what we do

Ombuds is a planning, engagement, and research consultancy that helps communities and organizations design thoughtful processes, build planning, and bring place-based projects to life.

We blend urban planning, community experience, and cultural insight to support initiatives that honor people, place, and possibility.

Our work is grounded in lived experience, relational process design, and the belief that strong relationships — and the spaces that hold them — shape strong communities.

our services

We work with nonprofits, cultural & community organizations, planners & designers, neighborhood coalitions, grassroots groups, foundations, municipal partners, and values-aligned development teams working on community-centered or place-based projects.

Initiative & Coalition Development

For complex, multi-stakeholder efforts that need alignment, shared language, and a clear, fundable path forward.

Some projects aren’t “just a grant” or “just an idea”—they’re the beginning of an initiative. Ombuds specializes in shaping these early-stage concepts into aligned, community-centered efforts that can move from vision to action.

Perfect for:

Neighborhood coalitions, cultural partnerships, emerging community initiatives, cross-sector collaboratives, advocacy networks, adaptive reuse projects or multi-partner development efforts that require community alignment.

    • Vision & concept development

    • Stakeholder mapping & relationship-building

    • Coalition design, governance & role clarity

    • Facilitated partner convenings

    • Funder strategy & cultivation

    • Landscape scans & opportunity mapping

    • Multi-partner proposal & pitch materials

    • Logic models, Theory of Change & evaluation frameworks

    • Narrative alignment across organizations

  • This isn’t just grant writing. This is initiative architecture—the strategic, creative, relational, and planning work required to make complex projects fundable and implementable.

Community Engagement & Participatory Facilitation

Trauma-responsive, culturally aware engagement that builds trust, belonging, and shared understanding.

We design processes where community members feel valued, heard, and safe to bring their lived experiences into planning and program design. Our methods honor dignity, reduce power imbalances, and cultivate the kind of insight only genuine engagement can produce.

Perfect for:

Planning projects, corridor initiatives, neighborhood strategies, cultural programs, organizational learning processes.

    • Engagement strategy & process design

    • Participatory workshops & listening sessions

    • Street-level methods (intercept surveys, pop-ups, field labs)

    • Youth-led & creative engagement models

    • Culturally-grounded facilitation

    • Insight reports & community-informed recommendations

  • We design engagement that is relational — not extractive. You can feel the difference.

Planning Research & Impact Evaluation

Mixed-methods research and evaluation that help organizations understand communities, measure impact, and make informed decisions.

We bring a planner’s perspective to data: blending lived experience, behavioral insight, and quantitative + qualitative methods to tell a full, human story.

Perfect for:

Foundations, nonprofits, planning departments, cultural orgs, community development efforts, pilot projects, and funder-required impact reporting.

    • Mixed-methods research design

    • Neighborhood & perception studies

    • Needs assessments

    • Community data frameworks

    • Logic models & Theory of Change development

    • Evaluation plans for grants & programs

    • Post-activation or post-program impact measurement

    • Insight synthesis & planning recommendations

  • Research should illuminate, not intimidate. We turn data into meaning — and meaning into action. And we make it fun to boot.

Cultural Planning & Placekeeping Strategy

Planning frameworks that honor local identity, support cultural continuity, and strengthen the public life of neighborhoods.

Ombuds helps communities and organizations understand the cultural, social, and behavioral forces that shape place. We design planning strategies that protect what makes neighborhoods meaningful — and support the conditions for connection, belonging, and cultural expression.

Perfect for:

Neighborhood organizations, cultural districts, coalitions, planning efforts, and communities navigating change or seeking a stronger, community-centered planning foundation.

    • Cultural landscape & neighborhood identity scans

    • Public life & behavioral insights

    • Placekeeping strategy & planning recommendations

    • Small area or neighborhood-level planning support

    • Story-driven community identity frameworks

    • Youth-informed planning perspectives

    • Preparatory insights for comprehensive or strategic planning

    • Recommendations grounded in lived experience, history, and community voice

  • We treat placekeeping as both a planning tool and a cultural practice. We listen for the histories, identities, and everyday behaviors that shape how people experience a neighborhood — then translate those insights into planning strategies that strengthen belonging, protect cultural continuity, and support a more connected public life. Our work is relational, grounded in lived experience, and guided by the belief that planning should honor the communities who make a place meaningful.