Embedded thought partnership for leaders navigating complex work in higher education, regional development, and innovation ecosystems.
Whether you’re designing strategy, aligning partners, or moving ideas into action, Venn Collaborative provides consistent, expert support that helps you clarify direction, stay focused, and get results.
Explore how this could work for you.
Venn Collaborative Strategic Advisory is a retainer-based advisory service for leaders and teams doing complex, cross-sector work. It's designed for those who need more than one-off consulting—a steady partner who brings structure, insight, and strategic thinking to your work on an ongoing basis.
You bring your vision, your challenges, and your goals. We bring perspective, feedback, and creative support. Together, we build clarity, momentum, and alignment—week by week, session by session.
This isn’t just advice—it’s forward motion. With Venn Collaborative, you get more than insight. You gain clarity, confidence, and consistent momentum.
✅ Clarity
Cut through the noise, sharpen your strategy, and stay focused on what matters most.
⏱️ Momentum
Keep your work moving with regular touchpoints and built-in accountability.
🔗 Alignment
Ensure internal teams and external partners are working toward the same goals.
🧠 Confidence
Make decisions with the backing of experienced, embedded thought partnership.
🤝 Collaboration
Work side-by-side with someone who understands your vision—and can help build it.
✍️ Stronger Materials
Improve the clarity, quality, and impact of your plans, proposals, and communications.
Find clarity across your partnerships and priorities.
Collaboration across institutions, sectors, and communities is complex—but alignment doesn’t have to be. 7 Strategic Questions for Aligning Partnerships, Priorities, and Impact helps you uncover where your partnerships are thriving, where priorities are pulling in different directions, and how to refocus your team on shared goals that create meaningful impact.
Feeling like this could help your work? Email us or schedule a quick intro call to explore fit.
Venn Collaborative offers four levels of support tailored to your pace, priorities, and project scope, whether you are looking for occasional insight or a deeply embedded strategic partner. All tiers include live Zoom sessions and behind-the-scenes strategic thinking—the difference is how often we meet and how far we go together.
$1,500/month
Steady support and space to think out loud
Two Zoom meetings/month (1:1 or group)
Light pre-reading by advisor
Annotated meeting summary
You bring your questions. You leave with clarity.
$3,000/month
Add feedback and ongoing touchpoints
Everything in Contributor, plus:
Written comments on materials
Ad hoc advising via email (1 inquiry/week)
You’re starting to see the throughlines.
$4,500/month
Weekly contact for deeper alignment
Everything in Connector, plus:
Weekly (instead of bi-weekly) Zoom meetings
Now we’re in rhythm.
$6,000/month
Fully embedded strategic partnership
Everything in Collaborator, plus:
First-draft document creation (within reasonable scope)
In-depth review and editing (within reasonable scope)
We’re building it together.
Not sure which level is right for you? Let’s figure it out together.
We work with leaders, teams, and organizations that sit at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and collaboration. If your work involves aligning people, ideas, or institutions to create regional or societal impact, this is for you.
Roles & Organizations:
Colleges and universities
Presidents, provosts, and vice presidents
Offices of economic development, engagement, research, strategy, or government relations
Directors of centers and institutes
Faculty entrepreneurs and translational scholars
Cross-functional working groups (e.g., Carnegie Engagement, APLU IEP, NSF Engines)
We work with public and nonprofit organizations advancing inclusive economic growth and community vitality. These partners often serve as conveners of cross-sector coalitions and stewards of long-term, place-based initiatives.
Roles & Organizations:
Economic development organizations (authorities, chambers, business attraction agencies)
Community development organizations (CDCs, neighborhood revitalization nonprofits)
Economic developers and community developers
Regional planning councils
Workforce development boards
Mayor’s offices and civic leaders
Intermediaries and backbone organizations
Multi-stakeholder coalitions
We advise leaders building innovation ecosystems and translating research into real-world outcomes. This includes federally funded initiatives, university-affiliated hubs, and organizations working to foster inclusive, cross-sector entrepreneurship.
Roles, Organizations & Initiatives:
NSF Regional Innovation Engines
EDA Tech Hubs and BBBRC projects
DOE Clean Energy and Hydrogen Hubs
Accelerators, incubators, and innovation labs
University-affiliated ecosystem leaders
Research parks and innovation districts
Innovation network conveners
Initiative and project directors
Think This Might Be a Fit? If you see yourself or your organization reflected here, let’s talk. We’d love to hear what you’re working on and explore how Strategic Advisory could support your goals.
You don’t need one-size-fits-all consulting. You need flexible, strategic support shaped by experience across higher education, regional systems, research translation, and innovation. These are the areas where we can dig in, think with you, and help move your work forward.
Regional innovation ecosystem mapping
Stakeholder analysis and partnership landscape assessment
Designing collaborative governance models
University roles in cross-sector partnerships and coalitions
Convening strategies that foster authentic collaboration
Theory of change and logic model development
Outcome-based strategic design
Self-study and reflective planning
Framing internal strategies for external partnerships
Designing meaningful success indicators for public-purpose work
Iterative planning across collaborative teams
Public mission and institutional strategy
Anchor institution frameworks for community collaboration
Narrative framing and strategic communications
Strategic planning for regional engagement
Institutional readiness for recognition and partnership-driven designations (e.g., IEP, Carnegie)
Inclusive innovation ecosystem development
Translational research strategies in collaborative contexts
Academic entrepreneurship
Innovation hub strategy and university-community collaboration
Federal innovation policy navigation (NSF, EDA, DOE)
Grant proposal framing and writing strategy
Editorial and content development
Communications for education and outreach initiatives
Digital media strategy and storytelling
Integrating multimedia into public engagement and research translation
Collaboration skills for boundary-spanning leaders
Organizational learning in complex partnerships
Evaluation frameworks for economic and societal impact
Reflective practice and adaptive leadership
Building internal capacity for systems convening and co-leadership
Have a Complex Challenge You’re Navigating? Whether it’s aligning a team, shaping a strategy, or building something new across sectors, we can help. Let’s connect to see if this is the right kind of support for your work.
At the core of every Strategic Advisory engagement is a trusted relationship with an experienced guide—or two. Depending on your goals and focus, you'll work directly with Jim Woodell, Arthur Smith, or both, with access to a network of expert collaborators when the work calls for it.
Jim leads most Strategic Advisory engagements. He brings decades of experience working with colleges, universities, and their partners to align strategy, drive engagement, and support innovation ecosystems. Jim is known for his ability to synthesize complexity, facilitate cross-sector collaboration, and help leaders sharpen their vision and story.
Arthur contributes to many engagements, especially those involving grant writing, content development, education and outreach, and digital media strategy. His background spans academic publishing, storytelling, and production—making him a creative and precise partner when the work calls for message clarity, editorial quality, or public-facing content.
Venn Collaborative is more than Jim and Arthur. Behind the scenes is a trusted network of experts with deep experience across higher education, economic and community development, innovation policy, research translation, and cross-sector engagement. When your project requires a particular lens or skillset, we can bring in the right voices to support the work—without adding layers of overhead.
Every level of Strategic Advisory is built around real human connection, shared thinking, and forward motion. Here’s what a typical month feels like at each tier:
You bring your questions. You leave with clarity.
You show up to each session ready to think out loud, bounce ideas around, or make a tough decision. We’ve reviewed your materials in advance, so we can dive right in. Afterward, you get a summary that doesn’t just recap—it sparks new ideas and helps you refocus. You leave each meeting lighter and more certain.
You’re starting to see the throughlines.
We meet regularly, and between sessions, you send over materials for feedback. We return them with written comments and strategic suggestions. When something new pops up midweek, you shoot us a quick note—we help you sort it out. You’re making sharper decisions and building more coherent, connected work.
Now we’re in rhythm.
We meet every week. You bring whatever’s moving—planning, framing, partnerships—and we help you align it all. You loop us in early on strategy drafts, communications, or cross-team efforts, and we help you fine-tune before it goes live. You’re working faster and more confidently, with a thought partner in sync.
We’re building it together.
You’ve got big, layered work—and we're in it with you. We map out ideas, co-draft strategy documents, and shape language for audiences inside and outside your organization. We offer deep feedback on materials, surface insights, and help you hold the throughline across it all. You’re no longer carrying the full creative and strategic load alone.
Whether you’re designing a strategy, leading a coalition, translating research, or moving a complex initiative forward, Strategic Advisory is built to meet you where you are—and help you take the next step with clarity and confidence.
We offer a free, no-pressure intro conversation to explore whether this is the right fit.
Advisory services are available for individuals, teams, or institutions. Custom scopes available upon request.