The Challenge:
Like many non-profits and arts-focused organizations, 2025 was a financially difficult year for Arts Access North Carolina. Adding leadership changes to the mix, the board had hard decisions to make and serious questions to wade through to determine the long-term trajectory of the organization.
Organization: Arts Access North Carolina (Nonprofit)
Duration: July 2025 – Present
The Approach:
Consistently invoking Strategic Planning guidelines and recalling the organizational mission to make decisions:
- Used strategic planning sessions to ask hard questions and identify concerns of mission drift versus mission alignment.
- Brought in industry specific knowledge of political and funding landscapes to identify realistic funding options for future growth possibilities.
- Consulted directly with Board Chair and Executive Director to narrow the scope of key conversations to identify pivotal questions and order of operations of decision making triages.
- Used people-centered communication to support leadership transitions with a focus on safety, empathy, and organizational health.
The Results:
- Mission drift versus alignment: Challenging staff and board members to define and use the organizational mission to clarify what programming is within the needed scope of work in the organization.
- Leadership transitions: Supporting key decisions and processes during leadership changes to rebuild a sustainable organization with true community value-add.
- Realistic business practices: Asking difficult questions and challenging assumptions to incorporate best business and market practices into mission-driven work.
Change is the only guarantee. Key moments of change, whether they are brought on by choice or by need, are key moments to pause and ask hard questions to bake resilience and sustainability into the secret sauce.
I’ve had the pleasure of serving alongside Cassandra on the Arts Access board, and she is an asset to our organization. Cassandra is direct in the best possible way; clear, thoughtful, and unafraid to ask the questions that move conversation forward. She listens deeply, then responds with insight and purpose. Her commitment to accessibility in the arts is not abstract; she genuinely cares about people, about equity, and about ensuring our decisions align with our mission. Cassandra brings both heart and rigor to the table, and our board is stronger, more focused, and more accountable because of her presence.
Jean Gray Mohs
Cassandra is a dynamic and fun facilitator, skilled in change management and knowledgeable in universal design. She dives in, asks questions designed to learn from organizations in order to help them craft a measurable strategic plan, creating a foundation for being data-driven. I have been serving on a board with Cassandra and she has been an incredible asset. I highly recommend Cassandra’s work.
Kate Peterson
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