Openfields

What Openfields does

Openfields is a privately held social-innovation consultancy founded in 2014 and headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. The firm provides a portfolio of integrated services — Strategy & Foresight, Data Services, Research Services, Learning Cohorts, and Leadership Programs — to philanthropic foundations, nonprofits and intermediaries, universities and think tanks, corporate impact teams, and government agencies. Named engagements span Missouri Foundation for Health (firearm suicide prevention and evaluation work), Stanford Graduate School of Business (Career Design for MBA students), Michelin North America (a purpose-driven culture program scaled to 22,000+ employees via train-the-trainer), Dogwood Health Trust, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation (Mission 85 veterans services), the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defenders Office (racial equity data), and Furman University / Food is Medicine SC (South Carolina Food Insecurity Risk Map).

The firm's central technology asset is Orchard, an AI-powered systems intelligence platform that aggregates, analyzes, and synthesizes information from publications, case studies, news, and NGO reports into curated insight feeds, trend maps, and research briefs for social impact clients. Adjacent IP includes mapping and visualization work (Multnomah County Child Care Crisis Map) and the Orchard Fellowship, a 6-week AI research training program.

Openfields generates revenue through project-based consulting contracts with custom, undisclosed pricing tied to scope, duration, and complexity. Go-to-market is sales-led and builds primarily on thought-leadership content (the firm's journal), conference presence (Aspen Socrates, Capita events), case-study portfolio, and referrals across its foundation, university, and corporate networks. The firm has not raised external funding and operates from a single Greenville office while working with clients nationally and selectively abroad.

Name

Openfields

Legal name

Openfields

Website

https://openfields.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Openfields is a Greenville, South Carolina-based social-innovation consultancy offering strategy, research, data, learning cohort, and leadership development services — augmented by an AI-powered intelligence platform called Orchard — to foundations, nonprofits, universities, government agencies, and corporate impact teams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Greenville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements including strategy, research, data analysis, learning cohort facilitation, and leadership development services. Revenue generated through project-based consulting contracts with foundations, nonprofits, government agencies, and corporate social impact teams.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Openfields is a social innovation consulting firm that delivers strategic planning, foresight, research, data analytics, learning cohort design, and leadership development services to philanthropic foundations, nonprofits, universities, government entities, and corporate impact teams. At the center of its practice is Orchard, a proprietary AI-powered systems intelligence platform that gathers, analyzes, and synthesizes information from diverse sources into curated insight feeds and trend maps tailored for social impact organizations.

Product overview

Openfields offers a portfolio of consulting services focused on social innovation and systems change. The core offering is the Orchard platform—an AI-powered systems intelligence tool that aggregates and synthesizes information from diverse sources. Around this platform, Openfields provides Strategy & Foresight services, Data Services (including analytics and visualization), Research Services (impact modeling and evaluation), Learning Cohorts (community-based programs), and Leadership Programs (executive residencies and sabbatical planning). These services are designed to work together, with Orchard providing the intelligence backbone that informs strategy, research, and learning initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Orchard

Quantifiable outcome

• 89.9% of Stanford MBA student survey respondents would recommend the Career Design sessions to others
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• CapitacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2023Openfields partners with Capita, a think tank focused on children's and family well-being. They collaborated on climate adaptation research examining how cities center children in climate planning, including a convening in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Openfields conducts research and analysis in support of Capita's initiatives.
• Institute for the FuturesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields collaborated with Institute for the Future for leadership retreats and foresight training, including Future Forum events. Institute experts like Jake Dunagan have been featured in Openfields programs.
• Waters Center for Systems ThinkingsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields partnered with the Waters Center for Systems Thinking for leadership retreats, combining systems thinking methodologies with their learning and strategy offerings.
• Furman University - Institute for the Advancement of Community HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields partnered with Furman University's Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) along with Food is Medicine SC to develop the South Carolina Food Insecurity Risk Map. IACH served as a research and academic partner.
• Low-Income Investment Fund (LIIF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLIIF partnered with Openfields to conduct comprehensive childcare supply and demand analysis for Multnomah County. LIIF supported the project aimed at increasing early learning access.
• Stanford d.schoolsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields collaborated with Stanford's d.school to integrate design thinking methods into career planning workshops for MBA students. Dave Evans from d.school facilitated workshops.
• Missouri Foundation for HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExtended partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health on multiple initiatives including firearm suicide prevention learning cohorts, developmental evaluation, and systems leadership programs. MFH is a major client and strategic partner for health equity work.
• Aspen InstitutesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields partnered with the Aspen Institute (specifically Ascend at the Aspen Institute) to disseminate research findings on parental well-being and early childhood issues.
• Arthur M. Blank Family FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArthur M. Blank Family Foundation partnered with Openfields to facilitate Mission 85, a network unifying veteran services across Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Foundation provides funding and strategic direction.
• Alliance for Early SuccesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields partnered with the Alliance for Early Success to develop the Right for Kids Community of Practice, working with policy advocates from approximately 30 states on early childhood development agenda.
• FUSE CorpssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields serves as a FUSE Corps Innovation Partner, working with FUSE fellows on social impact projects such as the racial equity data project with LA Alternate Public Defenders Office.
• Ascend at the Aspen InstitutesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenfields work on parental well-being and social solidarity was shared among Ascend's network of early childhood leaders, expanding reach of research findings.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TCC Group: Consulting firm focused on nonprofit and philanthropic clients offering strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building services, with similar mid-sized boutique profile and vertical alignment to Openfields.
• The Bridgespan Group: Nonprofit and social sector strategy consulting firm serving foundations, nonprofits, and social enterprises on strategy, organizational development, and impact — directly comparable to Openfields' strategy and advising offerings.
• Arabella Advisors: Boutique philanthropic and impact advisory firm that provides strategy, research, and program design services to foundations, nonprofits, and high-impact donors, closely overlapping Openfields' philanthropy and social sector client base.
• FSG: Social impact strategy consultancy (now part of Accenture) that advises foundations, corporations, and nonprofits on strategy, evaluation, and systems change — overlapping Openfields' research, strategy, and impact measurement services.
• La Piana Consulting: Nonprofit strategy and executive search consultancy supporting social sector organizations with strategic planning, mergers, and leadership transitions, comparable in scale and client base to Openfields.
• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Philanthropic advisory and consulting organization serving foundations, corporations, and high-net-worth donors on strategy, grantmaking, and impact, sharing Openfields' philanthropic sector focus.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey Social Sector Practice: Global management consulting firm with a dedicated social sector practice serving foundations, governments, and nonprofits on large-scale strategy and operating model engagements — a scaled incumbent competing for the same foundation RFPs as Openfields.
• Bain & Company - Social Impact Practice: Global consulting firm with a Social Impact practice serving foundations, nonprofits, and corporations on strategy and impact, competing against Openfields for high-end social sector mandates.
• Deloitte - Human Services Practice: Deloitte's human services and nonprofit consulting practice serves government agencies, foundations, and large nonprofits, representing a scaled incumbent with overlapping social impact capabilities.

Emerging players

• New Profit: Venture philanthropy organization that combines funding with strategic advisory and capacity-building support for social impact organizations, comparable to Openfields' learning cohort and incubation offerings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Openfields