HI
I'M NAOKO, OPERATOR & STRATEGIC PARTNER
I’m a first-generation American and daughter to a single mother, and I unabashedly believe in a more progressive and systemically fair America led by empowered and self-reliant communities. I’m results-focused, high-achieving, and reliable; I get things done and take people with me. I started my career at Gap Inc. and co-founded Organizing Corps 2020, and have experience that cuts across the public, private and nonprofit sectors at Obama for America, AmeriCorps, New Leaders, School of One (now New Classrooms), Achievement First, The Primary School, and 270 Strategies.
I love to watch people do more than they thought possible, better. I look beyond the spreadsheets, workflows, and process maps to the people on the frontlines and aim to expand their collective impact. I have my own ideas, but I get far more joy out of bringing other people's ideas to life and creating the runway and circumstances for them to be their best selves. As an alumna of the Obama ‘08 team, I still subscribe to the campaign motto, “Respect. Empower. Include.” and strive to nurture people, teams and organizations that do the same.
I invest in strong foundations and care just as much about the how as I do about the what. My cross-sector experience has taught me that innovation, speed and agility don’t have to be at odds with patience, discipline, and stability, and that while plans are meant to be broken, diligent planning affords flexibility. I trust the order / ops and I’ll push you to do the same.
Let’s go do this.
FIRST
THINGS FIRST
I believe that operations is anything that is designed and deployed to elevate and amplify you and your work. This means anything from teacher credentialing maintenance to a new HRM deployment to interim Chief of Staff capacity to the launch of a new vertical.
I think of operations in two categories: air and coverage.
Air is everything operations should be: clean, crisp, invisible to the naked eye. When you have a solid foundation and the infrastructure to get the basics done with precision, you just breathe. But skip a few steps, cut corners or chronically underinvest in the details, and the air gets dirty, fast. Air is any recurring practice that is essential, statutory, or otherwise helpful to you.
Coverage is the application of operational thinking to a non-recurring practice that you do not explicitly have capacity for. Coverage is whatever you think will make a meaningful impact on your work - maybe it’s a new idea or initiative, or simply a period of intensity that you know you need to get through. You’re the quarterback and operations is your offensive line. Operations won’t score for you (well, maybe sometimes), but operations will clear a path so that you have every opportunity to score.
My goal is to clean your air and secure your offensive line. Over time, we’ll embed the capacity we create into your day-to-day and build a practice of converting coverage into air so that your foundation gets fortified as you get bigger, better, and badder.
ORDER
UP SOME OPS
I start every conversation looking to understand what you want to achieve, how you want to achieve it, and why you think you haven’t achieved it (yet). I’ll ask you probing questions, name hard truths, and turn over all of the rocks. Together, we’ll discuss what’s air and what’s coverage, build your order / ops and identify if and when it makes sense for us to work together.
Every engagement will look different, but you can start thinking about our work in three tiers:
TASK-BASED: keeping the air clean
It’s a time of transition and/or growth and some necessary workstreams aren’t fitting neatly into existing job descriptions, but still don’t warrant an FTE. Team members are stretched thin or worse, essential practices are skipped and performance is suffering.
Operations/administrative learning, development & coaching
Candidate phone screening, applicant pipeline & talent management
State compliance data, filing & reporting
Facilities auditing, management & systems (e.g., security)
Student recruitment & enrollment
Family engagement & community outreach
Event planning
PROJECT-BASED: launching coverage
You have an idea or initiative that you think will advance you and your work, but you’re lacking the time, skills, or tools to bring it to life. You want to honor the full cycle of creation (research, ideation, piloting, iteration, etc.), but don’t know how it will get done or when.
Strategic planning, cycle & tools
Operational strategy & process improvement
Program consistency, alignment & integrity
Landscape analysis, needs assessment & research
Growth viability, readiness & roadmapping
Organizational design & transition planning
Financial modeling, analysis, and budget creation & forecasting
Systems implementation (e.g., student information system, HR information system, applicant tracking system, knowledge management system)
Documentation, codification & dissemination
General project management
ALL-IN: deep coverage
You and your work are full steam ahead, but it’s crunch time and you just need a little extra capacity to get over the hump. Maybe you’re opening a new site, launching a new product, running a short-term campaign or a team member is on leave. You can’t miss a beat and need support, but what you want isn’t a project — you need a senior doer.
Interim or “sub-in” Chief of Staff or Chief/VP/Head of Operations
Lead the launch of a new program/location/vertical and stage a seamless transition to long-term ownership and systems
Lead a short-term, high-impact campaign or initiative
READY
FOR CONTACT
