Tabor Services, Inc.
On behalf of Tabor’s Strategic Planning Committee, we want to say thank you for the extraordinary work that Sandpiper Evaluation Associates has done to help us plan for our future. Working to create a Strategic Plan for any organization is no easy task, but your team was up for the challenge. Sandpiper’s thoughtfulness and thoroughness allowed Tabor to embrace the entire journey without feeling lost and overwhelmed in the process. You figured out how best to keep us all engaged every step of the way, and that was with our smaller planning committees as well as our entire staff. There were many different voices, and your team was able to help us synchronize those voices into three strategic priority areas, with concrete and measurable goals and objectives moving forward. We even have relevant data from the planning process that we have been able to revisit to help inform our programmatic decisions.
We now have a strategic plan that is uniquely ours, or as we say “It has been Taborized”. This plan was created by us, for us and it would not have been possible without all of your help and guidance. Our pathway forward is one that is clear and united. We simply cannot THANK YOU enough for all of your help! Onward and Upward.
Your friends at Tabor
Edison Court, Inc.
We contracted with Sandpiper Evaluation Associates (SEA) to help us assess the feasibility and sustainability of developing a Private Academic School Program. From our very first meeting, Carol and Heather strived to understand our unique program vision and the way it fit into our organization. Their attention to detail, efforts to comprehend, and considerable experience resulted in a plan that explored all of the variables and helped us make a quick and well-informed decision. SEA provided an organized and detailed approach that allowed us to make informed business decisions based on a comprehensive analysis of the information they mined, which would not otherwise have been available to us. I’d highly recommend SEA to any business looking to contract with a group to structure their analysis and evaluation of existing programs or potential programs. They’ve become an invaluable partner for us.
Jay Deppeler, President and CEO, Edison Court, Inc.
Turning Point LV
Turning Point of Lehigh Valley completed 2 strategic plans in the years prior to contracting with SEA. Our previous plans were very successful, leading staff to have high expectations for a new process. We decided to extend ourselves to a 2-year outline of goals that would keep us aligned with our mission and changing community needs. SEA surpassed our expectations for quality of work in their preparation, presentation, and product. The two planning sessions were attended by staff and Board members….all of them were impressed and pleased with the process, the interaction, and the outcomes. Heather and Carol did a great job as they gathered our various thoughts and goals and facilitated a process for creating clear goal statements. In the weeks since our work with SEA, staff state they feel excited and motivated to tackle the goals they committed to and are invested in.
Diane Zanetti, Executive Director, Turning Point of Lehigh Valley
Women’s Resources of Monroe County
When Women’s Resources decided to start a new 3-year strategic plan, we knew we needed expert assistance to create a dynamic plan to move us forward. SEA stood out for us in that they had worked with other area non-profits on creating their strategic plans, and in reaching out to those agencies found they had a good experience working with them. We also liked that the company was woman-created and woman-driven, which of course speaks to our nature as a feminist agency.
SEA’s team is very organized and prepared when coming into a meeting to discuss strategic planning. Even from the beginning, at the preliminary meetings coming up with structure and schedules, their team worked cohesively and with the staff and Board of Women’s Resources. SEA’s structure of the planning meetings was very helpful. Rather than provide the Women’s Resources planning team with information and making the decisions, the process allowed for the whole team to come up with its own information and ideas. The SEA team facilitated discussions and guided the process, but the entire plan development was driven by the Women’s Resources’ team members.
The tools of the SEA team were effective. They helped to dispel some myths about what a strategic plan is, facilitated our discussions, and employed a thorough process to come to decisions. Overall, working with SEA to complete our strategic plan was helpful beyond expectation. While we couldn’t have done as good a job without them, the Women’s Resources team felt like we had “ownership” over the final plan because of how much thoughtful work was put into it by the members. We would definitely recommend the SEA team to others for future planning processes.
Lauren Peterson, Executive Director, Women’s Resources of Monroe County
Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers
As the Board Chair of the Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers (LVCC), it was my privilege to be involved with our recently completed Strategic Plan. Prior to the process beginning we realized that we could not handle this task alone and upon receiving RFPs, we decided to hire Sandpiper Evaluation Associates, LLC as our consultants. Sandpiper immediately embraced this challenge and met with key team members to establish meeting dates & times and agendas. The diversity, size and complexity of LVCC made the process very complicated and onerous. At each stage of the process, Sandpiper proved how professional, knowledgeable, organized and sensitive they are. The meetings they conducted were started and completed on time, were conducted in an organized manner and feedback & input were always requested. It was my pleasure to work with them on this successful endeavor and would highly recommend them to any organization seeking guidance and assistance in developing their Strategic Plan.
Warren Gericke, Board Chair, Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers
Sandpiper Evaluation Associates (SEA) mapped out a comprehensive strategic planning process for Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers and guided our team through each step. Although the consultants provided detailed timelines, the process was flexible; adjustments were made in the interest of building consensus and achieving a stronger final product. Their data collection efforts—using surveys and focus groups—provided valuable new perspectives from diverse internal and external audiences. The process worked well, which I attribute to Carol and Heather’s abilities as facilitators. They delivered an actionable, forward-looking strategic plan that our entire organization can support, and is the blueprint for our operational plans for the next four years.
It was a pleasure to work with Carol and Heather Turoczi. They took the time to get to know LVCC and our services; were thorough, well-organized, and curious. They worked hard to ensure that each team member understood the discussion and was fully engaged in the planning process.
Susan M. Williams, President & CEO, Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers
Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School
Sandpiper Evaluation Associates has lots in common with the small, coastal bird (the sandpiper) that scampers along the seashores with its long beak in search of tidbits of food. The proprietors, Dr. Carol and Heather, live in the world of researching, writing, editing, assessing and reporting data that funders require of both grant requests and funded programs. Their experience as grant writers and expert understanding of federal and state programs requirements in particular are their instruments, their “long beaks,” that they use to search, edit, and dissect the information and data that we provided. They then “chunked” the responses into the nooks and crannies that are built into the grant request and developed a final product (the grant request) that made us reasonably confident that we had an excellent opportunity to get funded.
The best part of the experience was that Dr. Carol and Heather are down to earth and easy to work with. We laughed and enjoyed working together as we met our self-imposed deadlines during the process. While the grant-writing process is never exactly a stroll at the beach, when we now see sandpipers, we smile and think of our collaboration with Heather and Dr. Carol.
Sandra-Figueroa-Torres CEO, Founder, Principal
Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley
Thanks to a Capacity Building Grant funded by the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, we had the pleasure of working with Dr. Turoczi of Sandpiper Evaluation Associates. They worked with us to create a data.base to track and measure data. We had such a positive experience and the best part is that my staff and board of directors were included in the process. Thank you! As we move forward, the Hispanic Center looks forward to continuing our work with SEA.
Lorna Velázquez, Executive Director, Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley
Da Vinci Science Center
Sandpiper Evaluation Associates helped us to create and administer a survey to measure the success of the Lehigh Valley Science Festival. They assisted us with creating the right questions to capture people’s interest in science and careers before and after the festival. They personally administered 300 surveys the day of the Festival and compiled the data very quickly so we could get the results to participants and sponsors. It was our first experience with SEA, but we were so pleased with the quality and professionalism, we will definitely work with them again!
Karen Knecht, Director of Education and Exhibits, Da Vinci Science Center
Casa Guadalupe Center
Just want to let you know how much I appreciate having Sandpiper Evaluation Associates (SEA) as the 21st CCLC external evaluator of Casa Guadalupe Center’s afterschool program. When we first talked, not having known you, I did not know how our business partnership was going to work out. Today I know I made the right decision in choosing SEA to partner with us in this work. You have done a great job with the evaluations and reports. However, you are much more valuable to our organization than just for the assessments. I especially appreciate the additional value that you bring to Casa professionally and personally. • Your reports are always timely, balanced, and honest assessments. • Your presentations and writings are well done, clear, concise and well organized. • Time after time you are very helpful in assisting in training of our new education staff with preparing the state and federal reports. • You are willing to help the staff in ad hoc leadership roles such as with Bullying Prevention Program. • You provide your ideas and recommendations as we ask for them. • Lastly, it is great working with someone that is flexible, accessible, understanding and just easy to work with. It gives me great pleasure to work with you and your organization. Thank you for all of your efforts in helping Casa have an award winning afterschool program. Based on my experience and the input from my education staff, we will certainly plan on continuing to build our relationship for years to come.
Lucy DeLabar, Executive Director, Casa Guadalupe Center