Our Team
Nora Robinson
Co-owner
Nora brings expertise in coaching, facilitation, and evaluation project management. She is especially skilled at helping clients identify and work through factors that affect evaluation capacity such as organizational culture, staff roles, or leadership styles. Nora helps organizations develop intentional processes and systems that support continuous improvement and drive mission effectiveness. She excels at using data and reflective practice to help people think more strategically and achieve their goals.
Prior to leading WithInsight, Nora worked at the cross-roads of nonprofits, philanthropy, and education as program director for the Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation. Nora has an MSW from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, with a specialization in nonprofit management.
Kara Bixby
Co-owner
Kara brings expertise in program evaluation, data analysis, and research. She leads organizations through the evaluation process in a way that facilitates critical thinking about the purpose, goals, and desired outcomes of the project. Kara especially enjoys coaching clients on how to make their evaluation efforts more equitable and transparent. Kara believes that when done well, evaluation is a collaborative process that focuses organizations on their mission and values.
Prior to leading WithInsight, Kara directed research and evaluation efforts for the Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation and community partnership evaluation for Minneapolis Public Schools. Kara has an MPP from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, with a specialization in program evaluation.
Our Values
How we work with you matters — to you, and to us. We work with our clients, not just for our clients. Our work is always grounded in strong values.
Mission-minded
We ground ourselves in the purpose of the work and start with the why. We maintain an unwavering focus on the people you serve, centering discussions and decisions on their needs and assets.
Equity
People are marginalized based on their race, ethnicity, income, sexual orientation, language, ability, etc. Not everyone starts with the same resources, opportunities and privileges and thus, our strategies need to meet people where they are. We have a responsibility to self-reflect, recognize our own contributions to inequity, and actively work to change systems so all can thrive.
Quality
We are committed to giving our clients high-quality experiences and services. In addition, we know that quality correlates to outcomes. Too often organizations expect a change in outcomes without addressing a change in quality or implementation. Programming is not worth
doing if you are not going to do it well.
Authenticity
Personal and professional relationships matter. We believe in creating spaces where all have a voice and can say what they think. We value transparency. We take our work seriously and deliver a high-quality product. We believe it is critical to admit when you are unsure and when you have messed up, modeling a fail-forward mentality.
Collaboration
We are better together than alone. We recognize that everyone has different strengths and perspectives, and we are more effective when everyone's strengths and perspectives are leveraged. Being mission-minded means collaboration trumps competition. By working together across teams, organizations and systems, we exchange ideas, build relationships and accelerate innovation.
Learning
We are committed to ongoing learning and development of ourselves, others and organizations. We strive to embody a growth mindset and approach challenges with an appetite for learning. We believe that we are all learners and that we should model curiosity and humility. We believe that the process is just as important as the product or goal and that a focus on process fosters learning.