client success stories 

Every engagement is a humanizing opportunity to foster equity and empower students.

Our extensive portfolio reflects a steadfast commitment to supporting educational institutions, intermediaries, and policymakers with innovative strategies and narratives that drive systemic change.

More than a collection of projects; we view our work as a tapestry of change-making initiatives that together enrich the educational landscape, forge equitable pathways for students, and shape the future of learning.

Institutions

Johnson C. Smith University 

Rooted in legacy and tradition, this HBCU has a history of making a difference for people under immense challenges. With a recently introduced strategic plan, the University sought to support more active engagement of alumni and student perspectives in its transformation process. This was followed by co-creation sessions with each group to design new engagement strategies.

Saint Mary’s College 

Our work with Saint Mary’s College supported their new strategic plan to empower and economically elevate women through a liberal arts education, fostering a diverse student body that promotes justice and human dignity. We provided support and expertise to guide working groups in implementing strategic recommendations.

Berklee College of Music 

With the pressures to improve student success outcomes like retention and graduation rates, career outcomes, and lifetime earnings ever present, Berklee sought to design and implement an innovative approach to leading across the entire student lifecycle. In this multi-year initiative, we designed a student success method focused on restructuring departments to align with student stages, fostering collaborative relationships with partners, and dismantling barriers that prevent a unified focus on student success.

Howard University, Dillard University and Morgan State University 

Kinetic Seeds as honored to have played a pivotal role in narrating the groundbreaking journey of three esteemed HBCUs in their mission to elevate student success and retention. Their initiative set a precedent in leveraging big data and predictive analytics to foster educational advancement. Our task was to encapsulate and convey the essence of each institution’s unique approach to enhancing the second-year experience for students, a critical juncture in their academic journey.

Policy-Related

George W. Bush Institute

Creation of a policy decision guide for the George W. Bush Institute aimed at helping state leaders design effective policies to improve opportunities for young people. It connects workforce and public education issues, addresses the impact of the pandemic on education, and provides a structured approach for analyzing data, setting priorities, and formulating actionable policies. The guide emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making to enhance access to educational and career opportunities for youth.

Higher Learning Advocates 

Our partnership with Higher Learning Advocates, a pioneering non-partisan nonprofit dedicated to transforming postsecondary education, focused on crafting their inaugural 3-year strategic plan to position the organization to effectively influence policy changes, enhance educational outcomes, and champion the needs of all of today’s students.

Virginia State Higher Education System 

Here we developed a communication strategy to support the state of Virginia’s higher education system, who needed to publicize their new model guaranteeing credit transfer and affordability between 2- and 4-year institutions. Our strategy assisted institutions within the system to effectively conveying the benefits and opportunities of these models to students and other stakeholders.

 

Intermediaries

Houston GPS 

Houston GPS is a network of Gulf Coast-Houston area community colleges and 4-year universities working together to provide timely, structured, and seamless pathway for transfer students. In this work we addressed their need to actively engage students in this work to address persistent equity gaps in access, persistence, and graduation. We worked directly with students to critically examine institutional policies and practices to support student success and encourage mutual aid across the system.

Florida Virtual Campus 

Florida Virtual Campus offers free services to Florida’s public postsecondary institutions, K-12 school districts, and other partners. In this work, we collaborated FLVC to enhance the student transfer process by developing a Student Transfer Experience Framework based on insights from students and stakeholders, creating a digital transfer toolkit, investigating system-wide transformation opportunities, and reinforcing FLVC’s role as a key partner in collaborative innovation.

Intermediaries for Scale

The Intermediaries for Scale initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation connects intermediaries across the country to support colleges and universities in becoming more student-centered and closing graduation equity gaps. Working with both organizations and students, we established a shared vision and philosophy to enhance student engagement and voice, providing a guiding framework and tools to assist member institutions in implementing these practices.

Competency-Based Education Network 

We were at the forefront of guiding the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) in its transformative journey from a vibrant community of practice to a self-sustaining organization. Encompassing a vast array of pioneering institutions in competency-based education (CBE), our role in this evolution was to craft a robust business model.

 

Funders

Lumina Foundation

Our longstanding partnership with Lumina Foundation supported the implementation of their current 5-year strategic plan. Our mission was to crystallize and amplify Lumina’s core messages, enhancing their influence in national dialogues about higher education, societal advancement, and equitable change. Serving as a strategic intermediary, we connected the dots across Lumina’s diverse portfolios, distilling their intricate initiatives into coherent, impactful narratives.

Strada Education Network 

We collaborated with Strada Education Network in a pivotal study aimed at enhancing the career development ecosystem within higher education. Our mission was to delve deep into the strategic priorities of institutions, focusing on the integral role of career services in connecting college education to successful career pathways. Our comprehensive analysis sought to gauge the appetite and readiness of postsecondary institutions to engage in transformative practices that bridge the gap between academic achievements and career success.