Kari McAvoy Joins EMD

Kari McAvoy, formerly of the United Way of Greater St. Louis, has joined EMD Consulting Group. Kari is a skilled facilitator and problem solver whose strengths are strategy development, financial analysis, program development, and goal implementation.

As the United Way’s Vice President of Community Investment, Kari managed the allocations department that annually awarded almost $60 million in funding to local health and human services nonprofit organizations. Under Kari’s guidance, the United Way created Quality Standards, adopted new community investment and capacity building strategies, established a co-branding program, implemented new reporting and grants management software, and re-structured admissions and one-time grants.

Since late 2009, Kari has consulted with both funding entities and nonprofit organizations. Consulting projects include:

• Facilitate a Board’s decision-making process to determine its future structure after it had accomplished its mission
• Help to position an agency to receive $1 million in nontraditional operating loans
• Design a $3 million grant funding pool
• Coordinate an agency’s corporate dissolution
• Help an organization respond to a financial crisis by conducting short term business planning and implementing emergency actions
• Investigate a program’s procedures and cost structure in order to design a more efficient configuration
• Facilitate a process to analyze a program’s quality and demand, and making recommendations to the Board regarding the program’s future structure, direction, and existence
• Create an advisory council

“Kari’s skills complement the services we offer, and she has a wealth of experience helping nonprofits maximize organizational leadership and capacity. And, like us, Kari is passionate about the value of nonprofit organizations. She is a wonderful addition to the firm,” said Patricia Barrett, one of the firm’s founding principals.

EMD, which stands for Experience Makes the Difference, is based in St. Louis and is also in Sedona, Arizona. Since 2002, EMD has helped more than 100 clients build organizational strength through planning, assessment, fundraising, and executive search.