Business Details
21 Years
experience
Expert Philanthropy Services for Equitable Community Solutions
CSB Consulting has dedicated itself to advancing racial equity and economic opportunity through cross-sector collaboration since 2005. Our work focuses on aligning resources, strategies, and policies to address systemic challenges in low-income communities and communities of color. We specialize in developing grantmaking initiatives, facilitating learning communities, and strengthening cross-sector partnerships to create lasting impact.With expertise in strategic philanthropy and systems change, we partner with foundations, nonprofits, government agencies, and community leaders to design solutions tailored to complex social, economic, and environmental issues. Our approach emphasizes shared understanding, community voice, and adaptive leadership to ensure sustainable outcomes.
Services
Grantmaking Initiatives
Learning Communities
Cross-Sector Partnerships
Strategic Grantmaking Development
Organizational Capacity Building
Landscape Scans
Grantmaker Education
Policy Advocacy Support
Details
- Year established: 2005
Highlights and features
- We have 18 years of experience in cross-sector philanthropy and systems change.
- Our team specializes in designing grantmaking initiatives with measurable impact.
- We prioritize racial equity and community-led decision-making in all projects.
- Clients highlight our adaptive leadership and commitment to inclusive processes.
- We combine strategic grantmaking with capacity-building for long-term success.
What people say
Strong commitment to improving lives
Effective and empathic grantmaker
Safe when facilitating meetings
Honors lived experience
Demonstrates how to name implicit bias
Services
Grantmaking Initiatives
We design and manage grantmaking programs that catalyze community change through strategic investments. Our services include developing selection criteria, conducting due diligence, and implementing evaluation plans. We partner with foundations to align resources with systemic solutions for housing, climate resilience, and economic equity.
Learning Communities
Our peer learning programs build capacity for addressing complex challenges through collaborative problem-solving. We facilitate communities of practice that emphasize racial equity, adaptive leadership, and results-based accountability. Sessions combine peer learning with tools for cross-boundary collaboration and measurable outcomes.
Cross-Sector Partnerships
We strengthen partnerships across nonprofit, government, business, and community sectors to address systemic inequities. Services include trust-building, strategy alignment, and developing collective accountability measures. Our approach emphasizes root cause analysis and data-driven decision-making to create sustainable change.
People
Cassandra Benjamin
Principal
Founder of CSB Consulting with 30 years in cross-sector philanthropy. Expert in systems change, racial equity, and grantmaking strategy. Holds master's degrees in nonprofit administration and public policy.
Agnes Cho
Research Associate
Skilled researcher and project manager with expertise in housing equity and cultural change. Fluent in Spanish and Korean. Currently pursuing MPP at UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy.
Questions
What types of foundations do you work with?
We partner with private foundations, corporate philanthropy programs, and donor collaboratives focused on systemic equity and community-driven solutions.
How do you measure program impact?
We use mixed-method evaluations, including stakeholder interviews, quantitative metrics, and long-term tracking of policy and systems change outcomes.
Can you support international projects?
Our primary focus is U.S.-based initiatives, though we incorporate global best practices and have worked with cross-border partnerships in North America.
What geographic areas do you serve?
We operate nationwide with concentrated expertise in California, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest, supporting both urban and rural communities.
How do you involve community members?
We prioritize participatory design processes, ensuring lived experience informs strategy development, decision-making, and evaluation frameworks.
