Hadassah Damien, MA, ACC is a strategy and transformation leader who’s spent 15+ years helping nonprofits, startups, civic technology organizations, foundations, governments, and mission-driven companies navigate complex change and move forward meaningfully.
Below the narrative is a work history, client list, and credentials.
I build and lead research-backed strategy, innovation, governance, and customer experience programs, and I’ve directed multi-stakeholder initiatives spanning technology, operations, and organizational change for clients ranging from a state resource center, to a national environmental nonprofit, to small community organizations.
I started out as a self-taught web developer, theater artist and zine maker before moving into open source software development. That lead to HCD and UX engagement; and then to open data, UXR, and service design.
Working with organizations on their “technology needs” – which are always either people needs or business needs – alerted me that strategy is critical but often, too fuzzy to be of value.
I leaned into design thinking and adaptive innovation design strategy. From designing tech systems to testable business initiatives and policy implementation programs. From there, the development needs of people and teams became clear; so I incorporated self-organizing org dev and coaching. I’m now an ICF-accredited coach who has worked with more than 1,200 individuals and leaders on decision making and their goals for change.
My approach is different because I’ve lived an expansive life: I can talk to your engineers, your board, and your frontline staff in the language each of them actually uses.
EXPERIENCE
Selected Client List:
The Nature Conservancy · Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law · Allied Media Projects · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation · State of Wisconsin ADRC · Mozilla · Strava · Dropbox · Microsoft · Mass MoCA · NEFA · Full client lists below
Independent practice 2017-present; founded and ran as Staircase Strategy 2019 – 2025.
Selected clients: The Nature Conservancy, Dropbox, Microsoft, Ancestry.com, ConsenSys, Palantir.net, Mozilla/City of New York.
Ride Free Fearless Money, 2016-present, ongoing part time project
Selected clients:
Business trainings: Strava [LGBTQ+ ERG], AVODAH, Theatre of the Oppressed NY, JFREJ
Funders’ staff & grantee cohorts: Allied Media Projects, New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), The Elias Foundation, Kresge Arts Foundation, Resource Generation NY
Arts organizations artist cohorts: Mass MoCA Assets for Artists, Artists of Radical Imagination, Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network, Sundance Institute
Accelerators: Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC, RiseBoro
Public institutions: Brooklyn Public Library
Palantir.net (a civic tech consultancy — unrelated to Palantir Technologies), 2023 [consulting], 2024-26 on staff.
Selected Clients:
State of Wisconsin (ADRC), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Michigan, Emory University, Centra Health
Trestle Inc., part-time consulting 2022-2025.
Selected Clients:
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Acacia Center for Justice
Valley National Bank, 2020-2018 – staff on Research & Service Design team
ConsenSys, 2018-2016 – staff design facilitator
Selected Projects: City of Dubai, Devcon Osaka
Participatory Budgeting Project, 2016-2018 – staff
Selected Projects: partnerships with City of Chicago, Oakland, New York City Council
Openflows Community Technology Cooperative, 2016-2018 – staff worker-owner
Credentials
[in progress] AI Governance Certificate – Harvard Data Science Initiative, 2026
Associate Certified Coach – (ACC), International Coaching Federation, 2024 – present
M.A., American Studies (Sociology + Interactive Technology and Pedagogy), CUNY Graduate Center – Thesis Award
Honours B.A. (English, Semiotics) University of Toronto – Graduated with Distinction
Board Member, Chinook Fund – 2024–present
Trained Design Thinking Facilitator
Certified ScrumMaster
Open Data Advisory Council member, NYC Mayor’s Office – 2017–2018
Lambda Literary Award recipient 2016 for a community anthology
International teacher and speaker, including at SXSW, DevCon Osaka, Smart Cities, OIDP, Yale, MIT, Duke, UT Austin, NYU, Hampshire College, and The New School.
This is likely more than enough information! But, if you want the long and detailed story, it’s here.