About Us

Solid Ground is a fellowship of consultants and coaches on a shared journey to make a difference – as a team and as partners with the leaders and organizations we support nationwide. Our path is not just professional. It’s personal.

We can’t ignore the far too many social, environmental, and economic challenges people and communities face. Or the enduring barriers to universal justice and equity.

We recognize our communities are only as strong as the health and well-being of the most vulnerable and underprivileged among us. We also are aware that people cannot live unsustainably and ignore the natural environment that sustains life. 

We want the world to be better, more just, more sustainable. That’s what binds us to each other. And it’s what connects us to the amazing leaders and contributors in the nonprofit organizations and public institutions we have the privilege of working with every day.

Our Vision

We are working toward a vision of the future where . . .

All people flourish in healthy, inclusive communities that protect and provide access to beloved places on a thriving planet.

Healthy communities provide all who live in them with equitable access to housing, education, nutritious foods, quality health care, employment, clean water and air, and places they love. Equity and justice are inherent rights enjoyed by all.

Community leaders take none of this for granted. Building on a lifetime of relationships and tremendous personal capital, leaders help show the way for positive change, but make room for all in the journey. They forge connections among the people and places that matter.

Our Mission

We build the confidence and capacity of leaders to make a difference in their community.

Building a Just and Inclusive Future Together

We acknowledge that people have faced discrimination and exclusion for centuries because of their identities, and this has created an unfair society. MC envisions a just world where everyone can advocate for their needs, make meaningful changes in their lives and communities, and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity. We believe that ongoing efforts to ensure equity and inclusion are necessary for everyone to be able to live more authentically and fully.

As an organization, we believe that having diverse perspectives makes our work richer and stronger. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone is treated equitably. We also pledge to keep learning and improving as individuals and as a firm, so our actions consistently reflect our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

Our Values

Solid Ground is a partner, advocate, and supporter of leaders. Within our communities, we too are leaders, sharing a fearless commitment to several core values:

Justice. We actively pursue social and environmental justice in our work, our partnerships, and our lives.
Equity. We seek equity across racial, ethnic, economic, and class lines in our everyday decisions and long-term thinking.
Interdependence. We embrace a healthy interdependence of the human and natural worlds in the face of the climate crisis facing our planet.
Collaboration. Shoulder-to-shoulder with each other and the leaders we serve, we commit our work toward a future of healthy, inclusive communities and beloved places.

Our Team

We often think in metaphors at Solid Ground. One of our favorites is the braid. A braid yields its strength from plaited individual strands, each strong alone, yet more resilient and, in most cases, more beautiful when interwoven.

Solid Ground culture reflects our commitment to fellowship. Collaboration is embedded in all we do – with each other and in partnership with our clients. We are individuals with distinct backgrounds made stronger as a firm through a shared system of theory and practices in organizational development.

This symbiosis between diverse talents and a common system – a graceful braid of multiple strands – nurtures the confidence and capacity we work so hard to develop in our clients.

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to get to know us.

Joy Lujan

Marc Smiley

Dori Rosenblum

Christine Rontal

Tim Howe

Kaethe Graves

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Dori Rosenblum

Business Manager

Dori has been with Solid Ground since it began in 2008. She wears many hats but the largest one is Business Manager. She diligently cares for the finances and keeping best practices throughout the company, as well as being the contract manager and following the proposals to signed contracts.

Dori thrives on the strong and close relationships at Solid Ground. She believes in showing her true self all along the way.

Family, fitness, and fun are her favorite pastimes.

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Marc Smiley

Principal

The big room. The tough nut. The difficult conversation. The most vexing problem.

This is what gets Marc up in the morning – usually very early – and drives him through the day: working with leaders of community organizations to make a difference. The bigger the challenge, the better.

For more than 30 years, Marc has served as a guide, a resource, and a partner with hundreds of organizations committed to healthy communities, vital nature, and equitable systems. As a founder of Solid Ground, Marc has cobbled a team designed to empower and embolden leaders to make their communities better places for everyone.

Marc has often been there at the start of things. He was an initial staff member for the Land Trust Alliance, River Network, and the Yakima Greenway Foundation. Other employment stints include United Way and Oregon Wild (then known as the Oregon Natural Resource Council). And in 1999, Marc guided the rollout and start-up of what is now Oregon’s fourth largest nonprofit organization, the Energy Trust of Oregon.

As a volunteer, Marc has likewise been there in the beginning of things small (like the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy) and big (like the Land Trust Accreditation Commission). He also has held leadership roles at REACH Community Development and Columbia Land Trust.

Through a consulting career traveling actually (and now virtually) across the entire U.S., Marc has worked extensively with groups focused on conservation, climate and sustainability, historic preservation, affordable housing, and health and human services. He has published books on board governance, strategic planning, and fundraising, as well as dozens of articles in journals and periodicals. His workshops are spirited, memorable, and brimming with relevant tools and information. Challenging facilitation is his forte.

College includes a degree from the University of Oregon in Eugene with education spanning the communications arts – from journalism to classical rhetoric. Eugene is also where he found his professional stride and fell in love.

Marc is a native Oregonian whose efforts to migrate elsewhere can’t overcome a homing instinct. Marc’s head is full of music that spans an eclectic mix, and he can find the perfect lyric from an obscure song from the last century if the circumstances warrant it. Sadly, it seldom does. Family is important, and raising two boys with his partner Amy may be his most important role. Sam and Tucker are now men, and a new generation of community service continues what Marc and Amy have been doing throughout their own lives.

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Christine Rontal

Consultant

Christine has supported a diversity of organizations focused on a wide range of issues including land use, health care, environment, affordable housing, social justice, education, and beyond for over 20 years across the country and internationally with strategic planning, annual planning, board governance, fundraising, marketing, executive leadership, and general organizational development. She is a member of the Board of Directors of 1,000 Friends of Oregon where she enjoys the opportunity to get to know folks from all sides of life across the State. In her free time, she enjoys being with her family, traveling and learning about different cultures, seeing and playing live music, skiing, biking, gardening, and cooking.

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Tim Howe

Engagement Specialist

Tim has worked in many facets of communication and education for his entire career, from the classroom to the community. He graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a degree in Rhetoric & Media Studies in 2012, taught elementary grades in rural North Carolina, acted as a classroom culture consultant throughout the Pacific Northwest, and served as Assistant Dean of Admission at Reed College. Tim has worked on and off with Solid Ground since 2014, coming to the team as an Engagement and Communication Specialist in 2021.

Tim specializes in capturing the internal culture and voice of an organization and transferring it to multiple communication platforms. He is interested in creating the conditions necessary for joy to blossom within an individual, team, or organization. Tim is currently working on completing his Masters in Leadership for Sustainability Education at Portland State University.

When Tim isn’t thinking about the intersections of organizational sustainability and play, you can find him playing music in dusty haunts around Portland, hiking Dog Mountain, and seeking out the perfect bite of a sandwich.

Alex Charlap

IT/Administration Specialist

Alex’s experience as a nonprofit administrator across 20 years is of great value to the many nonprofit clients Solid Ground supports. Her background includes managing C-Suites, serving as board liaison, and overseeing day-to-day operations, human resources, volunteer programs, IT, and event planning. Her focus at Solid Ground is managing client relationships, engagement logistics, supporting executive searches and facilitation of virtual retreats and events.

Prior to joining the Solid Ground, Alex was part of the leadership team at two of California’s largest public gardens and most recently at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, OR. She is passionate about environmental conservation and is committed to doing her part to ensure we preserve our natural resources. She studied horticulture science and landscape design at Mt San Antonio College and has completed the Nonprofit Management Certificate Program at Oregon State University.

In her free time, you can find her in her art studio, out in nature, gardening, or spending time with family.

Building a strong board is not a question of luck.

People have time to give. They don’t have time to waste.

We know leaders need to understand their roles and responsibilities and have the authority to carry them out. They need options for involvement, structures that support them in their governing functions, and tools for effectiveness and accountability.

Building a strong board is not a question of luck. It is the result of an intentional focus on recruiting, orienting, training, evaluating, and recognizing board members. We bring tools and a thoughtful and practical approach to groups that see effective governing leaders as a precious resource, informed by our own experiences as board leaders.

Contact Solid Ground Consulting