“I’m impressed by Alison Hart’s professionalism. Her work was crucial in the creation of the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center R&D—the first board, the organizational structure, philosophy, and decision-making process. OMIC R&D was a large group of stakeholders from industry, academia, and government with the common goal of a new organization. Alison guided stakeholders in finding a way to advance, despite their diverse ideas and approaches. She believes that collaborations should be based on trust, truth, and facts. She has a pleasant way of encouraging such a culture in an organization.”

— Renjeng Su, D.SC, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, Portland State University

“We hired Alison Hart to facilitate a major rework of our Strategic Plan, essentially beginning from scratch. Alison exceeded everyone's expectations. The amount of legwork she put into understanding our company and developing the skeletal outline for the plan was a huge difference-maker. She is highly skilled in using detailed words and phrases that clarify and help prioritize every objective. This was extremely valuable as we hammered the brainstorming ideas into concrete actions that our employees were able to set as performance goals, and that our Board of Directors review regularly.”

— Thomas D. Prevish, Ph.D, P.E., C.E.M., President, Northwest Engineering Service, Inc.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Alison Hart during the formation of a public/private partnership that became a nonprofit organization. She helped our group define our mission and vision statement. Alison assisted us in capturing what mattered most. These core values will drive our thinking and anchor our team. Alison has substantial experience with nonprofit startups. She is wonderful at coaching and training board members about ethics and protocols. She facilitates the creation of governance, policy, and successful organizational structure. She emphasizes the criticality of understanding what is important to an organization and creating strategy to fulfill the organization’s mission.”

— Kaitlyn McNaughton, Blount International

“It has been a true gift working with Alison Hart. What makes her unique is that she has an intuitive understanding of the human element. Alison’s dynamic energy complements her expert ability to design processes assisting groups in determining their purpose and goals. She clearly communicates with empathy and is confident in speaking the truth about the elephant in the room leading to great forward movement for an organization. She works with the highest level of integrity and lives up to what she says she is going to do.”

— Brenda Turner, President of the Board, ASK

“Thank you for being a rock, the foundation of our retreat, a guiding force towards our ‘why,’ and a gentle breeze to keep us on track.”

— Samara Phelps, Executive Director, Clackamas County Tourism & Cultural Affairs

“A. Hart Associates sparked transformation within our organization and helped us re-discover what we were meant to be. Alison assessed our organizational dynamics, challenges and issues and helped facilitate tough, honest, and open communication with our staff and board of directors. We highly recommend A. Hart Associates for their critical insights, expertise, and invaluable experience.”

— K’Lynne Lane, Executive Director, Condon Chamber of Commerce

“I serve on three Boards that have worked with Alison for Board training and strategic planning. I would highly recommend her for designing and delivering presentations for any kind of organization in the private or nonprofit sector as she has the knowledge of both. Alison is able to streamline pertinent information as well as provide great value. She comes well prepared with an understanding of the organization and its needs. All of our Board members, at one time or another, told me how much they enjoyed Alison and learned from her. When you meet Alison and work with her, you will find that she is a winner.”

— Lavonne Wilson, Dalles Retirement Village & Dalles Chamber of Commerce Board

“I was pretty apprehensive about leading a board of directors retreat via Zoom during the pandemic, but working with Alison assuaged all of my fears and we had an amazing and productive 2 days together. She was able to keep all of the board interested and engaged, and created a fun and interactive environment for us to get our work done!

We had a challenge this year with a fairly new board with only a few experienced members. Alison helped us align as a group and see the big picture for our organization with both our short and long term goals, and worked with us with various exercises to get everyone up to speed and on the same page moving forward. Her methods were thought-provoking and allowed us to all have clarity on the purpose and objectives of our association so that we can move forward with well-defined objectives and impactful outcomes.

I am excited to continue our work together and looking forward to seeing how we as an association can continue to grow under their guidance.”

— Dr. Aliza Cicerone, California Naturopathic Doctors Association, Board President and Legislative Chair

“I’ve participated in at least 5 in-person strategic planning sessions over the years with the board.  I can honestly say that we had the most engaged and efficient planning  session EVER.  EVERYONE was able to contribute through polls, the chat, small breakout rooms and in a general session.  The variety of ways that Alison provided the board to give feedback gave anonymity and played to the individual  communication strengths of the entire board. I was worried about Zoom fatigue but it  didn’t happen.  The day was thoughtfully planned out with a variety of activities and just the right amount of breaks.  It was such a success we brought them back for a board assessment and governance training.” 

— Laura Carney, Chief Executive Officer, CFA Society Los Angeles