Polymath Global, LLC

What is a pol·y·math?

A person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning.

Who We Are

Polymath Global, LLC (Polymath) is a minority-owned and operated research and consulting firm established in 2011, with headquarters in New York, NY. Polymath combines top-quality consultants and affordable fees to provide a broad array of research and consulting services to the public sector to advance sustainable solutions to today’s toughest social issues.

How does Polymath address today’s challenges?

We recognize that society faces new, multidisciplinary challenges. The grand challenges of the twenty-first century in essence require new approaches to problem-solving that go beyond the application of single domain expertise. Rather, today’s public problems require assembling a synergetic and productive team of polymaths that can conduct a comprehensive and holistic analysis of the issue at hand. Through this problem-solving approach we are able to yield creative and novel solutions to social problems.

Taking on this polymath approach results in an extremely powerful understanding of the nature and purpose of systems. Such an understanding can be applied in any public-serving field, including the critique, management, and ultimate improvement of social systems or policy. Thus, a polymath approach is very suited for the next generation of leaders but we have elected to offer this unique approach exclusively to those committed to make a difference in the public/non-profit sectors.

Our Offerings

Technical assistance is critical to organizations that wish to build their capacity to effectively assess and solve problems. For this reason we help to plan, conceptualize, implement, manage and evaluate programs/projects to ensure their sustainability. In that way we hope to help organizations create highly effective systems internally and beyond that will allow them to develop successful strategies and approaches in response to social problems.

Therefore Polymath offers an array of strategy, research and development services designed to help leaders foster social innovation and spread what works.

• Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement

We help organizations to develop customized, internally driven performance measurement systems designed to meet stakeholder requirements, while also empowering leaders to track performance, learn from data, and use that learning to make management decisions focused on continuous improvement. Our methodology centers on a four-stage performance measurement cycle that enables organizations to be flexible and action-oriented.

• Organizational Development & Sustainability Planning

Polymath specializes in helping organizations develop plans focused on accelerating growth and building a foundation for sustainability during times of crisis or growth. Our aim is to support organizations by identifying every step of the plan and the articulation of a vision of success through the development and implementation of an operating model. Polymath also works with organizations with recommendations on how to make more efficient use of resources and operate more strategically.

• Financial Sustainability

Financial sustainability is one of the most powerful—and often the most daunting—components of a successful organization. Polymath helps organizations to identify reliable revenue streams by developing:

• Capitalization plans that identify the total amount of philanthropic investment needed in order to execute business goals
• Financial sustainability plans that identify reliable and diversified revenue mix that will ultimately allow your business to predict annual revenue and its sources with reasonable certainty.
• We can also go beyond identifying the approach and develop, launch and manage the implementation of the strategy. For example, we can help organizations by providing them with the resources they need to conduct grant writing, fundraising, cultivation and annual campaigns when they are unable to make full-time human capital investments in these areas.

• Leadership Development

In today’s nonprofit sector, leaders find an increasing need for innovative, entrepreneurial thinking and the ability to navigate a rapidly evolving social change environment. Polymath offers coaching and leadership development programs that combine the development of traditional skill in areas such as fundraising, program management, and board development with the development of the organization as a whole. Targeting all of these areas allows an organization’s leadership team to build skills while driving their organization toward greater sustainability and impact.

• Social Issue Research and Landscape Analysis

Landscape analyses are customized research projects that help clients understand the work already being done by organizations working on a target social issue, as well as the remaining gaps and opportunities for social impact. Polymath works with clients to determine their best approach to a social problem, identifying potential partners as well as critical stakeholders that need to be engaged and determining the best allocation of resources.

• Community-Based Solutions

Our work in community-based solutions seeks to encourage and enable business, foundation, individual, and government-agency funders to work together with key experts to share expertise and knowledge, identify funding gaps, and align efforts to result in a greater social impact. In order to unite these forces in a collaborative effort, Polymath partners with organizations focusing on a specific social issue to establish clear goals and to build strategies and partnerships to work toward achieving them.

Once we have identified a social cause that can benefit from our Polymath service offerings we strive to build strong relationships with the key stakeholders of the organization and undergo a period of active listening and engagement. During this period we take the time necessary to understand the problem, the interests of the organization, the available resources, etc. After this analysis the Polymath team is able to outline realistic goals and success criteria and time lines for the project.

What sets us apart from the rest?

First, we have a revolutionary approach to addressing the complex social problems of the 21^st century.

Secondly, we have a steadfast commitment to public service and to stewarding effective and innovative solutions to today’s social problems. Polymath’s senior management team and consultants are committed to “giving back” and they do it by bringing their skills and experience to worthy social causes. The senior management team has more than 30 years combined experience in organizational development, public/non-profit management and policy research. Our consultant teams have extensive experience in delivering services to a remarkable range of clients from arts, cultural and social services organizations to educational, governmental, environmental, child advocacy, religious and philanthropic organizations. We are committed to doing all that we can to enhance the effectiveness of our clients.

Third, due to the diversity and breadth of our experiences in public management, administration, training and research we are in a position to deliver the highest quality services.

Lastly, we understand the public sector and non-profit world -- its unique strengths, its unique frustrations and its unique opportunities -- especially the capacity that non-governmental organizations have for invaluable contributions to their communities.