Practical. Relevant. Personalized.

Consulting Solutions
for People and Organizational Success

No “trendy” language, fancy book terms, or fads here. Quite simply, at Greater Possibilities Consulting (GPC), we care about what your people and organization need. GPC’s mission is to listen and collaborate with you to design and provide practical, relevant, and personalized consulting services and deliverables focused on measurable outcomes for your people, program, department, or organization. Thank you for considering us.

Kindest regards,

Dr. S.

Wallace Southerland III, Ph.D.

Founder, Principal, and CEO

Logo of Greater Possibilities featuring a stylized letter G and arrow integrated into the design, with the text 'Greater Possibilities' below in dark blue.

About GPC

Our vision is to empower people and organizations to achieve their greatest possibilities in personal and organizational performance and outcomes.

Our mission is listening and collaborating to design and provide practical, relevant, and personalized consulting and training services and deliverables focused on measurable outcomes for your people, program, department, or organization.

We are dedicated to building valuable relationships anchored in client satisfaction, collaboration, effective communication, relevant outcomes and deliverables, timeliness, and truthfulness.

We use a hybrid consulting and training model that leverages nearly 40 years of experience in higher education organizational leadership, grant writing and oversight for TRIO and other educational outreach student success and support programs, online and traditional college teaching, and group facilitation with the uniqueness of your people’s talent and organizational circumstances.

We do not recycle deliverables from client to client. For our work and any changes in your people or organization to be sustainable, we will learn from you, collaborate with you, guide you, and support you as we develop your personalized deliverables.

We can step in to provide limited leadership oversight functions in an interim capacity while a permanent search is conducted for a new area leader or manager.

Our Services

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

  • We use relevant and evidence-based standards to evaluate grant and non-grant programs in secondary, post-secondary, and community-based organizations.

  • We can evaluate your programs, services, organizational structures, projects, or initiatives to assist with understanding outcomes, return on investment, and effectiveness.

  • Our work allows your people to focus on their essential functions while we take care of the important task of program evaluations and reviews.

OUTCOMES-BASED CONSULTATION, WORKSHOPS, AND/OR TRAINING

  • Strategic planning, goal setting, and visioning

  • Board governance and development for NGOs

  • Comprehensive program design (concept to evaluation) for vocational, academic, career, and personal success

  • Support services and interventions impacting retention and success in secondary, post-secondary, and community-based organizations

  • Additional topics may be discussed

ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES

  • Professional development and solutions-based performance coaching, guidance, or mentoring for individuals or teams to  improve outcomes and return on investment

  • Speaking engagements for events

  • Evidence-based benchmarking research

  • Interim leadership oversight of area(s) until searches are completed

  • Other services may be considered based on need

Clients

We serve the following:

  • Traditional and online/distance learning higher education institutions

  • Educational opportunity and access programs (e.g., Federal TRIO outreach programs)

  • Post-secondary schools and systems

  • Government agencies

  • Faith-based organizations

  • Philanthropic grant-making organizations

  • Youth- and young adult-focused programs

  • Community-based programs

  • Other clients may be considered for potential consulting/training collaboration based on needs

Founder. Principal. CEO. Collaborator.

  • Ph.D., Education Policy, Planning, and Administration, University of Maryland College Park

  • M.S., Counseling with concentration in Human Resource Development, University of Bridgeport

  • B.A., English, University of Bridgeport

  • High School Diploma, The School Without Walls Senior High School, Washington, D.C.

  • 30+ years of progressive leadership experience in federal TRIO and educational opportunity programs, academic services, and student services (e.g., assistant to a university president, senior director, associate dean of students, TRIO director, and vice president of student affairs)

  • 14 years of adjunct faculty experience

  • Executive Search Consultant experience

  • $15M+ secured in federal TRIO educational access and opportunity grants for first-generation, low-income, and disability individuals from middle school students through Ph.D. preparation

  • $682,500+ raised to support scholarships, charity, academic programming, and operations

  • Keynote addresses, conference presentations, program evaluations, training, and publications

A smiling middle-aged man with a beard in a gray suit, light blue shirt, and dark blue tie posing against a plain background.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We offer a range of practical, relevant, and tailored services that benefit people and organizations. Our consulting and training services focus on program evaluations; performance coaching for people and teams; outcomes-based workshops (e.g., strategic planning, goal setting, support services for individuals; board development); speaking engagements; and interim leadership oversight until searches are completed.

  • Getting started is simple. Reach out through our contact form or schedule a call—we’ll walk you through the next steps and answer any questions along the way.

  • Our approach is very personable. Clients have direct access to Dr. S., the founder, principal, and CEO. We don’t bog you down in a lot of fancy or trendy language from the literature or offer a lot of fads. Instead, we know your people are incredibly busy, so we want to focus on some of your important tasks to allow your team to focus on their essential duties. We offer a hybrid and appreciative approach where we not only leverage expertise but we also leverage the assets of your people and organization — so we are collaborators in the process. Our approach is practical, relevant, and tailored to you, your people, and your organization — no cookie-cutter deliverables! This approach ensures you get what you pay for.

  • Dr. S., the founder, principal, and CEO gives each client personalized attention. You can reach us anytime via our contact page or email. We aim to respond quickly—usually within two business days. Dr. S. can also be accessible outside of traditional “work hours” if need be to be a sounding board for clients or engage in solutions-focused brainstorming.

  • We offer flexible pricing based on project type and complexity. Pricing is tailored based on needs and we do not provide cookie-cutter deliverables or work products. After an initial conversation, we’ll provide a transparent quote with no hidden costs. We respect the budget constraints and realities in organizations we wish to serve; therefore, we will use remote technology and email communications as necessary to deliver results. Again, we are collaborators in this relationship.

  • I strive to bring an appropriate level of seriousness and humor to our work. It’s important to enjoy the work that we do since, at it’s core, our work is about exploring and achieving greater possibilities for people and organizations. On this journey, we are collaborators appreciating what both sides bring to the table.

    I enjoy good conversations and learning about history and context. I need to be prepared to wear different hats: facilitator, organizer, planner, promoter, cheerleader, mentor, coach, and guide.

  • At Greater Possibilities Consulting, our core values are client satisfaction, collaboration, effective communication, relevant outcomes and deliverables, timeliness, and truthfulness. Our promise is that everything we do will be guided by these values.

  • Absolutely! Dr. S., the founder, principal, and CEO will be directly accessible to clients to ensure a personable and personalized consulting, training, public speaking, or interim oversight experience — even if this means contacting Dr. S. outside traditional work hours.

  • Depending on your needs, examples include: a preliminary, co-developed approach to the project (i.e., the relationship); reports with or without recommendations; suggested evidence-based intervention or performance improvement strategies; benchmarking analysis; personnel recommendations; content-based workshops; theme-based keynote presentation at an event; facilitated workshops or events; or structured coaching sessions for staff or teams.

Contact us so we can explore Greater Possibilities for your people and organization

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