North Edge Seeking Qualifications for Succession and Strategic Planning Consultants

Overview

North Edge is an Economic Development Corporation that provides business financing

and community development throughout Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake,

Siskiyou, and Trinity Counties. We exist to invest in businesses, communities, and

people in ways that create a resilient and equitable economy for our region. We have

several designations. We are a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a

Certified Development Company (SBA 504 lender), and a 501 C-3.

Since 1978, our organization has been a catalyst for helping our region be at the cutting

edge of innovation and shared prosperity. Whether it’s an entrepreneur looking to scale

their business, or an organization on a mission to enhance economic prosperity in the

region, North Edge can help bring those opportunities to life.

We are currently looking for a collaborative partner who can help us think strategically

about leadership succession, organizational culture, operational continuity, and long-

term planning. We are especially interested in consultants who can help capture

institutional knowledge, document key operational practices, and develop systems that

strengthen organizational resilience.

We are seeking qualifications from consultants or consulting teams to support

organizational sustainability, continuity, and future planning efforts.

This RFQ was designed so that, rather than prescribing a fixed scope of work, we invite

consultants to share the approach, process, and scope they believe would best support

our organization based on the goals outlined below.

DOWNLOAD THE RFQ HERE

Project Goals

To ensure the organization’s knowledge, culture, systems, and operations are well

documented and accessible so that future staff or leadership can effectively step into

roles with minimal disruption, we are seeking support in the following areas:

• Succession planning and leadership continuity

• Capturing organizational culture, stories, and institutional knowledge

• Documenting policies, procedures, and operational systems

• Developing practical tools and frameworks that allow organizational functions to continue smoothly during staff or leadership transitions

To support implementing these goals, we also want to ensure they are in the context of other organizational priorities by:

• Reviewing and updating the organization’s strategic plan and goal setting

Desired Consultant Qualifications

We are interested in consultants or firms with experience in:

• Strategic planning

• Organizational development

• Succession planning and leadership transition

• Facilitation and stakeholder engagement

• Organizational culture assessment

• Documentation of operational systems and workflows

• (working with) Nonprofit, community-based, tribal, rural, mission-driven, economic development or community development organizations

Submission Requirements

Please include:

• Your related experience and qualifications

• Your understanding of the project goals and a description of how you would

  approach supporting North Edge with meeting these goals – this might include

  identifying specific planning frameworks or modalities, co-creation or

  collaboration approaches, sequencing or phasing of steps, or other insights to

  demonstrate your suggested engagement approach.

• Anticipated ranges for costs and timelines of the approach(es) you describe,

  along with factors that would influence these costs and timelines

• Relevant references or examples of similar work

We welcome creative and thoughtful approaches and encourage consultants to

recommend methods, deliverables, and processes they believe would provide the

greatest value to the organization.

While we prefer a consultant who can perform all of the work needed, we are open to

submissions that address only a portion of the goals.

Timeline and Consultant Selection

We anticipate identifying a consultant by mid-July 2026 and then working collaboratively

to fine-tune a scope of work, budget, and timeline for contracting with an expected

project start of August 1, 2026.

Submission Information

Please submit any questions or your qualifications electronically to:

Susan Seaman, Program Director

susan@northedgefinancing.org

Deadline for receipt: June 30, 2026

North Edge reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to negotiate scope,

timeline, or budget with the selected consultant. A formalized scope of work and budget

will be created based on the winning bid’s proposal.

DOWNLOAD THE RFQ HERE