Kit Fordham is a Strategic Partner for leaders and Organizations Who Are seeking clarity.

About Fordham & Company

Fordham & Company is a strategic advisory practice that helps mission-driven organizations navigate moments of complexity — growth, transition, uncertainty, or change.

The work focuses on helping leaders clarify what’s really happening, align around priorities, and make confident decisions that balance mission, money, and people.

Engagements range from focused diagnostic work to longer-term strategic and leadership support, depending on organizational need.

About Kit Fordham

Principal Consultant of Fordham & Company

Introduction

Leading a mission-driven organization often means balancing urgency, limited resources, and competing demands — all while staying true to purpose. I know these organizations inside and out because I've grown them, stabilized them, and navigated the messy reality of balancing mission, money, and people.

From 2017 to 2025, I led Mni Sota Fund from $30,000 in assets to $17 million while building a culturally competent, collaborative organization deeply rooted in Indigenous community. We won the Bush Prize in 2024 and secured a $7 million investment from Bush Foundation in 2025. Before that, I designed the curriculum and served as lead faculty in the nation's first Cooperative Management MBA program, managed cooperative housing portfolios, and worked on everything from river restoration to regenerative agriculture finance.


How I Work

I'm good at seeing the whole picture - the organizational context, the ecosystem dynamics, the financial realities, the human factors at play. I can identify what's urgent versus what's important, match problems to the right type of solution, and prioritize effectively. Sometimes that means finding quick wins that clear the deck for deeper work. Sometimes it means building intermediate solutions that stabilize things while we work on long-term strategy.

I often do my deepest thinking independently - researching, analyzing, building spreadsheets and frameworks alone - then bringing those ideas into collaborative conversations with smart people who've done their homework too. I like the type of structure (weekly check-ins, clear deadlines, scheduled meetings) that creates space for openness and flow to emerge naturally without losing sight of progress.

I'm direct. I ask hard questions. I'll tell you what I see, even when it's uncomfortable. And I expect the same in return - we’ll work at our best together if we don’t have to read between the lines or guess what the other needs.

The goal is not more analysis or more meetings, but clearer decisions and forward movement.


Who I Work Best With

My ideal clients are mission-driven leaders who:

  • Really care about their work, their team, and the communities they serve

  • Are intellectually curious and open to creative solutions

  • Have high emotional intelligence and can be direct about what they need

  • Operate with transparency and openness

  • Are comfortable with healthy conflict


What Drives Me

Beyond consulting, I'm a learner. I paint, I'm on the river as often as possible, I lift weights, I play tennis, I hike with my partner and our dog. I love solitude and I love building friendships. I'm fascinated by space, nature, the mysteries of how things work. Everything I do is about learning - whether that's a new craft, a new organization's dynamics, or the next edge of my own growth.

I got into this work because I believe finance has tremendous power to build a just, vibrant world. From early studies of microfinance in Malawi and Jordan to building a Native CDFI in Minnesota, I've spent my career using organizational development and innovative capital as a tools for community wealth-building and self-determination.


My Most REcent Projects

  • Designed a $9M capitalization strategy for a CDFI

  • Supported a nonprofit through leadership transition and strategic realignment

  • Created collaborative capital deployment strategies across multiple organizations


Credentials

Executive Director — Mni Sota Fund (2017-2025)
Faculty — Presidio Graduate School (2016-2018)
Fellow — Just Economy Institute (2021)
Board Member — Minneapolis American Indian Center (2018-Present)

Education

Executive Certificate, Strategic Philanthropy — Stanford University (2025)
MBA, Organizational Development — Presidio Graduate School (2016)
Ba, Global Studies — Warren Wilson College (2011)

Kit has worked alongside foundations, CDFIs, nonprofits, and community organizations to align mission, money, and strategy — always with an emphasis on clarity, practicality, and impact.