Our Clients

"Working with MCE has been an absolute pleasure and a very fruitful learning experience for our entire team. Alison strikes a perfect balance of professionalism and personalized contact. She is responsive, understanding, patient, and incredibly insightful. She truly heard and internalized our needs, concerns, and limitations and was able to adeptly reflect them in the final strategic plan. Her fusion of quantitative and qualitative approaches means that the plan is not only grounded in solid data, but also reflective and respectful of the very unique nature of our organization."

"MCE’s evaluation of the work and progress made by National Theater Project (NTP) in advancing equity and access in the national devised and ensemble theater field was thorough, insightful, and actionable. When NTP engaged MCE for evaluation, a major concern was the inclusion of qualitative and quantitative analysis data. Previous experiences with evaluators had not been successful in telling the full story nor in providing actionable recommendations for improvement. We implemented a search to find a consultant who could manage the complex quantitative analysis challenges as well as the qualitative data accumulated over the years. MCE did not disappoint. On the contrary, MCE’s methodologies informed a thorough assessment of NTP from its decision-making process to distribution of its funds. Their analysis highlighted how the decision to include a more diverse decision-making body led to more equitable grantmaking and to meaningful change in the theater field, including increased support to artists of color, rural artists, innovative artists; greater and deeper connections among grantees, presenters, and NTP advisors. MCE worked collaboratively with the NTP team to create a full and accurate analysis and a roadmap with options for making the program better."

"Alison’s dedication to the learning community brought the students’ experience to the next level. Not only did she give students’ insightful feedback on their assignments, she fostered rich discussions among the group. Alison brought all her experience to bear and, in doing so, she helped NAS shape the design of several of our programs."

"Your team has been great to work with and this report is beautiful. I appreciate you and this important documentation of the legacy of ILI. I am looking forward to sharing it with our communities."

"The consultation of Alison McNeil was instrumental in helping us work through the development of a robust evaluation process. She offered technical support as a thought partner to our after school program director that allowed us to develop a pre, midway and exit evaluation. These tools helped us conduct our first external evaluation of our program. This was a game changing process helping take our work to the next phase of its development. "

"Alison's insight was invaluable to my development in the National Arts Strategies/University of Pennsylvania Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy. Her pointed critique pushed me to challenge my assumptions based on the information presented while providing suggestions that were directly applicable to my work at Memphis Music Initiative."

"Working with Alison McNeil of MCE has been a great experience. Her expertise in the business side of the performing arts is invaluable. Ms. McNeil thoroughly familiarized herself with our company, helped us narrow our vision, and set attainable goals. Her guidance has helped us make significant steps towards improving our company’s identity, operations and internal structure. "

"Thanks so much for your thoughtful guidance and collaborative partnership in the Dance/USA executive search process. Your guidance has been the key to our successful executive search and appointment process. An ED search is always a soul searching time for an organization. While a diverse group of people guarantees diverse perspectives and opinions, I am pleased to see that we are continuing to move forward thoughtfully, and with the equity lens in this process. "

"Alison McNeil is a Thought Provocateur! She shares her knowledge, stirs dialogue for contemplation and supports clients with their visions for programming. During the process of assessing our program, Alison’s feedback was invaluable. Her dual perspective of being an artist and an administrator provided a strategic advantage. RMHF highly recommends MCE to any organization interested in making smart and creative change."

"Thank you so much Alison and your team for the amazing work on this impact study. I am so excited to share this report and feel incredibly proud of the way you have offered this data on our organization through such a beautiful story telling lens. It is incredibly powerful."

"Thank you Alison and MCE team – this is a comprehensive and insightful review of NTP over its history. The findings are affirming and useful and your thoughtful reflections will help us as we move into a new era of leadership at NEFA."

"Thank you again for leading such an informative and much-needed workshop! I think the ladies of the Vanguard really appreciated your knowledge and expertise but also your compassion and attentiveness to their stories and experiences. It’s a daunting world out there when it comes to finding funding for your art and you certainly made the challenge a lot easier to bare. You certainly are a woman of grace and integrity and we're so grateful and fortunate to have you as a part of our FRESHH tribe! "

"Thank you, again, for your critical reflection and thinking with me. The solutions we brainstormed are exciting, and I'm looking forward to putting them into place!"

"A huge thanks to you and your team for all of your work and insights. Darren and I were just remarking how impressed we are with your work on this project, and how your recommendations truly have set us on a much more productive path. We're very, very happy with your work."

"Thank you for meeting and generously sharing with Marýa Wethers, Rebecca Fitton and myself various ways to approach data collection that are organic and support the social and intellectual frameworks of a project, and not just the financial frameworks. The information you shared is incredibly helpful in understanding how to reframe data collection, so it becomes about creative storytelling and not just about the numbers. As Rebecca mentioned afterwards, the session was, "super enlightening and sparked many more ideas!""

"Working with Alison and the MCE team on Dance/USA's search was a terrific experience. The whole search process from start to finish was very well organized, and Alison kept us on task and on schedule. She is thoughtful, positive, a great listener, and excellent at synthesizing complex information, bringing together varying points of view and guiding a group toward a consensus. She was adept at adjusting to the dynamics and the rhythm of our group while still getting us to the finish line, and her commitment to moving us forward in the context of our established institutional values helped us reach the conclusion that was right for our organization. I have nothing but positive things to say about the work of Alison and the MCE team!"

"I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of communication and insights that Alison brought to our executive director search. At the outset, Alison initiated a process grounded in deep listening and understanding of our unique needs, which resulted in MCE effectively taking on a lot of the heavy lifting. MCE is a tremendous resource and I look forward to working with them on the next project. "

"The process of evaluation is one in which organizations must wrestle with who they are at a given moment in time and who they hope to become. With great grace and curiosity, Alison McNeil and the MCE Team assisted in the deep and revelatory process of evaluating the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Program. Not only did Alison McNeil exhibit the skills required to navigate and fulfill the expectations of the two philanthropic organizations that share management of the initiative, but she was simultaneously able to listen, affirm and respect the insights provided by Pittsburgh’s artists, arts leaders and community stakeholders. Her ability to quickly gain the respect of participants is evident in both the honest - and transformational - feedback that was gathered, and in the way she presented her findings with integrity and courage. The final result is one of the most extensive evaluations of the program since its evolution in 2010. The findings are clear, and Alison has left us with a roadmap that will certainly help us to more effectively focus our grantmaking in ways that support sustainable growth and increased visibility for Black artists, arts organizations and cultural workers."