Matter + Form is a consulting firm serving the unique needs of mission-driven organizations. We provide business planning, strategic finance, risk management, and financial turnaround services for foundations, non-profits, and for-profit organizations to accelerate and strengthen the impact of their work.
Our Services
Without a sound financial infrastructure, mission is not enough.
We help our clients examine how resources are allocated and how their operations support their mission, as well as help identify ways to diversify revenue and achieve greater financial and mission independence.
We provide a core set of services, including:
Business Planning
- Working with organizational leaders and stakeholders, we develop business plans for new ventures and organizations in transition.
- We identify the value proposition and market segmentation, develop a pricing or revenue plan with projections, and produce scenario analyses to test assumptions.
Strategic Finance
- We help clients understand the financial condition of their organization and the contributing internal and external factors.
- We assess how to strengthen their financial position and provide a diagnostic on their staffing, systems, and processes.
- We help organizations implement the changes necessary to produce accurate and timely financial data to drive decisions.
Risk Management
- We provide advisory services across the full cycle of risk management solutions, from risk assessment, mitigation, and preparedness to disaster management and recovery.
- We apply an integrated approach to identifying and assessing business-critical risks, developing or augmenting risk management approaches, and responding to crisis events.
Turnaround Management
- We stabilize organizations in crisis by driving rapid implementation of objective, data-informed improvement plans.
- We bring a sense of urgency and objectivity in helping organizations address structural problems and implement changes that improve margins and create value.
Business Planning
• We identify the value proposition and market segmentation, develop a pricing or revenue plan with projections, and produce scenario analyses to test assumptions.
Strategic Finance
• We assess how to strengthen their financial position and provide a diagnostic on their staffing, systems, and processes.
• We help organizations implement the changes necessary to produce accurate and timely financial data to drive decisions.
Risk Management
• We apply an integrated approach to identifying and assessing business-critical risks, developing or augmenting risk management approaches, and responding to crisis events.
Turnaround Management
• We bring a sense of urgency and objectivity in helping organizations address structural problems and implement changes that improve margins and create value.
Why Matter + Form
Experienced Problem-Solvers – Our team leaders have served in leadership roles in mission-driven organizations and understand the opportunities and challenges our clients face.
Data-Driven – We bring objective, fact-based analysis to every client situation. We rigorously assess organizations’ data, and the markets and competitive environments in which they operate.
An Operator Mindset – Our recommendations are based on experience, not theory, and we work side-by-side with organizations to implement change.
We Deliver Against Your Objectives – The best evidence of our impact is the success of our clients. We’ve delivered high-impact engagements for a broad base of organizations and are committed to delivering the results our clients want.
Sectors
Education
Environment
Who We Serve
Foundations
Corporations
Non-Profit Organizations
Governments
Who We Are
Basilia Yao
CEO
Basilia Yao, CEO, founded Matter & Form to bring financial and risk management solutions to organizations addressing society’s most critical challenges. She works with clients on business transformation, helping build the capacity of their organizations to use operational and financial data to measure, plan, improve and deliver results.
Education
- MBA, Harvard Business School
- Master’s in City Planning, MIT
- BA, Columbia University
- Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
Lana S. Price
Principal
Lana S. Price, Principal, has expertise in building financial management capacity for non-profits and connecting strategy with sustainable business models. Her experience includes a combination of management consulting in financial management and strategic planning, grantmaking in education reform, and hands-on operational leadership in strategy and finance roles.
Education
- MPA, Financial Management, New York University
- BA, University of Washington
Cameron Smither
Engagement Manager
Cameron Smither joins Matter + Form with experience designing and building organizational models to facilitate institutional transformation. He draws upon a mixture of program evaluation, quantitative and qualitative analysis methods, and learning experience design to translate vision into an integrated strategy.
Education
- MPP, Program Evaluation, George Washington University
- BA, George Washington University