What We Do
Second Mountain Strategies works at the intersection of public policy and economic resilience to guide foundations, government leaders, and cross-sector intermediaries toward building systems that work for people and places being left behind.
We are invested in applying a place-based lens to this work by designing strategies around the specific conditions, institutions, and constraints of the communities where policy meets practice. Learn more about our approach and services, below.
Our Approach
Our approach is designed to help partners understand how policy, funding, governance, and local systems interact in practice — and then how institutions can work together to move ideas from strategy to implementation. We help partners close that gap across four recurring challenges.
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We help partners make sense of shifting policy, funding, and labor market landscapes by identifying what's creating new opportunity, what's creating new risk, and where the unique leverage points are to maximize your impact.
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We design new initiatives, partnerships, and place-based solutions from early concept through pilot development, governance design, and implementation planning.
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We help coalitions of government, philanthropy, employers, and community organizations build the structures and frameworks needed to act together — not just agree in principle.
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We support complex implementation: translating policy commitments and funding into coordinated action plans and measurable progress in the communities that need it most.
Who We Work With
We partner with governments, philanthropies, nonprofits, workforce organizations, and cross-sector coalitions working to expand economic opportunity and strengthen workforce and economic mobility systems. Our clients are often navigating complex policy, funding, and implementation challenges that require coordination across institutions, sectors, and communities.
