WORKING TO BUILD

CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE THAT TURNS SYSTEMIC FAILURE INTO SHARED PROSPERITY

OUR APPROACH

Key Strategic Group sets a higher standard for civic work — investigating what systems actually produce for families and neighborhoods, who pays the price when they fail, and what must change. 

We partner with philanthropic institutions, public agencies, and social-impact leaders to design and implement the civic infrastructure that delivers equitable health systems, economic mobility, and shared decision-making power across cities and regions.

Our work places data, resources, and power in the hands of communities historically excluded from the benefits of systems meant to serve them. Civic partners gain legitimacy and insight. Communities gain intergenerational well-being and wealth-generating power.

Because shared prosperity isn’t programmatic. It’s structural. And structure requires ownership.

OUR WORK

We partner with experts driving systems change.

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Communities

Those whose knowledge, priorities, and power have long been excluded from decision-making.

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Philanthropic Institutions & Funding Leaders

Funders seeking sustainable impact beyond short-term programs and grant cycles.

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Public Sector Agencies & Civic Leaders

Public agencies are responsible for delivering results, trust, and accountability in communities facing long-term disinvestment.

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Academic & Applied Research Institutions

Research organizations committed to rigor, relevance, and real-world impact.

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Social-impact Enterprises & Cross-sector Decision-makers

Leaders building mission-driven enterprises within complex civic and market systems.

KEY INSIGHTS

When Do We Actually Do What the Community Has Already Told Us?

By Dr. Erica Henderson, CEcD | Principal & CEO In St. Louis, residents have been telling us what they need for as long as anyone has been asking. They told us before Mill Creek Valley was demolished in 1959, displacing 20,000 Black residents and erasing a...

The federal funding story no one is telling

By Ann Fisher-Jackson | Chief Strategist There are two versions of every federal funding cut. The one that gets covered, and the one that lands. The covered version happens in Washington. It has a number, a bill name, a roll call, and a margin. It gets analyzed in two...

Built to Break or Built to Last?

By Dr. Erica Henderson, CEcD | Principal & CEO Across the country, civic systems are under strain, not because of a lack of commitment or competence, but because they were never designed for sustained volatility. Public funding shifts with little warning. Federal...

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

HealthPath Foundation of Ohio

  From Strategy to Alignment: Strengthening HealthPath’s Role in Advancing Health Equity Meeting a Critical Need Across Ohio, communities face growing health challenges shaped by long-standing inequities in access, infrastructure, and investment. Behavioral...

Enhanced Labor Market Analysis (ELMA)

KSG is proud to partner with the Inclusive Prosperity Project (IPP) to support the development and application of enhanced labor-market analysis (ELMA) tools that help regions better understand labor-market friction, workforce alignment, and pathways to living-wage opportunities.

St. Louis Economic Justice Action Plan

In late September 2022, Economic Justice Action Plan (EJAP) received strategic support from Key Strategic Group for stakeholder engagement strategy and implementation. KSG conducted an initial landscape study, launched a city-wide survey, and facilitated three virtual...

The University of Missouri-St. Louis South Campus Development

        Key Strategic Group team created an engagement plan for redeveloping UMSL's South Campus into a new workforce and innovation district. KSG conducted interviews with campus officials, hosted tabling sessions, and created a survey to gauge...

Children’s Defense Fund – Alex Haley Farm Plan

The Alex Haley Farm Taskforce partnered with Key Strategic Group through an intentional process to assess the current state of the renowned farm and reimagine a bold new future. The resulting vision aimed to optimize the current resources while also devising a plan to...

St. Louis Integrated Health Network

Key Strategic Group and St. Louis Integrated Health Network (IHN) co-designed a powerful strategic plan, a cornerstone achievement in our comprehensive engagement. This transformative project encompassed a landscape analysis, a stakeholder engagement report, and the...

Cortex Innovation Community: Workforce Development System Gap Analysis

Cortex Innovation Community invited Key Strategic Group to conduct a Workforce Development System Gap Analysis for Cortex and the five priority industry clusters that Cortex supports in the St. Louis region. The analysis aimed to support Cortex in achieving one of its...

Economic Innovation Group – Stakeholder Engagement

Through a federal Economic Development Administration grant, the national, bi-partisan think-tank, Economic Innovation Group, engaged Key Strategic Group to conduct research in the St. Louis region. The project included organizing two community focus groups, a...

TESTIMONIALS

Key Strategic Group (KSG) takes the time to really listen and understand your organization, which is critical to driving your strategy forward. The St. Louis Integrated Health Network is a member-based healthcare intermediary comprised of community health centers, hospital systems, health departments, medical schools, and community-based organizations. Centering equity and community voice, KSG seamlessly and thoughtfully coalesced the varying perspectives and needs of our staff, member-based organizations, and partners to develop a collective impact model around a common vision. Most importantly, they exemplify how to elevate your organization’s accomplishments while respectfully holding it accountable to achieve its full potential.

Andwele Jolly

President & CEO, St. Louis Integrated Health Network

KSG didn’t just help us build a strategic plan, they helped us sharpen our vision for what is possible. Their approach pushed us to think more boldly about our role in advancing health equity, grounding our strategy in both data and the lived experiences of the communities we serve. We are leaving this process with greater clarity, stronger alignment, and a deeper commitment to the future we are working to build.”

Kiana R. Trabue, MPH

President, HealthPath Foundation of Ohio & Public Health Fund of Ohio

KSG approached the work as a partner, more than as “consultants.” They’re incredibly detail oriented and really held the group together as we moved forward. I felt like they were fully invested in the successful launch and growth of the St. Louis Home Repair Network. They conducted research into various models of similar work happening around the country; led the discussions around theory of change; and developed other materials to help tell the HRN story.

Elaine Powers

Executive Director, Rebuilding Together St. Louis

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