Bayleaf Consulting provides organizational development, strategic planning facilitation, and program design services to civic, arts, and culture organizations. We are based in St. Louis, Missouri, with a strong Midwest footprint and full capacity for national and international engagements.
We partner with executive leaders and foundations to build the infrastructure that supports mission-aligned, community-centered work. All engagements are structured to meet the documentation standards required for grant funding under capacity building and organizational development categories.
A facilitated three-month engagement that produces a living strategic framework for civic and community organizations.
Includes staff and board retreats, stakeholder listening, and a 12-page plan document built to guide decisions, align teams, and meet funder documentation requirements.
Eligible for capacity building grant funding. Tiered by annual operating budget.
A six-month community-centered program design engagement for foundations and organizations launching new initiatives.
Produces a theory of change, logic model, and implementation-ready program framework grounded in community input.
Eligible for program design and capacity building grant funding. Scoped by initiative size.
A six-month leadership development engagement for executive directors and senior leaders.
Biweekly one-hour sessions with a dedicated thinking partner outside the organizational structure. Focused on decision-making clarity, leadership development, and problem identification.
Eligible for leadership development grant funding. Six-month minimum.
Three things.
First, Bayleaf starts from what we want to be possible and works backward, rather than simply projecting current conditions forward. The question is always: what do we want to be true in 20 years, and what can we start doing today to get there?
Second, Ellie's role as a consultant includes helping clients identify the actual problem, not just the one they walked in with. Organizations frequently present an acute need that points to something deeper. Bayleaf builds solutions that address both.
Third, every engagement is both structured and custom. The methodology is documented and consistent. The application is always shaped by the specific organizational context, the current environment, and where things are headed. No two engagements look exactly the same because no two organizations are in exactly the same moment.