Andy Fife
For more than twenty years, I've worked alongside nonprofit executives, founders, board members, creative professionals, and community leaders — as a coach, advisor, facilitator, and partner.
My work draws on deep experience across the nonprofit sector, the arts, entrepreneurship, and community development. Today, Fife Consulting focuses on the pivotal stretches in an organization's life — growth, transition, uncertainty, and opportunity — often working embedded inside leadership teams as a fractional executive, strategic advisor, or coach.
What I bring isn't a binder of answers. It's clarity, perspective, and a steady partnership through the moments that matter most — helping leaders make decisions that hold, strengthen the people around them, and align vision with the structures that turn it into reality.
Because the most meaningful work happens through close, sustained relationships, I partner with a small number of organizations at a time.
How I work
Every engagement is a partnership shaped around where an organization actually is. In practice, that work takes a few forms — often more than one at once.
The right engagement usually starts with a conversation, not a service tier. For larger engagements, I bring in trusted collaborators as the work requires.
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Stepping directly into operational or executive roles during pivotal stretches — from fractional COO/CFO work to leading a search, a transition, or a planning process from the inside.
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Helping boards, founders, and teams design the governance, structures, and systems that fit where they're going — not just where they've been.
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One-on-one and leadership-team coaching for clarity, alignment, and confidence through change.
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Guiding the conversations, retreats, and decisions where a group needs to move from stuck to aligned.
VALUES
What guides the work
Ingenuity
Complex problems rarely yield to off-the-shelf answers. I bring a creative, practical mindset to the challenges leaders face — looking for the structure, system, or approach that doesn't exist yet but should. The goal is never just to name the problem, but to help you build a real way through it.
Authenticity
The work only goes as deep as the trust underneath it. I show up honestly — naming what I see, sharing what I'm still unsure of, and telling you the truth even when it's uncomfortable. Real partnership depends on transparency in both directions, and on relationships where nothing important goes unsaid.
Reliability
Leading through change is hard enough without wondering whether your partner will follow through. I show up consistently, do what I say I'll do, and stay steady when things get complicated. You can count on grounded guidance and a dependable presence — especially in the moments that matter most.
Partnership
I don't believe in dropping in as the expert with a binder of answers. The leaders I work with know their organizations better than I ever will; my role is to think alongside them, not above them. We build clarity together — and the best solutions are the ones you own and can carry forward without me.
Curiosity
Often the most useful thing isn't an answer but a better question. I stay curious about what's really going on beneath the surface of a challenge — the assumptions, tensions, and quiet possibilities that haven't been named yet. Asking the right question at the right moment is how stuck situations start to move.
Social Justice
How we work matters as much as what we accomplish. That means paying attention to who has voice, who's at the table, and how power and opportunity are shared — not only in the outcomes we reach, but in the process of getting there. Equity isn't an add-on to good leadership; it's part of what makes it good.
CLIENTS
Organizations I’ve partnered with
Alaska State Council on the Arts
Anchorage, AK
Anchor Arts Space
Anacortes, WA
Anchorage Economic Devleopment Corporation
Anchorage, AK
Arts Consulting Group
National
Asian Plaza Redevelopment Project
Seattle, WA
Austin Creative Alliance
Austin, TX
Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra
Bellevue, WA
Big Medium
Austin, TX
Blue Earth Alliance
Seattle, WA
Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce
Seattle, WA
City of Santa Monica Dept of Arts & Culture
Santa Monica, CA
City of Seattle
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
Seattle Office of Arts & Culture
Seattle Office of Economic Development
Seattle Office of Film & Music
Seattle Office of the Waterfront
Columbia Basin Allied Arts
Moses Lake, WA
DASH Center for the Arts
Tacoma, WA
Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association
Seattle, WA
Encore Media Group & City Arts Magazine
Seattle, WA
Exploring the Arts
NYC
FEEST Seattle
Seattle, WA
Greater Leavenworth Museum
Leavenworth, WA
Hilltop Artists
Tacoma, WA
Hort Union Collective Innovation Team
Tieton, WA
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Chicago, IL
Icicle Creek Center for the Arts
Leavenworth, WA
Interim Executive Director, The Vera Project
Seattle, WA
Mac Admins Foundation
Global
Mountain Sprouts
Leavenworth, WA
New Century Theatre Company
Seattle, WA
North Central Washington Arts Alliance
Wenatchee, WA
Northwest African American Museum
Seattle, WA
Northwest Film Forum
Seattle, WA
Out North
Anchorage, AK
Pratt Fine Arts Center
Seattle, WA
Rain City Rock Camp for Girls
Seattle, WA
Seattle Public Theatre
Seattle, WA
Second Story Repertory Theatre
Redmond, WA
Shining Light
National
SFJAZZ
San Francisco, CA
Teen Tix
Seattle, WA
The Grand Cinema
Tacoma, WA
The Satori Group
Seattle, WA
The Washington Bus
Seattle, WA
The Who We Are Project
Seattle, WA
Thornton Creek Elementary School Parents Group
Seattle, WA
Tieton Mosaic
Tieton, WA
Twilight Artist Collective
Seattle, WA
Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center
Wenatchee, WA
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
Seattle, WA