Zeta Metis Advising partners with funders, nonprofits, and communities across the United States.

Select current Zeta Metis Advising projects include co-leading multi-year evaluations of the Barr Foundation’s Creative Commonwealth Initiative with five community foundations across Massachusetts and the $25 million Barr-Klarman Arts Massachusetts Arts Initiative with 29 organizations. In addition to the evaluation of the Creative Commonwealth Initiative, we provide customized evaluation and learning technical assistance to the five community foundations including facilitating planning processes, developing resource documents, and conducting training webinars.

Founder & Principal

Nicole McGovern is a highly collaborative consultant and leader dedicated to relationship-building and activating learning at the individual, organizational, community, and field levels. Nicole brings strong cross sector experience across the United States within the arts and community development, effective philanthropy, and health. She is passionate about helping to build healthier and more engaged organizations and communities. Nicole’s career accomplishments include:

• Research and Evaluation: Led multiple national studies about United States foundations including one for the Hewlett Foundation about how foundations find and use knowledge to improve their practice; conducted two evaluations for First 5 LA of community-based programs focused on improving health disparities in birth outcomes.

• Strategy and Planning: Developed program theories of change with five community foundations through work with the Barr Foundation; facilitated in-depth organizational planning processes with two newly forming emerging leader networks and a legal aid clinic.

• Learning and Technical Assistance: Led initiative level evaluation and technical assistance with over 100 arts nonprofits across California for the Irvine Foundation; collaboratively planned and facilitated quarterly learning collaboratives with over 20 mental and physical health organizations as part of an overall multi-year evaluation project with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.

• Organizational Development: Directed a state-wide funders collaborative distributing monthly capacity building grants to nonprofits, artists, and next generation leaders; served as senior staff of two nonprofit organizations leading finances, fundraising, communications, operations, and board relations.

Prior to forming Zeta Metis, Nicole worked independently and with two national consulting firms, Harder+Company Community Research and Helicon Collaborative. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northwestern University and a Masters in Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University.

Nicole is also a:

• Foodie

• Meditator and yogi

• Musician

• Devoted mother of two multiracial multinational boys

She feels best sitting by the ocean and loves learning from and with people.