Projects
Curiosity and a creative approach to problem-solving set us apart. We empower groups, organizations, and those in leadership positions to not only recognize and strengthen their community's unique identity but amplify the contributions that innovative thinking brings to community life.
After recognizing assets, assessing specific challenges, and evaluating options, our team of experienced professionals offers support, using cutting-edge tools and hands-on learning that provide ideal solutions to meet your specific requirements.
Asset mapping with after school students at Great Oak Youth Development Center.
McDowell, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties,
Western North Carolina
As project manager for Bringing Telehealth Home, Geraldine served as the lead consultant for a year-long, community-based planning process.
The key outcome for this project was to develop a strategic plan for a tri-county network of partners working to provide remote home monitoring technology and its potential applications to people with chronic illness in McDowell, Mitchell,
and Yancey counties.
This was a federally funded project through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
The Blue Ridge Regional Hospital Foundation and the Center for Rural Health Innovation administer this grant.
Completion: August 2015.
Avery, Mitchell, Yancey Counties,
Western North Carolina
As project coordinator for the Toe River Health District’s Maternal Child Health Initiative Geraldine developed multi-county action plans for the improvement of community-wide systems to reduce infant mortality using evidence-based strategies.
Primary responsibilities included the coordination of two Community Action Teams representing a diverse group of stakeholders from over fifty health and service agencies. The development of these action plans was driven by feedback from stakeholders using collective impact methodology, provider data, and results-based accountability for evaluation.
This full-time, five-month planning project was funded through a grant from The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Women’s Health Branch. Work on this project resulted in a 1.5 million dollar, three-year grant award to a multi-county partnership that included Avery County.
Completion: June 2016
Asheville, North Carolina
In 2020 Geraldine provided a year of executive coaching in the development of programs and services at Oshun Mountain Sanctuary, a fifty-four-acre non-profit educational retreat center of national reach just a few minutes outside of downtown Asheville.
Presentations and Panels
February 4, 2016: North Carolina City-County Management Association (NCCCMA); Winter Seminar: A panel discussion about communities that are engaging citizens using public art as a means of building community and economic development. Durham, NC.
March 17, 2016: North Carolina Statewide Main Streets Conference, Art is SmART panel discussion. Goldsboro, North Carolina.
April 8, 2016: Union County Arts Council Breakfast for the Arts: Monroe, North Carolina.
October 11, 2016: Creating Change Through Collective Impact, a half-day workshop sponsored by Western North Carolina Non-profit Pathways.
Avery, Mitchell, Yancey Counties
Western North Carolina
As a project coordinator for the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, Geraldine worked with local family service agencies to identify and consolidate certified trainers to provide an evidence-based and evidence-informed parent education system for the tri-county area. The long-term intent was to coordinate a regional approach to providing parent education for children, prenatal to age eighteen, that offered a full continuum of resources, education, and support.
Asheville, North Carolina
GE Aviation - Asheville, a global leader in jet engine and aircraft system production, worked with Plato Strategies to commission an aviation-inspired piece of public art at the entrance of its newly built advanced composites factory in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contact Geraldine to view a sample RFQ or
to discuss a public art acquisition plan.
Edenton, North Carolina
The goal of this project was to develop a community public art plan that would outline best practices and provide a solid direction for acquiring and determining locations and types of public art based on the desires and needs of the citizens of Edenton.
It also provided ideas and sources of funding for acquiring art and gaining financial support for this project. The project was a public engagement process built on collaboration with Destination Downtown Edenton, The Preservation Commission, Tourism Development Authority, town employees, the Main Street Downtown Development Board, local artists, local arts and cultural organizations, and the citizens of Edenton.
Completion: June 2016
Waxhaw, North Carolina
Located in Union County, about 20 miles south of Charlotte, Waxhaw’s rich history serves as a unique palette for growth and development. With a strong desire to preserve its heritage as it responds to its fast-paced growth, the Town of Waxhaw hired PLATO Strategies to work with their Beautification Committee to develop site-specific plans and policy around the acquisition, display, and funding opportunities for public art.
The Town of Waxhaw requested a combination of services to: determine the wants and needs of local citizens, increase expose and opportunity for artists, provide solid ideas and sources of funding and strategies to gain support for this project, all of which needed to be aligned with the town’s long-range plans for growth and development.
You can read about the award-winning results of this six-month project or watch this short video: NC Main Street Award 2013.
Contact Geraldine to view a sample report
Giving Back
Geraldine Currently serves as a trustee for the Fund for Mitchell County, an affiliate of the Community 'Foundation of western North Carolina.
She also currently serves as an advisor to the Development Committee at Arthur Morgan School in Celo,NC.
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, is a national non-profit whose mission is to advance the understanding of craft by encouraging and supporting research, scholarship, and professional development.
Having followed the Center's impact on craft artists and craft institutions since its inception, Geraldine was honored to serve on this board from 2011 to 2017 including two years as president of the board.
Yancey County, North Carolina
Initially hired as a consultant, Geraldine assumed the part-time role of President and CEO at The Strawbridge and Martha Wilson Young Foundation. Their mission is to preserve the legacy of Southern Appalachian pioneers and experience how they lived. As a project of the Foundation, she built administrative infrastructure and developed programs for the Center for Pioneer Life, a model 1850s subsistence farm on 12-acres of prime farmland in Yancey County.
Completion: Fall 2023
The High Country, North Carolina
As part of a larger, statewide effort to improve community outcomes for maternal child health, Geraldine served as a lead consultant for AppHealthCare, based in Boone. Her work guided the implementation team to develop collective impact strategies meant to serve and strengthen community action teams throughout the high country.
Working with a representative from Allegheny, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, and Wilkes counties she positioned this multi-county partnership to strengthen the assets that each county currently offers while capitalizing on the many potential, unique cross-country collaborations.
The aim of this planning was to leverage the strong social capital and mutual resources already existing among many agencies while searching for new partnerships. This project was funded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health.
Asheville,North Carolina
As an advisor to the River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project, Geraldine served on a committee to help shape policy and planning for the Public Arts Master Planning segment of this project.
In collaboration with Future Trace Strategies and the Asheville Design Center, this project focused on gathering public input to inform a strategy for incorporating public art into the Wilma Dykeman Riverway's River Arts District 2.2 mile segment.
Completion: Spring 2016
Fayetteville,North Carolina
The Visual Arts Leadership Team (VALT) is a diverse group of seven community leaders. They requested a comprehensive process to explore the formation of a new visual arts entity in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The questions they were working within: Is the vision for a new visual arts organization feasible? What purpose will it serve? How does it function? What steps need to be taken, and in what order, to ensure the creation of an organization that is essential to its community?
Plato Strategies provided a structured, deliberate, and directed data collection and planning format to identify assets and resources during the first phase of this project.
Geraldine was invited back for phase two to facilitate a community-wide conversation and begin imagining what a new, sustainable, mission-driven visual arts organization.
Using an inclusive community process, extensive interviewing, and strategic town hall-style meetings, she guided the leadership team to further advance the project during her multi-year engagement.
Contact Geraldine to view a sample report
To schedule a speaking engagement call Geraldine 828.467.0979
Testimonials
You have been the “project manager from central casting” — always on top of things and able to problem solve as needed, just terrific! It has been a pleasure to work with you and I hope there are many other opportunities.
Laurel Hunt, Director, System Grants, Mission Health System
Asheville, North Carolina
Thank you for the fabulous perspective you designed for our Visual Arts Leadership Team and community.This has been an extraordinary beginning guided by the very best professional team. If ever there was a perfect start, this is it. The entire road seems very challenging but bringing the community together helps to establish a more solid direction and commitment. We have all truly appreciated your wonderful guidance and love for the arts.
Janet Parks
Fayetteville, North Carolina
We extend our sincerest gratitude for your ongoing collaboration and commitment to the Maternal Child Health Initiative (MCHI), as well as your recent consulting on collective impact. Thank you for your intensive time, research, presence, and listening, which have all contributed to a thorough, nuanced report and framework that will inform our community engagement efforts. We truly appreciate your thoughtful expertise that helps make this region thrive.
AppHealth Care MCHI Implementation Team
Allegheny, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, and Wilkes counties, North Carolina