Testimonials

What People Say…

Through the years, I worked with numerous talented people on a variety of interesting and challenging strategic initiatives. With every engagement, customer satisfaction is my most critical priority.

However, I believe there’s nothing more persuasive than reading what actual customers and colleagues think, so following a selection of quotes about their experiences working with me.

Testimonials

“We hired Barbara Alevras to assist us with the development of a five year strategic plan...Her friendly and professional manner was an asset in guiding us through the planning process and in facilitating public meetings. Always respectful of everyone’s opinion, she tactfully asked the appropriate questions that resulted in thoughtful consideration and discussion. She was thorough, diligent and went the extra mile to insure that we were moving forward in reaching our benchmarks. Her ability to interpret and synthesize data and community feedback was a tremendous help and time saver. Barbara was a pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend her to any library ready to embark on its next strategic planning process.”

Tina S., Library Director, Wilmington Memorial Library

"Barbara is a results-oriented and strategic-minded consultant; she consistently delivers structured and thoughtful performance analyses of our major leadership development initiative with many stakeholders. She thoroughly understands our goals, organizational environment, and processes. She can synthesize data from multiple sources into succinct, easy-to-understand reports that support the continued growth of the initiative and can always be relied upon to provide valuable, well thought out feedback. Barbara is a pleasure to work with and I look forward to continuing our successful working relationship.”

“Barbara was hired to help us develop strategies and launch our first social media networks. We were very pleased with Barbara's expert knowledge, timeliness, and how easy she was to work with as she customized the project to fit our needs. We strongly recommend Barbara to any small business looking for marketing strategies, tips and techniques to grow their business and increase sales.”

Joanne S., President and Founder, Small Business Owner

Denise R., Director, Non-Profit Organization

"Working with Barbara was one of the most successful professional partnerships I have experienced. I contracted with Barbara for three different roles supporting a not-for-profit: project manager, trainer, and strategy execution support. In her strategy execution role, she developed a modular growth plan and a series of measures of success for an exciting but potentially unwieldy education program, creating an organized vision/platform that enabled greater funding of the program. In her project manager role, Barbara supported three startups (analogous to franchises) for the organization. Each differed in scope, ranging anywhere from 50 members and few associated assets to 150-200 members and associated assets of $1m+. Clear strengths in this role were: providing targeted, unique and industry-specific solutions and strategies, and the development of processes and templates that drove efficacy and efficiency. Her documentation of these solutions, processes and templates has empowered similar projects to get started faster and smarter. In all roles, Barbara was able to establish effective relationships with both volunteers and staff, and of course she delivered all her projects on time and under budget. I cannot recommend Barbara highly enough and I look forward to our next partnership."

Susan Z., Executive Director, Non-Profit Organization

"Barbara is very strategic, analytical, and a creative problem solver. I could always count on her to challenge the board to think beyond the traditional solutions and come up with innovative results-oriented solutions. Barbara has an amazing leadership style that empowers others and builds a strong sense of collaboration. It is always a pleasure to work with Barbara."

Crista V., President, International Executive Board, Non-Profit Organization

Andrew C., Assistant Director, Non-Profit Organization

"Barbara Alevras is a premier project facilitator. Barbara supported our organization's efforts to develop and execute large and complex project plans for important new business endeavors operating in four states with diversely unique markets and "political" challenges. Barbara excelled in relationship management and proved superior in keeping our projects on time and on budget. Barbara's business skills provided a great benefit to our organization, while her approach and personality presented me with a wonderful collaborator."

Megan B., Director of Marketing and Extension, Non-Profit Organization

"Barbara has an unparalleled and dynamic understanding of how individuals and teams work. She has the talent to create a collaborative environment in which all team members not only understand their potential, but also live it. Her ability to navigate challenging situations with humor is keenly effective and creates a productive environment that enhances cross-functional teams' abilities to achieve results."

Renee Z., Director, Non-Profit Organization

“I highly recommend Barbara Alevras to any organization working to improve its internal structure and develop a strategic plan in order to enhance its functioning, stability, and professionalism. [We] worked with Barbara to develop [our] strategic plan...Our strategic planning process was very comprehensive...It normally would have been a very stressful and trying experience. Instead, thanks to Barbara, even though it was challenging, it was informative, empowering, and energizing.

Barbara is very attuned to the needs and style of those with whom she works, and she adapts her approach to best meet their needs...Our planning process involved confronting some long-standing problems and exploring changes in the way we do business. This was scary for us, but Barbara was unfailingly patient...She distilled the key elements of wide-ranging discussions to help us focus on the salient issues and consistently refocused the group when discussions went afield. And, she gently and firmly called for a decision when the discussion became a way of avoidance...

Thanks to Barbara we were successful in developing a well-crafted strategic plan that will enhance our organization over the next three years. We are in her debt and recommend her without reservation.

Mary C., President, Board of Directors, Non-Profit Organization

"Barbara was introduced into a difficult environment in which she had to reinstate a complex proprietary corporate review process and all associated disciplines. She had to redevelop structured controls lacking for more than a year among a variety of senior sales, delivery and management personnel…. Barbara frequently worked with personnel who resisted authority and resented corporate oversight, however, her low-key approach, partnered with excellent written and oral communication skills, contributed to a very productive team environment... Barbara offers a broad range of technical and application skills as well as having a good business sense…. She easily understands both professional and applications processes and ensures that business and technical issues are quickly identified and addressed. Barbara possesses excellent interpersonal skills, a thorough understanding of the project management process, and the ability to interact confidently with varying levels of management and individuals with potentially divergent agendas."

Harry G., Controller, Information Technology Consulting Company

"Barbara's finely honed communication skills, partnered with her political sensitivity, enabled her to serve as an extremely effective consensus builder and problem-solver. She successfully brought cross-functional and vertical staffs with conflicting views together to ensure that resources were appropriately allocated when a new opportunity aligned with the corporation's strategic goals. While galvanizing business review and project teams to work together towards a common goal, Barbara's expertise as a talented leader was obvious."

Laurie R., Proposal Center Manager, Information Technology Consulting Company

“I contracted with Barbara last fall to develop and monitor a…department revitalization plan…Barbara did not disappoint...With her expertise, we were able to get the…department running effectively again with updated contracts, policies, and procedures. And all of this was done within a short timeframe because of Barbara's detailed, easy to follow plan and oversight of the project. Throughout, Barbara worked with [volunteers] with various levels of experience and skills. Not only did she get them on the right track, but also she educated them along the way and was always pleasant to work with. The [project] was a success, and the [organization] continues to see the benefits...many thanks to Barbara!”

Laura K. Assistant Director of Admissions, Non-Profit Organization

"Barbara's commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, combined with her ability to communicate with all levels of staff and management, made her an invaluable contributor. She developed innovative solutions to customer and staff issues using technology as well as strategic and creative problem-solving skills…. I feel confident recommending Barbara for any engagement that would use her marketing, project management, financial services, and customer relationship skills."

Anthony G., Senior Vice President, Sales, Financial Services Company

But Wait! There's More!

For more information about Sage's projects and working with Barbara, contact Sage today!