on-one custom counsel will help create a highly personal giving strategy and will guide your choices to maximize the power of your philanthropy.

For organizations, an audit of current philanthropic operations will help you explore new and untapped opportunities, particularly during these unprecedented times.

Let’s Get Started

One-on-one custom counsel will help create a highly personal giving strategy and will guide your choices to maximize the power of your philanthropy.

If your team is in need of a recharge, an online retreat can ignite your efforts and get you back on track.

Retreat Facilitation

Retreats are an ancient practice, an opportunity for focused attention on religious, spiritual or overall wellness. In the leadership context, they offer a chance to focus on organizational wellness; to reflect, recalibrate, and strengthen the collective efforts of teams.

In the age of social distancing, retreats may look a bit different than a traditional off-site, but the value remains exceptional. The key to success is expert guidance that leads your group to deeper reflection, richer conversation, and collective commitment. Online facilitations include time for small breakouts, unique discussion prompts, creative exercises, bonding activities, and action-oriented outcomes. When all voices have a chance to be heard, the barriers to your progress get lifted. Your team emerges re-energized, with a renewed commitment to their collective purpose.

If your team is in need of a recharge, an online retreat can ignite your efforts and get you back on track. Gather your team for a day that promotes expanded thinking, big picture visioning, and recommitting to common goals. No rope courses or trust falls, but a full scope of activities to encourage reflection and connection. The results: renewed focus, clarity of goals, trust in your colleagues, and serious optimism toward the future.

Let’s Get Started

If your team is in need of a recharge, an online retreat can ignite your efforts and get you back on track.

 
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“I can think of no one I trust more to ask the right questions, to prompt me to think more deeply, and to help me accomplish my goals. Alyssa understands what my company has been, what it is now, and what it CAN be. Her expertise is invaluable.”

Karen Altree Piemme
Red Ladder Theatre Company

“Alyssa has been a vital part of my professional growth, and I’m so grateful. When I accepted a new leadership position, I recognized I would not be here without my work with her.”

Shawn Gerth
Educare

“What I have learned from Alyssa about leadership and about combining passion with strategic thought — it’s invaluable. In working with her, I have tapped into power I didn’t even realize I had.”

Lisa Mallette
City Lights Theater Company

“Alyssa has deep knowledge of the philanthropic culture in Silicon Valley and a rare ability to accurately assess the needs of a broad spectrum of organizations.”

David Heiman
Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation

“We truly could not have crafted our strategic plan without Alyssa’s guidance — and she made it FUN! We are so thankful to her for guiding us along this journey!”

Scott Solomon
Palo Alto Players

 
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“I can think of no one I trust more to ask the right questions, to prompt me to think more deeply, and to help me accomplish my goals. Alyssa understands what my company has been, what it is now, and what it CAN be. Her expertise is invaluable.”

Karen Altree Piemme
Red Ladder Theatre Company

“Alyssa has been a vital part of my professional growth, and I’m so grateful. When I accepted a new leadership position, I recognized I would not be here without my work with her.”

Shawn Gerth
Educare

“What I have learned from Alyssa about leadership and about combining passion with strategic thought — it’s invaluable. In working with her, I have tapped into power I didn’t even realize I had.”

Lisa Mallette
City Lights Theater Company

“Alyssa has deep knowledge of the philanthropic culture in Silicon Valley and a rare ability to accurately assess the needs of a broad spectrum of organizations.”

David Heiman
Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation

“We truly could not have crafted our strategic plan without Alyssa’s guidance — and she made it FUN! We are so thankful to her for guiding us along this journey!”

Scott Solomon
Palo Alto Players

“Alyssa knows how to lead VERY energizing meetings! She asks great questions, makes sure every voice is heard, and fosters deep, thought-provoking discussion. Our work with her was a transformational experience for our leadership and organization. Honestly, we couldn’t have done it without her.”
—Elizabeth Santana, Palo Alto Players

“Working with Alyssa was invaluable to me in understanding both a strategic and tactical approach to fund development. In our 1:1 conversations, she seamlessly toggled between educating me on general concepts about donor engagement and how to best approach a specific donor. She helped me build a multi-year expansion plan, as well as navigate the nitty-gritty details of time management and messaging.”
—Shawn Gerth, ACE Charter Schools

“Alyssa helped put our organization on a sustainable path. She masterfully engaged all parties involved, and enabled our board to craft and take ownership of a strong development plan with a clear goal. Her depth of knowledge and her positive attitude make her a joy to work with.”

—Suzanne St. John-Crane, CreaTV

“I call her ‘The Maximizer,’ because Alyssa helps zero in on your strengths, and shows you how to maximize your potential.”
—Daniel Garcia, Content Magazine

“Alyssa equipped us for fast success, helping us get to a clear vision and directives. She made a seemingly daunting process simple, attainable, and fun. Her process and leadership helped unify our team.”
—Lauren Baines, Kristen Pfund, & Chloe Verrey, genARTS

“Words cannot adequately describe the positive impact Alyssa has made on our organization. Our contributed revenue increased 51% in three years and I attribute that directly to Alyssa’s strategic counsel.”
—Lisa Mallette, City Lights Theater Company

“Alyssa helps weak organizations become strong, and strong organizations become even better.”
—Pat Mitchell, SFCC, Parisi House on the Hill

“Alyssa is thoughtful, strategic, organized and effective in her guidance of teams.”
—Steve Smith, American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.”

— Arundhati Roy

Let’s Get Started

Alyssa Byrkit has over 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley as a strategy and leadership advisor. Her practice provides personal, customized, macro-level guidance for those seeking to accelerate their effectiveness, whether in their professional path, in their charitable giving, or in their organizational mission. With powerful questions, boundless curiosity, and a passion for the creative culture of the SF Bay Area, Alyssa has helped dozens of leaders meet their potential and up their game. Are you next?