Testimonials
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Hovland Consulting has over 20 years of experience with large foundations, non-profits, and governments. Example clients include the Hewlett Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, Heising Simons Foundation, Barr Foundation, Energy Foundation, Zero Now Fund Fund, Water Funder Initiative, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Securing America's Future Energy and the Electrification Coalition, and others. Below are some testimonials from some of our clients.
"Over the last eight years I have worked closely with Val, she has provided excellent ongoing support to ClimateWorks Foundation including research, analysis, writing, and project management. Val is highly productive, detail-oriented, and consistently delivers quality products ahead of schedule. She was instrumental in helping our team deliver strategic guidance on the role of electric vehicle analysis, emissions abatement, and supporting fundraising and strategy. I look forward to continuing to work with her closely in the coming months and years."
ClimateWorks Foundation
Anthony Eggert, Director
"What makes Hovland Consulting's work unique is its depth of analysis. To help us determine the most strategic cities and states, Val gathered data on many more variables that we originally conceived using sources we never imagined.
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Val/Hovland Consulting is a true pleasure to work with. Val is not only delightful interpersonally but smart as hell. She's also very reliable. When she says the work will be done on a certain date, it always is on time or early. And she's always willing to take a second pass on her analyses to make them more specific and accurate."
Zero Now Fund
Michael Marx, Senior Campaign Director
"I had the privilege of collaborating with Val and her team on developing the Global Oil and Gas Dashboard, a project undertaken during my tenure as the Project Director of Global Gas Hub.
From the project's inception to its successful execution, Val and her team demonstrated an unwavering commitment to addressing the specific needs and insights of philanthropies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) dedicated to combating the climate crisis.
Val's meticulous approach encompassed every aspect of the project. Her team reached out to diverse stakeholders across various time zones, compiling comprehensive note sheets, ensuring transparent communication by informing everyone of the progress, and facilitating weekly team meetings that fostered collaboration. What sets Val apart is her remarkable ability to identify cross-linkages, access data from multiple sources, and amalgamate analyses and insights tailored to diverse audiences. The outputs were comprehensive and strikingly balanced between qualitative and quantitative elements, presented with a blend of compelling narratives and visually engaging content tailored for different situations and audiences. Working with Val was indeed a pleasure. She possesses an intuitive understanding that negated the need for explanations to be repeated. Val demonstrated a keen ability to anticipate thoughts and needs, often addressing them before they were articulated. Her execution of the project was seamless, and she consistently ensured that deadlines were met, carrying the work forward with efficiency. In conclusion, my collaboration with Val Hovland Consulting was marked by professionalism, a deep understanding of the subject matter, and an unparalleled ability to deliver results that surpassed expectations. I wholeheartedly recommend Val and her team for any project requiring a unique blend of expertise, insight, and a commitment to excellence."
Madhuresh Kumar, Global Gas Hub (Former)
Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity (current)
"Val is an impressive strategist and a very reliable consultant. Val has a great understanding of the role of philanthropy, and given her experience and skills she can make quick recommendations and also write complex reports on how to make a difference. We have worked on topics of low carbon innovative mobility and the challenges of tackling the freight sector's emissions. She is also a pleasure to work with and I look forward to seeing Hovland Consulting doing great."
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Former)
Margarita Parra Cobaleda, Transport Decarbonization Director, Clean Energy Works (Current)
"Val and her team rock! It's always a pleasure to work with her and her associates. They have worked with NRDC for a number of years around our multi-regional EV strategy and supporting a number of coalition efforts of which we are part.
Val supported us with detailed transportation modeling across the US looking at scenarios for EV uptake and mode shift - with outputs that included carbon abatement and other key aspects like benefits to disadvantaged communities or people of color, consumer savings, health improvements, road safety improvements and other aspects. Hovland Consulting earlier helped us synthesize our multi-pronged strategies around transportation electrification into a more coherent theory of change while allowing us to better estimate the impacts of our strategies. Hovland Consulting approached the work in an efficient manner and provided us with high-quality deliverables with relatively short turn-arounds."
Natural Resources Defense Council
Dr. Simon Mui, Director, Clean Vehicles & Fuels Group, Climate & Clean
Energy Program
"Climate Solutions engaged Hovland Consulting on modeling transportation decarbonization pathways for Washington and Oregon with varying levels of transportation electrification and vehicle miles traveled.
This entailed not only developing a model that included climate, health, safety, and financial impacts of various pathways but also convening stakeholders to ensure the project evaluated the correct variables, producing materials to communicate the results, and working with the Climate Solutions team on public presentations. Working with Val and her team was a very positive experience. Val was great about figuring out how to model different questions, digging up robust data sources, and ensuring the team understood the methodology behind the work and how to independently operate the modeling tool. I always felt comfortable asking questions and Val made sure I was empowered to take her team's work and use and present it on my own. Our meetings were always productive and Val was very flexible about pursuing different options as they came up. The result of our collaboration is a dynamic and robust modeling tool that has already helped support climate policy pushes in Washington and Oregon. The results of our research have been cited by local and state governments (including in the 2021 Washington State Energy Strategy) and convincingly demonstrates the benefits that come from transportation electrification, transit investments, and safe bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. This project has granted further credibility to our policy work, thereby helping us move toward our vision of a Pacific Northwest powered by a clean energy economy."
Climate Solutions
Leah Missik, Senior Washington Policy Manager, Climate Solutions
"Val is a superb analyst, writer, strategist and collaborator. She works tirelessly to produce an excellent product to meet your needs."
Energy Foundation (Former)
Patty Monahan, Commissioner at California Energy
Commission (Current)
"Hovland Consulting guided ITDP through two important strategic planning processes. The first was to develop a strategy for a new area of work, and the second was a full articulation of a five-year organizational strategic plan. Val brought deep expertise and knowledge of the subject area and landscape of players; amazing analytical skills; a sharp sense of process; and fun, creative energy. Val successfully navigated our global organizational structure and the contexts shaping priorities in seven different regions. Val's dedication resulted in her traveling to Fortaleza, Brazil to facilitate discussion among senior staff during the strategic planning process. Plus, Val is an absolute wiz at Excel! Val and her team are the total package and we highly recommend Hovland Consulting."
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Kathleen Letchford Chief Strategy & Development Officer
"I worked with Val to put together an incredibly complex, national plan promoting alternative vehicles across the US. Val demonstrated her expertise at taking a problem, internalizing it and coming up with really creative solutions. She also commits herself to the project going well beyond what I would expect a consultant to learn about a project that I have contracted them to help with. She digs into the research, she builds creative models and helps tell compelling stories with the data. Even more, in my experience, I have not seen anyone advance the ball between check-in meetings the way Val does. She moves twice as fast as you would expect and delivers products that are twice as good as you could have hoped."
Securing America's Future Energy (Former)
Joe Ryan, Executive Director, Crux Alliance and Energy Innovation:
Policy and Technology LLC (Current)
"Hovland Consulting has consistently provided quality, well-researched, and thorough work products for the Electrification Coalition. She synthesizes resources that already exist and provides good insight into the field, making it easy to ramp up a project quickly. Val is easy to work with, flexible (responds well to changing visions and requests), and exceptionally organized. We always enjoy adding her expertise to the EC team."
Electrification Coalition (Former)
Katie Robinson, Deputy Director of Policy and Government Affairs,
Sustainable Cities Fund (Current)
"Val creates high-quality deliverables that are on-target, in-scope, and on time. She has created data analyses - from grant trends, to demographic data, to grantee budgets - that we have used for learning and better decision-making. We have used her data to inform updates to our grantmaking practices, helping us be better funders.
In 2018, Val organized an incredible grantee convening in the Klamath, bringing together key partners for dialogue and collaboration. It included the all-important traditional elements of a meeting but also had learning opportunities in the field to expand our thinking in new and different ways. Val expertly facilitated and coordinated an event that was valuable for all. Val takes the time to understand the purpose behind each project - what we are really trying to learn here? She then approaches the work with a sense of its meaning, bringing back information along with guiding questions to help get to deeper insights. She is able to switch from analytical to reflective, and is a skilled listener. Val brings her head AND her heart to the work. I always appreciate Val's can-do attitude, ability to ask good questions, and super high quality output. She is sharp, smart, and fair and makes me feel like I am in partnership with her. Whether a small, simple project, or a big, hairy unknown question, I know Val will help me find footing on the path and get to a result that will truly help me do my work better. Val's research has informed decisions to shift funding in key priority areas, to maximize the pace of our grantmaking, and to consider how our indirect cost practices impact our grantees. Her input has been materially significant for our grants management and program teams."
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Former)
Jessica Halverson, Director of Grantmaking Operations, Sequoia Climate Foundation
"I have worked with Val for years on strategies, evaluations, mapping, and tracking progress on land and water conservation in the North American West. Most recently, Val helped us track progress on detailed acres and river miles.
She worked with over a dozen grantees (on example topics such as wilderness area designation, national monument creation, or oil and gas closures), summarized progress by ecoregions, and helped the program both report progress to its Board, and make interim decisions on future priorities. Val is a GIS master, manages large datasets easily, understands conservation well, and skillfully works with multiple grantees to report progress, and makes the process easier for them and us. She is dedicated to the topic and connected to the environment. I look forward to working with Val in the future.'
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Former)
Michael Scott, Program Officer
"Val worked with us to dig into our strategic planning to do some critical reflecting on how best to evaluate our organization. She conducted interviews with key staff, produced a powerpoint presentation articulating the different types of projects we do at Public Land Solutions, where we could improve and where we might go. This powerpoint was an interactive process via several interviews and thus was quite accurate and helpful once complete.
Val then led us all through an exercise at our board meeting whereby we discussed the elements of our work to highlight opportunities. She then produced a very helpful memo (just the right amount of detail!) describing what was discussed at the board meeting and outlining possible next steps -- all which has been very instructive for our busy non-profit. We now feel that we have a clearer vision of what we do and where we can go. We couldn't have done this without Val. Partly to force the planning exercise but also because of her professionalism and effectiveness. Val quickly identified the core of our organization, did the right amount of interviewing to learn more about us, and conducted an effective strategic planning exercise that will improve our organization. Thanks Val -- we will use you again and recommend you without reservation!"
Public Land Solutions
Jason Keith, Managing Director
"It has been a pleasant experience to work with Val for many years, including both the Hewlett Foundation's global freight strategy and ClimateWorks' Drive Electric Campaign.
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During the process there are many in-person and virtual meetings and supporting documents including meeting agendas, slides, and draft strategies etc. Val did a great job to manage the process smoothly with a list of global participants from different cultures, different backgrounds, and different time zones. The work sessions are quite productive and efficient and I enjoyed the conversations and collaborations."
The Energy Foundation China
