Examples of our work:
Non-Profit Leadership
$1.5M
→ $6M+
Annual revenue growth over the engagement
50+
Documented operational improvements — averaging one every other week for two years
Building the Foundation
Beneath a Growing Mission
A regional environmental nonprofit had outgrown its systems, its processes, and its infrastructure — but not its ambition. Corden Street's Principal Consultant stepped in as its first COO and rebuilt the organization from the inside out, delivering more than 50 documented improvements in two years while revenue grew from $1.5 million to more than $6 million.
The Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) had been doing important environmental work for decades. But a period of rapid growth had outpaced the organization's internal infrastructure. Its financial systems, grants management processes, HR practices, technology, and compliance frameworks were straining under demands they were never designed to handle. The addition of large federal grants — including a $17.5 million NOAA coastal restoration program — made the gap between mission and management increasingly urgent.
In June 2023, APCC brought in Corden Street's Bill Riley as its first Chief Operating Officer — the first senior operational executive in the organization's history. The mandate was clear: modernize the organization's business infrastructure without disrupting the programs and people delivering its core mission.
We began with a comprehensive assessment — meeting one-on-one with every member of the staff to understand what was working, what wasn't, and what they needed. That candid input, integrated with a systematic review of all seven core business functions, shaped a two-year transformation that touched every corner of the organization.
"The goal was never change for its own sake. Every improvement had to make the mission easier to deliver — and leave the organization stronger than we found it."
Emergency & Crisis Management
$42M
Obligated to New Jersey — more than double the $20M cap
699
Pages of data, evidence, and documentation supporting the waiver filing
The Filing No One
Had Ever Won Before
FEMA had a process that allowed applicants to request a waiver of the cap on administrative costs. No applicant had ever succeeded. The Principal Consultant of Corden Street built the case that changed that — and unlocked $42 million for New Jersey.
Superstorm Sandy's destruction of New Jersey was unlike anything the state had experienced. The scale of the disaster — and the federal recovery effort that followed — was matched only by the administrative complexity it created. Managing the FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program for an event of this magnitude required extraordinary resources, staff, systems, and expertise.
The problem: FEMA capped the amount of federal funds available to cover a state's cost of administering its own disaster grants at $20 million. For New Jersey, that was far short of what the actual work would require. And while FEMA's own regulations included a process to request a waiver of that cap, the process had never once resulted in success. No FEMA applicant — in the history of the program — had ever convinced FEMA to grant it.
We took on the challenge. Working methodically through the regulatory framework, the evidentiary record, and the specific circumstances of Sandy's impact on New Jersey, our principal consultant assembled a 699-page waiver request — a document built entirely on data, hard evidence, and airtight documentation.
FEMA accepted the filing. The result: $42 million obligated to the State of New Jersey to cover its administrative costs — more than double the standing cap, and a precedent that had never been set in the history of the program.
The outcome was not the product of a loophole or an appeal. It was the product of preparation, expertise, and an understanding of exactly what FEMA needed to see to say yes. That is what Corden Street brings to every engagement: not just knowledge of the rules, but the discipline to work within them — and the skill to make them work for our clients.
Crisis Communications
2 Million+
Copies of Recovery Times distributed in the first deployment alone — in Pennsylvania
$0
Cost to the federal government — USA Today provided the distribution at no charge
Getting the Word Out...
...When the Power Is Out
When a disaster knocks out electricity and internet, the people who need help most lose access to the information that can help them. We catapulted the reach of FEMA's Recovery Times at a national scale — for free.
When FEMA needed to reach disaster survivors in communities without electricity or electronic communications, the standard playbook didn't apply. Television was dark. Websites were unreachable. And the people hardest hit — often elderly, rural, or without resources — had no way to learn what help was available or how to access it.
We recognized that in a blackout, paper still works. The solution was to build a ground-level information distribution network by going directly to one of the most powerful platforms in the country: USA Today.
Through direct negotiation, our consultant secured an agreement with USA Today to distribute critical FEMA disaster recovery information as inserts in local newspapers across its national network — reaching any community in the country affected by a declared disaster, at no cost to the federal government.
"In a blackout, paper still works. We went to where the distribution already existed — and negotiated the rest."
The first deployment alone put more than 2 million copies of the FEMA Recovery Times directly into the hands of survivors in Pennsylvania — giving them clear, reliable information about the assistance available, how to apply, and where to turn at a moment when that information was otherwise out of reach.
The deal required navigating the interests of a major national media company and the on-the-ground realities of disaster response — all under conditions of urgency. It succeeded because the consultants at Corden Street understood that effective crisis communications isn't just about crafting the message. It's about building the network to deliver it.
