An Origin Story
Interviewing founders, trustees, and partners to distill five years of organizational learning into a founder narrative about experimentation, growth, and the future.
Overview
For Pillars Fund’s fifth anniversary, I helped develop an institutional narrative documenting how the organization evolved from a startup philanthropy into a nationally recognized institution.
Rather than producing a retrospective alone, the project examined the organization’s first five years as an entrepreneurial experiment shaped by problem-solving, testing, learning, and adaptation.
Through executive interviews and narrative synthesis, the work informed founder thought leadership and helped articulate a forward-looking story.
Role
Led executive interviews and narrative development for the anniversary initiative, speaking with founders, trustees, and grantee partners to identify recurring themes, institutional lessons, and future opportunities.
I synthesized those qualitative insights into a cohesive narrative supporting executive communications and a flagship founder reflection.
Led
Conducted executive interviews with founders, trustees, and grantee partners
Developed interview frameworks focused on organizational learning and experimentation
Identified recurring themes across diverse leadership perspectives
Synthesized interviews into a narrative spanning the organization’s first five years
Helped shape founder thought leadership and anniversary communications