• Work With Us

Through our mission-driven contract services, we help clients gather and use high-quality data, engage community effectively, develop practical tools and plans, and communicate clearly about pressing health issues.

We partner with clients including nonprofits, local governments, funders and their grantees, healthcare providers, and community coalitions across western North Carolina to strengthen community health. Our deep WNC roots and trusted local relationships allow us to center community voice, bring the exact expertise you need, and customize our tools and support to help build your capacity for the long term. Our work adds lift to local and regional health priorities—making us a reliable partner for organizations, agencies, and funders seeking effective, community-centered technical support. 

We support projects of all sizes, from focused local initiatives to region-wide collaborations. When you invest in our services, you receive high quality support while fueling our nonprofit mission. 

Learn more below.

Ready to talk about how we could support your work? 

Let’s Talk
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DATA & EVALUATION

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COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, PLANNING, AND DECISION MAKING

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CAPACITY BUILDING

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HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS

Our approach centers people—our partners and the communities they serve.

We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. We co-design every project with our clients and focus on building their capacity for the long term. We intentionally engage people with diverse perspectives and experiences with care and respect. We root our work in our deep WNC relationships and our values: collaboration, action, inclusion, integrity, community, and joy.

Here are ways this shows up in practice:

  • Holding co-design conversations at the start of a project to ensure it meets your needs.
  • Using time-tested methods—such as Technology of Participation, Participatory Narrative Inquiry, and Results-Based Accountability—to support data-informed, inclusive participation and action.
  • Hiring subcontractors and vendors from WNC communities, keeping your investment local whenever possible.
  • Budgeting compensation for collaborators—including community members—for their time and expertise.
  • Involving you in shaping and facilitating meeting agendas as appropriate.
  • Recognizing contributors (with consent) in reports and project materials.
  • Providing tailored tools you can continue using long after our work together ends.

What happens after you click “Let’s Talk”?

1. Tell us about you.

You’ll be taken to a short form where you’ll share your contact information and a little bit about why you’re interested to talk with us. 

2. Schedule a call.

We’ll email you to set up a free 45-minute conversation.

3. Have an initial conversation.

We’ll ask questions to understand your goals and context, and you’ll learn more about us and how we might support your work. We may explore:

  • What’s the background and context for this project?
  • What results do you hope to achieve—and what would feel like a poor use of resources?
  • What matters most about how the work happens? For example, community is meaningfully engaged, it fits a specific timeline or budget, it builds your capacity
  • Who else should–or will–be involved?
  • What are the key logistics, timelines, and deliverables?
  • What roles, resources, or staff time can you contribute?
  • What other existing strengths or assets will support success?
  • What budget (or budget range) is available?*

4. Decide if it’s a good fit.

After the call, both you and our team can decide whether to move forward. We consider questions like:

  • Do we have the staff or subcontractor capacity for the timeline?
  • Does this work align with our values and approach?
  • Does the topic align with community or regional priorities?
  • Are we well-positioned to support your success, or might someone else be a better fit?
  • Could this project benefit broader regional efforts?
  • Are there potential unintended consequences to consider?

*If funding isn’t secured yet, that’s okay—we encourage you to contact us anyway. We may be able to help identify grants, collaborate on grantwriting, or explore other funding options.

Our contract work supports our nonprofit mission, so we aim to balance affordability with organizational sustainability.

We don’t post set prices because every project is tailored, but our current hourly rates range from $150–$200, placing us in the lower–mid range for similar services. We work on projects of all sizes—from $500 to $250,000 and up.

If you haven’t secured funding yet, that’s okay! Contact us anyway. Reaching out early lets us help co-create a “right-size” budget for your goals, and we may be able to support you in finding funding—through grant searches, collaborative grantwriting, or including our work in an upcoming proposal (Hint: our data support often fits well under Evaluation).

Past clients have funded work with us through:

  • Federal or state grants
  • Regional or local foundation grants
  • Local government budgets

Here are a few of the incredible partners we’ve been lucky to work with. They include nonprofits, local, state, and Tribal governments, healthcare providers, funders, and community coalitions.

  • AMY Wellness Foundation
  • Blue Ridge Partnership for Children
  • Bountiful Cities
  • C.A.R.E. Coalition of Transylvania County
  • Dogwood Health Trust
  • Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health & Human Services
  • Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation
  • Graham County Department of Public Health
  • Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation
  • Jackson County Department of Public Health
  • Macon County Public Health
  • Madison County Health Department
  • MAHEC
  • MANNA FoodBank
  • Mitchell County Government
  • MountainWise
  • NC Public Health Region 1
  • North Carolina Institute for Public Health
  • Partners Aligned Toward Health
  • Polk County Health & Human Services Agency
  • Toe River Health District
  • University of North Carolina Asheville
  • Vecinos
  • Western Carolina University

What our clients are saying:

“We do not have our own CHA team. Having the expertise and guidance from WNCHN really made a difference in the process and we were able to submit our CHA on time. Both Marian and Emily were wonderful. They maintained contact, answered all questions and guided us through the process. Our input was valued.”

“Very knowledgeable, pleasure to work with, expertise is very valuable and helped us during our process, Emily is a gem to work with.”

“Emily K. is such a skilled facilitator!  She brings both the science and art of facilitation to each session.  She worked with our team to develop an agenda, thoughtfully laid out each section, and she supported us through each part. She constantly works to adapt the session to meet your needs.  She was responsive to some changes in the agenda that supported us to practice how we could come together and develop a clear strategy for our work moving forward.”

“The quality of the products presented by WNCHN—such as the data workbook, maps, and slides—was excellent. These data tools are thoughtfully designed and have strong potential to spark deeper, more meaningful health-related conversations with our partners and within their communities.”

“We have a strong plan to guide our efforts and determine our success.”

“The [foundation] will be better off by gaining the knowledge and data to move forward with a strategic plan based on information learned through this process. As a Board member indicated yesterday, she was skeptical of the process going in, but after seeing the report and attending the sensemaking session, she feels it was money well spent for the [foundation].”

“If you want a well-designed process, exceptional facilitation that is responsive, and to work with an organization that supports ‘how we do the work’, then you cannot go wrong with WNCHN.”

“Our team is better off — not only because they now have access to a tool with virtually unlimited applications, but also because they had the chance to actively practice using it. Team members were highly engaged, and I’m confident they’ll integrate these tools into their daily work. They’ll also be able to share this tool with our partners to support their work.”

“This partnership strengthened [department] staff capacity to clearly define what we are doing, assess how well we are doing it, and—most importantly—determine whether our people are better off as a result. Results-Based Accountability shifted our work place culture from tracking activities to demonstrating impact, improving how we plan, evaluate, and communicate outcomes that matter to our community.”

“Working with WNC Health Network helped us see the bigger picture so that we could streamline our processes. Ultimately, the result was better internal and external communication and more efficient grant metrics that better reflected our work.”

“Emily and the whole WNCHN team has been a true partner to us throughout our regional strategic planning process. They listened closely, adapted to our needs, and provided clear, practical guidance that helped us grow as a collaborative. As a result of our partnership, we are better prepared, more aligned, and well positioned to move our work forward.”

“WNCHN has incredible connection to community, service, and practice. Their ability to facilitate meaningful and productive conversations have been invaluable to my work. I am grateful for their partnership and excited to continue working together.”

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Data & Evaluation

  • Creating custom compilations and analyses of our regional population health dataset so you have relevant, current local and regional data at your fingertips.
  • Facilitating participatory qualitative data collection and analysis—such as listening sessions and Participatory Narrative Inquiry—to ensure your efforts are informed by, and represent, people in your community.
  • Compiling data reports and products your team and community can use to learn and take action.
  • Providing coaching and technical assistance to co-design data collection tools, develop evaluation plans, and embed practices that meaningfully involve community members in defining, collecting, and interpreting data.
  • Serving as a thought partner to help shape your data and evaluation processes and products, ensuring community voice and equity are centered every step of the way.
  • EXAMPLES

We worked with the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children to look at their current strategies and measures and support a small evaluation workgroup. We used the Results-Based Accountability® (RBA) approach to help the group think through what was working, what needed to change, and what information would help guide future decisions. We coached staff on choosing the most useful measures, identifying what new data might be needed, and applying the RBA process to support ongoing improvements. The project resulted in a practical evaluation plan, evaluation tools tailored to the organization’s needs, and greater organizational capacity to evaluate its work over time.

We helped the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation (Health Foundation) gather community input to guide its strategic priorities. Working closely with Health Foundation staff and a team of WNCHN staff and subcontractors, we co-designed and facilitated six listening sessions with partners, organizations, donors, and others across the service area. We then led a three-hour in-person session with Health Foundation staff and board members to review learnings from the sessions and identify key themes for the Health Foundation’s planning. The project resulted in deeper staff and leadership knowledge of grantee and partner priorities, and a clear summary report to support the Health Foundation’s future decision-making.

We supported Vecinos leadership to review their existing performance measures and brainstorm new ones. We helped them identify and prioritize which measures to develop next and provided technical assistance to support the process. By the end, Vecinos staff and leaders had the opportunity to participate in facilitated team conversations about long-term evaluation and impact measurement, as well as a clear list of current measures and a focused set of next steps to strengthen their evaluation capacity over time.

Collaborative Learning, Planning, and Decision Making

We help you engage partners and people in your community to assess, learn, and take action together around community health.

We draw from a range of participatory and data-driven frameworks and methods, including Technology of Participation, Participatory Narrative Inquiry, and Results Based Accountability™ to…

  • Co-design processes and meetings tailored to your specific goals and needs 
  • Facilitate engaging, participatory sessions using time-tested methods that involve your community partners with respect and dignity.
  • Coach you to infuse results-focused approaches in your planning, evaluation, quality improvement, funding, and grant-seeking activities
  • EXAMPLES

We provided strategic facilitation, assessment, and planning support to the NC Public Health Region 1 to strengthen local public health capacity through workforce development and cross-county collaboration. We guided a year-long collaborative process to review current conditions, identify shared opportunities, and co-design early strategies for regional partnerships and shared resources. Our support included partnering with the Workforce Development Director to co-design and co-facilitate multiple sessions with the Health Directors; reviewing and synthesizing existing data and plans; developing draft and final strategic plans; and coordinating with design professionals to produce polished reports. This work laid the groundwork for action plans and sustainable cross-county strategies, while giving Health Directors dedicated time and space to learn together and focus on timely issues.

We supported Mitchell and Yancey County Governments in a community learning process to better understand local substance misuse and guide decisions about opioid settlement funding. Co-designed and implemented by a WNCHN-hosted team of consultants and more than 27 local leaders, the 10-month initiative used Participatory Narrative Inquiry and community organizing models to engage over 130 community members in sharing stories, learning together, and identifying actionable insights for county decision making. The work also strengthened local partners’ capacity to continue narrative-based data collection and sensemaking over time.

We co-designed and facilitated a one-day strategy session with MAHEC and Impact Health to support their partnership through the WNC Healthy Opportunities Pilot. The session helped both teams assess their current context, revisit their shared vision, clarify needs, opportunities, roles, and communication processes, and strengthen working relationships. We also produced a high-level summary of areas of alignment and divergence, key decisions, and next steps.

Capacity Building

Want to grow your team’s and partners’ capacity to lead collaborative, results-focused work? We can…

  • Train your team in “Getting to Results” (our popular online course covering Results Based Accountability™  fundamentals). Learn more about Getting to Results or register for our next public course here.
  • Customize training, coaching, and technical assistance for your organization, grantees, or partners to grow capacity to…
    • Infuse results-focused approaches (including Results Based Accountability) into your work
    • Conduct community listening sessions
    • Develop and implement evaluation plans and quality improvement initiatives
  • EXAMPLES

We hosted Listening to Community, a 6-hour, in-person, experiential workshop designed to equip local health department staff and community partners with the tools and skills to plan and host meaningful listening sessions with community. The workshop helped participants understand how listening sessions fit within broader community engagement, practice ethical methods for gathering high-quality story-based data, build confidence in facilitating sessions, and leave with a clear plan and practical tools to lead sessions in their own communities.

We partnered with the NC Center for Health and Wellness to help Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) staff and leaders build confidence using Results-Based Accountability™ in their programs and services. We facilitated four interactive, tailored workshops where participants learned and practiced applying core RBA concepts, followed by individual coaching and technical assistance. By the end, 100% of participants reported understanding how to establish clear results and identify the most important performance measures for their work.

Health Communications

We can be a strategic partner for your health communications efforts. Our support includes…

  • Guiding you to develop an effective health communications strategy
  • Co-designing strategic health communication plans that connect data, stories, and messaging to effectively engage your community
  • Sharing valuable insights, resources, and process templates that support the development of organizational communications capacity, expertise, and infrastructure.
  • EXAMPLE

We served as a strategic advisor and capacity-building partner to the North Carolina Institute for Public Health as it established regional health communicator collaboratives across the state. We shared lessons learned and best practices from our experience leading the WNC Health Communicators Collaborative.

Ready to talk about how we could support your work? 

Let’s Talk
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