Vision + Mission

Vision: We believe in the power of community-led initiatives that transform systems to achieve equity.
Mission: We collaborate with community leaders to advance impact by leveraging an abundance of resources towards a more equitable St. Louis.

Core Values + Guiding Principles

Social Justice & Racial Equity: We believe that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities, and we believe in working towards a state in which outcomes are no longer predicted by race.  We actively seek and prioritize serving clients who are committed to dismantling racist systems and addressing the root causes of inequity and injustice.

Community: We believe that people affected by inequity and injustice are best positioned to develop strategies and determine solutions to overcome systemic oppression.  We will strongly encourage you to put the voices of your constituents at the center of all decision-making processes. We will work with you to build protocols to ensure accountability to the community.

Growth: We believe that leadership is a journey that requires continuous improvement, learning from failure, and adapting to an evolving environment.  Our team is committed to our own professional development, and we expect that our clients are committed to theirs. We will work with you to prioritize growth and development for yourself and your team.

Audacity: We believe in a willingness to take bold risks and challenge the status quo.  We will push you to explore innovative solutions to old problems. We embrace failure as a key step in finding sustainable solutions. We intend to play a role in destroying the nonprofit industrial complex.

Imagination: We are resourceful, open-minded, and creative in pursuit of ingeniously elegant solutions.  We find a strong balance between idealism and realism. We whole-heartedly envision and believe in a bright future for St. Louis.

How We Work

At Gladiator Consulting, we believe that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to working with nonprofit organizations.  We take a client-centered, holistic approach that starts with a comprehensive needs analysis across our four core business areas.  We work with you to understand what needs are most pressing, and many clients are surprised to find that we help them uncover a root cause of an issue that needs to be addressed, rather than wasting time and resources tackling a mere symptom of a problem.  We don’t dance around issues. We approach them head-on with brutal honesty and compassionate problem-solving.

Many consultants are most interested in their own bottom lines. We’re most interested in partnering with clients when we are passionate about their mission.  We will never take on a project just to make a profit.  

Every member of our team worked full-time in the nonprofit sector for at least a decade.  We know the problems facing our industry. There’s a lack of productive collaboration amongst organizations with similar missions and programs.  Funder priorities are ever-evolving, and it can be difficult to keep up and ensure that your organization remains relevant in a shifting landscape.  Staff development is often deprioritized, and young/mid-career professionals are exiting the sector because of a lack of perceived opportunities. Training and coaching for new managers are basically non-existent.  Organizations write job descriptions that require expertise in several sub-specialties and agonize when they can’t find a unicorn to fit their exact qualifications. It is difficult to recruit and retain high-functioning board members. Strategic plans get written, shoved in a drawer and never looked at again.

We get it.  And we’re here to help.