Claire
Strategy & Communications Consulting
Strategy Made Clear

Where strategy
meets story
and both get measured.

Clairada helps organizations drive growth, communicate with precision, and build the measurement infrastructure to know what's working and why.

Our ServicesStart a Conversation
211%Engagement Growth
94%Adoption Rate
$1M+Program Budgets
Our Point of View

Most organizations invest heavily in doing important work — then underinvest in designing it well, communicating its value, and measuring what's actually driving results. Clairada closes that gap.

What We Do

Four service lines.
One integrated practice.

We work at the intersection of strategy, communications, and measurement. Our clients don't have to choose between analytical rigor and compelling narrative — we bring both.

01

Strategic Communications & Brand Positioning

We help organizations sharpen their message, reach the audiences that matter, and build communications infrastructure that scales. Whether you're repositioning a brand, entering a new market, or rebuilding stakeholder trust — we make the story land.

  • Brand strategy & narrative development
  • Market & audience research
  • Integrated campaign strategy
  • Executive communications
  • Stakeholder & investor messaging
  • Crisis & reputation management
  • Content strategy & editorial systems
  • Digital & SEO strategy
02

Initiative Design & Organizational Strategy

We design initiatives, programs, and strategic plans that are built to execute — not just to present. From early-stage concept through full-scale deployment, we build the operational architecture that makes ambitious ideas actually work.

  • Initiative & program design
  • Strategic planning & facilitation
  • Concept-to-scale development
  • Operational systems & processes
  • Leadership alignment & retreats
  • Convening & event strategy
  • Change management
  • Performance management systems
04

Cross-Cultural Communications & Global Engagement

Organizations expanding globally — or communicating across cultural, linguistic, and institutional boundaries — need more than translation. We bring fluency in French, Italian, and Spanish, direct experience in European and North African markets, and a track record of building international partnerships that hold.

  • International communications strategy
  • Cross-cultural stakeholder engagement
  • Global partnership development
  • Multilingual messaging & positioning
  • Market entry communications
  • International program design
How We Work

Practical process.
No shelf-warmers.

We deliver work organizations can act on immediately. Every engagement is scoped to produce clear decisions, not open-ended recommendations.

01

Listen & Diagnose

We start by understanding the real problem — not just the presenting symptoms. Deep listening, sharp questions, and an honest assessment of where the organization actually stands before we recommend anything.

02

Research & Analyze

We bring quantitative rigor and qualitative depth — audience research, market analysis, communications audits, stakeholder mapping — to build a complete picture before we design solutions.

03

Design & Build

We co-create with our clients rather than presenting to them. Every strategy, framework, and system we build is designed to fit the organization — not the other way around.

04

Measure & Adapt

We build in measurement from the start — not as an afterthought. Every engagement ends with clear metrics, a reporting system, and the organizational capacity to keep learning after we leave.

"Strategy without story doesn't move people. Story without evidence doesn't hold up. We bring all three."

Clairada was built on a simple observation: the organizations making the most impact rarely have the clearest picture of how their communications, strategy, and programs are actually performing — or why. We exist to close that gap, in any sector, at any scale.

We Work With
Growth-Stage CompaniesSocial EnterprisesFoundationsUniversitiesGlobal OrganizationsMission-Driven NonprofitsPrivate Equity Portfolio CompaniesHealthcare Organizations
Selected Work

Results that travel
across sectors.

Our experience spans private sector, healthcare, education, and global organizations. The problems we solve — and the discipline we bring to them — don't stay in one lane.

01
Brand Repositioning · Audience Research · Digital Strategy

Reversing Market Share Decline Through Data-Driven Repositioning

A large, complex organization facing declining relevance needed a ground-up communications overhaul — from audience intelligence through integrated campaign execution and real-time performance tracking.

211% engagement growth+11% market share~200% visibility lift
02
Stakeholder Mobilization · Coalition Strategy · Decision Influence

100% Success Rate Influencing High-Stakes External Decisions

An organization needed to move a complex set of skeptical decision-makers under pressure — requiring unified coalition building, precision messaging, and steady crisis management throughout.

8 of 8 decisions wonNational media coverageCoalition sustained post-campaign
03
Initiative Design · Scaling Strategy · Adoption

Taking a Complex Initiative from Concept to National Scale

An organization needed to move a compelling vision from idea to infrastructure — building the network, tools, and operational architecture to scale nationally with measurable adoption.

94% adoption rate250+ participant launch eventNational network established
04
Cross-Cultural Communications · International Partnerships

Building Global Market Presence Across Languages and Cultures

An organization with strong programs but limited international visibility needed the communications and partnership infrastructure to compete across global markets — and the cultural fluency to make it credible.

Multi-market demand growthInternational partnerships secured$1M+ budget managed
05
Convening Design · Facilitation · Stakeholder Outcomes

Large-Scale Convenings Engineered to Produce Decisions, Not Just Attendance

Two major convenings needed to move hundreds of diverse stakeholders from discussion to concrete, actionable commitments — across two cities, against a combined $500K budget.

500+ participants$500K managedActionable outputs delivered
06
Organizational Systems · Communications Infrastructure · Performance

Building the Operational & Communications Infrastructure for Sustained Growth

A scaling organization had outgrown its original systems and needed the full stack — strategic planning, brand identity, communications infrastructure, and performance management — built simultaneously.

6,800+ network managedBrand identity launchedPerformance systems adopted
What Every Engagement Delivers

Three things.
Every time.

C

Clarity

We make the complex legible. Strategy, narrative, data, and impact — translated into language and systems that your organization can act on without a translator. No academic frameworks that don't survive contact with reality.

C

Coherence

We connect strategy, communications, and measurement — so they reinforce each other instead of pulling in different directions. What you say, what you do, and how you measure it become a single integrated system.

C

Traction

We stay through implementation. Every deliverable is designed to move — a decision made, a behavior changed, a market shifted. We build in measurement from the start so organizations know when it's working and can keep building on it.

The Team

Two disciplines.
One complete picture.

Clairada was founded by two practitioners who spent decades inside complex organizations — and kept solving the same problems. We built the consultancy we wished had existed.

Helen
Tolson Dunn
Strategy & Communications
HTD

Helen is a strategic communications leader with 15+ years translating organizational complexity into clear, compelling narratives that drive action. She has led communications for organizations with 14,000+ stakeholders, managed $1M+ international program budgets, advised startup CEOs on investor communications and capital-raise strategy, and achieved a 100% success rate across high-stakes decision-making campaigns. She brings deep expertise in brand repositioning, digital strategy, stakeholder engagement, and cross-cultural communications — and is fluent in French, with proficiency in Italian and Spanish. She holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Communications from the University of Virginia.

Ph.D. Rhetoric & Communications, UVAFrench · Italian · SpanishSEO Certified, General AssemblyInvestor CommunicationsVirginia Citizen Lawmaker of the Year
Abigail
Gillespie
Program Design, Operations & Evaluation
AG

Abby is a strategist and operator with 20+ years designing and scaling initiatives from concept to national reach. She has managed $500K+ multi-city convenings, built performance management systems for complex organizations, grown content audiences to 10,000+ downloads, and led strategic planning processes across the for-profit, nonprofit, and public sectors. She is known for making ambitious ideas operationally sound — and for the rare ability to align leadership, build systems, and evaluate outcomes simultaneously. She holds a B.A. in International Studies from UNC Chapel Hill and is proficient in Spanish.

B.A. International Studies, UNC Chapel HillM.S. Teaching, Pace UniversityAsana · Salesforce · QualtricsSpanishCross-Sector Experience
Work With Us

Ready to make
something clear?

We take on a focused number of engagements at a time — which means every client gets our full attention. If you're facing a challenge in strategy, communications, measurement, or organizational design, let's talk.

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