SELECT CLIENTS
Rise Above has worked with a variety of clients across a wide range of goals and challenges. From start-ups in need of seed funding to tenured non-profits with ambitious organizational and cultural goals, Rise Above has been a trusted partner to bring Integrity, hard work, and expertise to the table to unleash the potential of organizations, teams and individuals.
WORKING WITH THE BEST CLIENTS & PARTNERS
THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB
The AAC brought Rise Above on board to support a ground-up build of HR systems and processes, which ultimately lead to Rise Above leading the entire org through the development of a strategic plan for 2023
Deliverables:
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Performance Management training for all managers
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Org's first 360 eval process
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Fiscal year strategic plan and associated processes and tools to sustain on go-forward basis
Results:
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Board approved strategic roadmap ready for execution including connection to team and individual performance metrics on go-forward basis
Pete Ward - CEO, American Alpine Club
“Recently I worked with Gavin to build out an innovative and agile HR department to support the transformation of the American Alpine Club, a 120+ year old nonprofit. His ability to understand the dualistic nature of the nonprofit world where principle is as important as performance, and to adapt the methodology required for success has been crucial to the performance of the organization. Establishing Gavin's level of integrity and the highest quality organizational design as fundamental directional forces for the AAC has been a critical win.
Most importantly however, is Gavin's ability to understand the strategic implications of the leadership choices made by an organization and to craft strategy that meaningfully and effectively guides the tactical planning required for success. Strategic choices must be grounded in reality and supported by strong organizational design and there is no one that I have worked with in my career who is more qualified or able to craft effective strategy than Gavin.
When I am tasked with strategic decisions that have deep implications for my organization, Gavin is the first person I call and I trust him completely to deliver.”
Jorge Hernandez - Founder
"Gavin has been an invaluable spark of energy and motivation to my project. I am so grateful to have someone so ferociously and unrelentingly on my side. Getting everything in line to raise several million dollars for a climbing facility and then execute is neither simple nor straightforward, and having Gavin on my team has been a huge blessing. To describe Gavin in a few words, he is: disciplined, organized, and focused on measurable results. When someone really cares about their work it shows in every aspect. Gavin really cares. He is a crusher on and off the wall."
MOONROCK CLIMBING
Rise Above was brought in to support development of brand identity, values, and business planning preparation for a multi-million dollar fundraise
Deliverables:
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Business Plan including industry data, market research, competitive analysis, executive summary and more
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Investor pitch materials
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Development of 5 year pro-forma
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Brand guidance: brand voice, look, feel, values and mission statement
Results:
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MoonRock is currently in fundraising
THE KNOT CLIMBING GYM
The Knot is a climbing gym in Gainesville, Florida with a long history in the local community. Rise Above was brought in to help the leadership team develop strategic planning and operational best practices to prep the business for growth
Deliverables:
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12 month strategic plan & planning framework for go-forward use
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Development of Core Values and operational plan
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SWOT analysis
Results:
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Finalized 12 month strategic plan for execution
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Finalized Core Values
Kaleigh Eadens - Marketing Director, The Knot Climbing Gym
“Gavin brought extensive knowledge about, decades of experience in, and a tangible passion for the climbing industry to the table during the time our team spent with him. His leadership and guidance over the course of two intensive sessions spent defining company core values and an annual strategic plan inspired pivotal internal structural changes that we were able to implement quickly. These changes combined with tools and strategy for setting relevant goals and tracking success in a measurable, data driven way have put us on a cleaner trajectory toward success moving forward. The rapidly growing climbing industry is fortunate to have such a passionate human, climber, and seasoned executive at our disposal to help bring long term vision into greater alignment with actionable, measurable steps toward reality."
ROCK SPOT CLIMBING
Rise Above lead the RSC team through the development and implementation of a holistic market-based compensation strategy for all employees across their 7 locations.
Deliverables:
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Market comparisons of all positions
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Compensation and headcount calculation tool
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Cycle, tools & process for going forward
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Communication & Roll Out Plan
Results:
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Updated competitive pay bands org-wide
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Performance metrics and associated bonus structure in place for key roles
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implementation of Employee NPS tracking
Nadav Minkin, Co-Founder - Rock Spot Climbing
“We were looking for a consultant to help us with developing a comprehensive Compensation Strategy and Philosophy for some time and when we found Gavin with Rise Above Consulting, we were excited to work with someone who had institutional knowledge and climbing industry experience that was both relevant and applicable to today's workers. Gavin delivered a Compensation Strategy and Communication plan that was above expectations and affected the entire culture of our organization. Gavin taught us the tools and thought process that was geared toward employee retention and attracting top talent while balancing the financial goals of the company.
His Core Values of Integrity, No Ego, Work Better and Work Hard were evident from day one and I always felt like I learned something new or solidified a process that we were zoning in on, after our conversations. We recently attracted a high quality candidate from across the country to join our team and the tools and knowledge that we acquired through our work together were a key contributor to landing the candidate we wanted"
FIVE IRON GOLF
Rise Above was brought in to deliver leadership coaching to 2 senior leaders and to help them develop an organized planning process by leveling up the project management function in the organization
Deliverables:
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Executive coaching & best practices for organizational prioritization and strategic planning
Martin Adler, COO - Five Iron Golf
“I've worked with Gavin across multiple companies, more recently as a client. He has a unique ability to align stakeholders so that realistic goals can be identified and obtained through effective prioritization. In addition to leading teams to these results he is able to develop resources within the client team so that they can continue to forge ahead long after the engagement is over. I highly recommend Gavin and Rise Above Consulting"