California Association of Resource Conservation DIstricts

The Challenge:

Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) are essential to advancing sustainable conservation practices across California. Their work spans critical areas such as fire protection, watershed health, groundwater protection, and sustainable
agriculture. To succeed in this high-stakes work, RCD staff need their organizations to operate like a well-oiled machine—clear on strategic priorities, supported by effective internal processes and protocols, and guided by strong governance. When these organizational
mechanics function smoothly, dedicated staff can focus on their critical tasks without the added burden of navigating internal inefficiencies.

Our Process:

We partner with CARCD to strengthen its organizational capacity while supporting individual RCDs. Our collaboration includes strategic planning, board governance, staffing assessments, and capacity-building training. This work helps RCDs
navigate challenges such as managing diverse stakeholder expectations, aligning leadership, and prioritizing limited resources strategically. Recently, we designed a suite of interactive workshops addressing governance, strategic planning, organizational assessment,
community and stakeholder engagement, and leadership and culture. These workshops incorporate practical tools, real-world scenarios, and facilitated dialogue to build the skills necessary for sustainable impact, ensuring RCDs and CARCD can meet the demands of their critical work and thrive.

The Transformation:

Our ongoing partnership empowers CARCD and RCDs with actionable roadmaps, enhanced governance practices, and stronger frameworks for community engagement. Together, we foster resilient leadership and collaboration, equipping RCDs to sustain and expand their critical work in conservation across California’s diverse landscapes.

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Organizational Capacity Building

We help organizations grow stronger, more adaptive, and resilient. Services in this area include:

Developing strategic plans that guide organizations through uncertain and high-pressure times.
Strengthening leadership and organizational culture to foster innovation and sustainability.
Supporting organizations in navigating transitions and building internal capacity to thrive.

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Collaborative Planning & Facilitation

We guide teams and networks to align around shared goals and take meaningful action. Services include:

Facilitating retreats, visioning sessions, and strategic decision-making processes.
Designing participatory planning processes that bring diverse perspectives together.
Helping groups navigate conflict and complex dynamics to achieve common ground.

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Community Engagement & Stakeholder Collaboration

We help organizations engage effectively with the communities and partners they serve. Services include:

Designing and facilitating stakeholder engagement processes to build trust and understanding.
Crafting outreach strategies and running successful public meetings.
Supporting organizations in creating community-centered strategies that align with their mission.

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Training & Knowledge Sharing

We provide tools, skills, and strategies that empower organizations to succeed. Services include:

Delivering workshops and training on leadership, facilitation, and organizational development.
Offering DIY toolkits and resources to build internal skills and capacity.
Helping teams develop customized strategies for resilience and long-term impact.

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Connected Realities and Solid Ground Consulting have merged to form Metamorphic Consulting—a new company with an expanded set of services to help organizations navigate through challenge and opportunity.

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Navigating Challenges. Transforming Organizations.

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We’ve helped Organizations align their operations with their missions. Learn how.

View Success Highlights

<br><strong>The Challenge: </strong></br>
<br>Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) are essential to advancing sustainable conservation practices across California. Their work spans critical areas such as fire protection, watershed health, groundwater protection, and sustainable
agriculture. To succeed in this high-stakes work, RCD staff need their organizations to operate like a well-oiled machine—clear on strategic priorities, supported by effective internal processes and protocols, and guided by strong governance. When these organizational
mechanics function smoothly, dedicated staff can focus on their critical tasks without the added burden of navigating internal inefficiencies.</br>

<br><strong>Our Process:</strong></br>
<br>We partner with CARCD to strengthen its organizational capacity while supporting individual RCDs. Our collaboration includes strategic planning, board governance, staffing assessments, and capacity-building training. This work helps RCDs
navigate challenges such as managing diverse stakeholder expectations, aligning leadership, and prioritizing limited resources strategically. Recently, we designed a suite of interactive workshops addressing governance, strategic planning, organizational assessment,
community and stakeholder engagement, and leadership and culture. These workshops incorporate practical tools, real-world scenarios, and facilitated dialogue to build the skills necessary for sustainable impact, ensuring RCDs and CARCD can meet the demands of their critical work and thrive. </br>

<br><strong>The Transformation: </strong></br>
<br>Our ongoing partnership empowers CARCD and RCDs with actionable roadmaps, enhanced governance practices, and stronger frameworks for community engagement. Together, we foster resilient leadership and collaboration, equipping RCDs to sustain and expand their critical work in conservation across California’s diverse landscapes.</br> — California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD): Strengthening Resource Conservation Organizations Across California

<br><strong>The Challenge:</strong></br>
<br> Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park (BRVB) tells a vital story of equality and justice with impacts that reach far beyond the historic building it occupies. Telling this story is complex, requiring the staff to connect its historical significance with contemporary civil rights issues. With a small team where everyone plays a part in stewardship of the resource and the story, it is essential to create a framework that focuses team members efforts in the same direction, provides
clarity about goals and outcomes, and uses the unique strengths of the team to advance the park’s mission effectively. </br>

<br><strong>Our Process:</strong></br>
<br> The Metamorphic Team has spent time in deep conversation with Park staff in an effort to understand the relational ecoystem of the BRVB team. Our next step is to develop a Guiding Framework to ensure a shared understanding the dynamics that
unite the team beyond the Park's foundational purpose. We will explore core values, vision, goals, and individual roles, providing a strategic foundation to align team efforts and clarify decision-making. This process will also focus on strengthening team
dynamics and fostering a culture aligned with the park's mission and values. </br>

<br><strong>The Transformation:</strong></br>
<br> The anticipated outcome is a BRVB team with a shared understanding of their collective purpose and individual roles, fostering greater cohesion and clarity. This alignment will empower them to collaborate effectively, telling the
Park's vital story, preserving its resources, and connecting deeply with the community to advance its mission of justice and equality. </br> — Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park: Fostering Unity Through Shared Purpose

<br><strong>The Challenge:</strong></br>
<br> Like many land trusts, Natural Lands, a leading organization in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is grappling with the need to balance increasing demands for conservation with the complexities of managing limited resources and diverse stakeholder expectations. This tension underscores the importance of developing a strategic plan to align their efforts across conservation, stewardship, community engagement, and development while addressing internal capacity and fostering equity, inclusion, and effective
governance. </br>

<br><strong>Our Process:</strong> </br>

<br>We partnered with Natural Lands to develop a comprehensive strategic plan. This process involved engaging board members, staff, volunteers, and external stakeholders to reflect on critical issues, identify priorities, and define bold yet actionable goals. Through facilitated retreats, we guided discussions about balancing land conservation and community benefits, ensuring organizational capacity, and enhancing equity and inclusion. Rigorous analyses examined conservation opportunities, community
engagement strategies, and internal structures to align the organization’s mission with measurable outcomes. These efforts provided a roadmap for achieving impactful and sustainable conservation. </br>

<br><strong>The Transformation:</strong></br>
<br> This ongoing process is empowering Natural Lands to bridge their mission of preserving and connecting people to nature with actionable strategies that address climate resilience, equitable access, and organizational culture. Their
team is fostering a deeper understanding of shared priorities, refining strategic goals, and building a collaborative internal culture. The result is a foundation that aligns ambitious conservation efforts with sustainable growth and community impact. </br> — Natural Lands: Aligning Strategy with Connection to Nature

<br><strong>The Challenge: </strong></br>

<br>Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust protects land for people and nature in one of the most naturally diverse and economically stressed parts of Massachusetts. Through strong leadership and effective conservation, the organization has established a reputation as a strong local land trust within the land trust community. That capability was stretched during a leadership transition that took place in the middle of the group’s most ambition capital campaign. Working through the transition of executive leadership,
completing the expectations of the campaign, and leveraging those successes to grow the capacity of the land trust became the challenges Mount Grace faced. </br>

<br><strong>Our Process: </strong</br>

<br>Over the years, we have partnered with Mount Grace to provide tailored support through multiple stages of growth and evolution. Beginning with coaching to support the emergence of a new executive director, we helped her translate her experience into core strengths as the land trust leader. With her partnership, we supported fundraising training and planning, strategic planning, and support for collaboration with other nearby land trusts. Translating the ambitions and aspirations of the board and staff into actionable plans with structures to support them ensured the durable value of the investments. </br>

<br><strong>The Transformation: </strong></br>

<br>The transformation taking place in Northcentral Massachusetts is stunning. Mount Grace has found greater clarity, motivation, and shared support through the process of engaging their community before developing their plans. Programs have evolved to provide national leadership on critical issues like Indigenous conservation and co-management programs. Donors have stepped up to underwrite core elements of their plan for years into the future, now understanding how their investment will support this well-conceived
transformation. The Land Trust Alliance recognized Mount Grace as the national Excellence Award winner in 2022, casting a spotlight on the transformation and stunning success of the organization. </br> — Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust: Supporting Conservation Across Generations

<br><strong>The Challenge:</strong></br>
<br>As one of Oregon’s most prominent nonprofits, the Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is navigating the delicate balance between staying focused on its core mission and addressing the broader, intersectional needs of vulnerable communities. CAP’s commitment to excellence in service delivery and its holistic approach to supporting health, equity, and well-being create unique pressures, especially when the need is immense, and resources are finite. Balancing these priorities requires careful focus, strategic
clarity, and a unified effort to ensure impactful outcomes without compromising their mission. </br>

<br><strong>Our Process:</strong></br>
<br>The Metamorphic Team is working collaboratively with CAP to design a strategic framework that helps them balance the intersectional needs of vulnerable communities with their core mission, ensuring their focus, capacity, and resources are aligned to achieve the greatest impact. Through in-depth organizational assessments, facilitated listening sessions with board members, staff, funders, and other partners, and decision-making retreats focused on strategic alignment, resource prioritization, and operational clarity, we are helping CAP create a roadmap for impactful, sustainable action. </br>

<br><strong>The Transformation: </strong></br>
<br>Through this process, CAP is working toward greater clarity on its strategic priorities while maintaining its commitment to an intersectional mission of health, equity, and well-being. The organization is striving for improved alignment among its team and the development of a flexible, resilient framework to guide its work. By exploring ways to focus resources for maximum impact, CAP aims to adapt to evolving needs and continue its dedication to serving the LGBTQ+ community and those affected
by HIV. </br> — Cascade AIDS Project: Building a Strategic Framework for Resilience and Impact (In Progress)

The Challenge: With its mission to safeguard the waters of the Great Lakes—a critical resource for millions of people and ecosystems—nonprofit environmental organization For the Love of Water (FLOW) needed to reassess the alignment between its unique
strengths and the evolving environmental challenges in the region. They sought to prioritize efforts, clarify roles, and establish a strategic foundation for their work while fostering a healthier and more resilient team culture.

Our Process: We designed and facilitated strategic planning workshops that engaged FLOW’s board and staff in meaningful discussions about their mission, priorities, and internal dynamics. These workshops focused on identifying FLOW’s unique strengths—such
as legal expertise, public trust advocacy, and community engagement—and aligning them with the urgent needs of the Great Lakes region. The sessions also emphasized operationalizing their strategy, including tools for prioritizing programs, assessing opportunities,
and fostering a collaborative team culture. Incorporating stakeholder input, we addressed challenges like clarifying roles, refining decision-making processes, and ensuring strategic alignment with FLOW’s mission.

The Transformation: FLOW's team has clarified their priorities and begun implementing strategies that align their strengths with the pressing environmental challenges of the Great Lakes region. They are fostering candid and collaborative conversations
about how to work together effectively, ensuring their mission is advanced while nurturing a supportive team environment. By focusing on shared goals and developing practical tools, FLOW is building the foundation for long-term resilience and meaningful impact. — FLOW: Guiding a Watershed Organization to Clarity and Connection

What We Do

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About Us

Metamorphic Consulting helps organizations thrive under pressure. When you work through high-pressure experiences with a trusted partner, transformation is possible. At Metamorphic Consulting, we are that partner. Just as intense heat and pressure transform raw materials into something stronger, challenges can lead to powerful transformation.

Joy Lujan

Senior Planner and Principal

Marc Smiley

Senior Organizational Strategist and Principal

Christine Rontal

Senior Planner

Tim Howe

Engagement Specialist

Stacey Konner

Executive Search Strategist

Dori Rosenblum

Business Manager

Kaethe Graves

Executive Assistant

Jamie Rasmussen

Organizational Strategist

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