ILLUMINE
Consultants
ABOUT US
OUR STORY
Welcome to our site. We are Marie and Andrew Molnar, a married couple who has worked together for almost three decades. After serving as co-Executive Directors of nonprofit organizations for fourteen years, we began consulting in 2011 to share our passion and expertise with others in the mission-driven realm.
After studying management at Cornell, Andrew was trained in and served as an organizational consultant at a Fortune 100 company, while Marie was working in international development. Feeling a strong calling to work together to make a difference in the world, we then began our joint work leading nonprofit retreat centers.
At our first position, we were immersed in a crash-course on reviving a dying organization on the verge of closing. There were countless changes that needed to be made, no money to make them, an atrophied strategic plan, and a staff/Board that had lost inspiration. Through trial and error - and a good measure of grace - we revived the center: users significantly increased, facilities were overhauled and constructed, finances flowed abundantly, and reputations reversed. In just a few years, the center went from barely surviving to fully thriving.
Building on this success, we then took the reins at another, larger retreat center which had similar issues as well as its own unique challenges. Within a couple years, it too became a thriving center, as we continued to expand our skills and expertise. It was our firsthand, lived experience as Executive Directors at these two centers that gave us the insights into the inner workings and unique strengths/challenges of leading complex organizations.
Along this journey, we heard the frustrations of our colleagues in the field, many of whom were struggling with similar scenarios. We shared many of the helpful insights we had learned. And so it was that upon leaving the second center in 2010, we chose to focus our energies on assisting others who are creating positive change in the world.
Though we have a unique expertise with retreat centers, we have worked with mission-driven organizations of various backgrounds, businesses, and self-employed individuals.
If you are an organization with a passion for your mission and openness to fresh ideas, we would be inspired to work with you!
"You were our dynamic duo consultants who managed and oversaw dizzying multiple simultaneous complexities to get us into operation. You both are marvels of wondrous
purity and light.”
OUR VALUES
Holistic Approach
Rather than focus on quick fixes or compartmentalized problem-solving, we believe that the most potent approach to improving organizational effectiveness is one rooted in a holistic mindset that results in practical, actionable, and long-lasting resolutions. Included in this is valuing data as well as relationships; the intellectual and the intuitive; the practical and the visionary.
Empowerment
Our greatest role is to help clients solve problems for themselves. We continually strive to share tools and skills that help build organizational capacity, reducing our clients’ reliance on outside support. Our ultimate goal is to help clients develop the skills to continuously evaluate, problem-solve, and reimagine their work long after our involvement.
Authenticity
Consultants are often brought in when operations are not flowing well and/or communication has broken down. In part because of this, we are intentional about creating an intimate team with our clients in which all information can be safely and openly shared. Since the best choices are grounded in having the best information, this includes candor in sharing, active listening, and empathy, especially when processing hard choices and difficult trade-offs. We openly and boldly wade through necessary challenges with clients, gently sharing hard truths, and helping navigate difficult decisions.
Strengths-Focused
Too often when an organization needs assistance, it can be easy to focus on problems and challenges. While this is certainly important, we also believe in the power of using an organization’s both real and potential strengths as the foundation for building a thriving future. We seek to focus on not just what is, but more importantly, what is possible.
Results-driven
Ultimately, we value implementation, performance, and results. We work closely with our clients to find the most efficient and effective ways to improve their organization and services offered, as well as installing systems of accountability to ensure follow-through.
Creative Customization
While solid data, big-picture trends, and 'best practices' are valuable guides, ultimately every organization is unique, with its own culture, strengths, challenges, and visions. Through careful listening, we honor each client’s particular situation to create the most effective strategies for success. As a part of this, we routinely question rigid paradigms with “what if?” and “why not?”, inviting clients to imagine new, innovative possibilities.
Passion
There are many wonderful organizations doing powerful work in the world. One small way that we get to contribute is to lend our expertise to supporting these organizations. We love helping our clients help others!
WHY CHOOSE US
We’re Focused
We work almost exclusively with nonprofit and mission-driven organizations. With a deep, first-hand understanding of the nonprofit sector and its governance, we are focused on its unique challenges and strengths to deliver the most impactful solutions.
We’re Proven
We have a breadth of knowledge and a depth of expertise that comes with over two decades of successful work with nonprofits of various sizes and types, each with its own unique history. We have personally experienced the joys and frustrations of leading large-scale organizational change efforts, learned from mistakes, and succeeded where others have failed.
We're Action-Oriented
While critical and thoughtful analysis is crucial for any kind of consulting work, many organizations find themselves bogged down in “analysis paralysis”. We are action-oriented and focused on creating powerful and effective implementation plans and timelines, with accountability measures, to help our clients achieve their goals.
We're Innovative
You can get plans and formulas from a book. Innovative thinking is second nature to us, and it's something we enjoy igniting in our clients. Together with you, we determine the changes you wish to see in the world through deep discussion, examining limiting beliefs, and re-igniting creative thinking. Using insights from diverse organizations across the nonprofit sector as well as our own entrepreneurial mindset, we help clients determine innovative ways to have impact on what’s important to them.
We Value Relationships
We believe that the best results come from the synergy of authentic, connective relationships with our clients. Thus, we prioritize deep listening to explore our clients’ challenges, strengths, perceptions, and relational dynamics with nonjudgmental, curious minds and open hearts.
“Thank you so much for helping plant the seeds of these new visions into the heart of our organization. Your strong presence and honesty have empowered me, awakening new places within.”