Vision & Mission

Peterson Rudgers Group, a federally certified women-owned small business, is a consulting firm focused on strategic planning, vision and goal setting, communications, leadership, governance, change processes, and organizational development for higher education and related institutions. We do this critical work in support of organizations that advance the world’s knowledge, including colleges and universities, associations, foundations, cultural organizations, nonprofits, and other entities with a related mission.

We believe in the power of these organizations to transform the world through research, analysis, education, and the development of human and intellectual capital. No other set of institutions in the world has generated as much societal benefit and impact over time. Yet this is a time of enormous change and challenge. The public compact and business models on which such institutions have relied face numerous threats: wavering demand, diminished public funding, questions about cost and value, ever-growing community expectations, and increasingly polarized beliefs about the roles of data and science in shaping policy.

As counselors to some of the nation’s leading universities and other mission-driven organizations, we understand higher education’s culture and complexity in the midst of this shifting landscape. Leadership teams need ever-more-sophisticated strategies to chart an ambitious course, carve out a distinctive position, convey the value they deliver, and build positive, long-term relationships with their stakeholders. Strength in reputation and market position require institutional focus, sharp messaging, and differentiation. Leaders must develop a distinctive voice and effective processes for successful change.

An institution’s public perception is deeply important, and this perception is driven first and foremost by what it chooses to invest in and how it prioritizes leadership attention. How does an institution best deliver on its promises to stakeholders and for the greater good? What decisions will an institution make that build momentum, spark investment, inspire partnerships, and increase demand? What distinctive characteristics and programs? What exciting future vision? What new knowledge and new value? What compelling leadership voices?