Magnolia Consulting

What Magnolia Consulting does

Magnolia Consulting LLC is a privately held, woman-owned, B Corporation-certified professional services firm headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded in 2002 by Stephanie B. Wilkerson, Ph.D. The firm delivers research, evaluation, capacity-building, infographic design, and mindful-leadership consulting primarily to U.S. education-sector clients — state departments of education (notably Nebraska), school districts, education-focused nonprofits, and education publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — as well as to federal-research sponsors (Department of Justice, NASA, NSF, National Solar Observatory).

The firm's core service portfolio comprises four offerings: Research and Evaluation (rigorous study design including RCTs, quasi-experimental designs, surveys, focus groups, and qualitative analysis meeting What Works Clearinghouse standards and ESSA evidence tiers); Evaluation Capacity Building (instrument development, logic models, multi-day workshops, and ongoing coaching); Infographics (data-visualization services underpinned by the proprietary "10 Steps to Creating an Infographic" methodology, codified in a SAGE Publications book authored by the founder); and Mindful Leadership (one-on-one executive consultations). The technology layer is intentionally minimal — no proprietary platforms, APIs, or AI tooling — with competitive differentiation grounded in human expertise, methodology IP, and credentials (WWC v5.0, ESSA evidence expertise, B Corp, SWaM).

Commercial mechanics are project-based professional services: quote-driven evaluation and capacity-building contracts with government, nonprofit, and enterprise buyers; direct enterprise and mid-market consulting engagements; customized on-site and virtual workshops; and a self-serve workshop product line priced at $99 (Infographic Fundamentals) and $149 (10 Steps workshop). Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the firm has no funding rounds, no parent company, and no M&A history, with ownership concentrated in the founder. Distribution is driven by thought-leadership content (blog, SAGE book, conference presentations at AEA and HI-TEC), an owned LinkedIn community of 13,000+ infographic professionals, and direct relationship-selling into state education departments and education nonprofits.

Name

Magnolia Consulting

Legal name

Magnolia Consulting LLC

Website

https://magnoliaconsulting.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Magnolia Consulting is a woman-owned, B Corp-certified education research and evaluation firm serving U.S. state education agencies, school districts, education publishers, and nonprofits with rigorous study design, capacity building, infographic design, and mindful leadership consulting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Research and Evaluation Services

NAICS

Other Management Consulting Services (541618), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Operations & Process Improvement Consulting (BPAHACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Strategy & Corporate Development Consulting (BPAHACAA), Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB)

Keywords

• Education research consulting
• Program evaluation services
• Evaluation capacity building
• Data visualization consulting
• Mindful leadership training

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlottesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and Evaluation Consulting: Project-based consulting engagements for education research, program evaluation, efficacy studies, and policy analysis for government agencies, nonprofits, and education organizations.
2. Capacity Building Services: Evaluation capacity building engagements including workshops, coaching, and technical support for client organizations.
3. Workshop and Training Services: Instructor-led workshops on infographic creation and evaluation capacity building, offered at fixed price points ($99-$149) or as customized engagements for organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Magnolia Consulting is a woman-owned professional services firm that delivers research and program evaluation, evaluation capacity building, infographic design and training, and mindful leadership workshops to education-sector clients. Its service offerings include contracted research projects, multi-year capacity-building engagements, structured infographic workshops (including "Infographic Fundamentals" and "10 Steps to Creating an Infographic"), and a published book on infographic design.

Product overview

Magnolia Consulting is a woman-owned small business offering professional consulting services focused on education research and evaluation. The company's service portfolio consists of four interconnected core offerings: Research and Evaluation (rigorous study design and implementation), Evaluation Capacity Building (tools and training for client organizations), Infographics (visual data communication services and the 10 Steps methodology), and Mindful Leadership (leadership development consultations). The company also extends its expertise through a published book, "10 Steps to Creating an Infographic," and associated workshops (Infographic Fundamentals and 10 Steps to Creating an Infographic) that package the proprietary methodology as instructor-led training products. The offerings are designed to work together as an integrated approach to helping organizations generate evidence and communicate findings effectively.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research and Program Evaluation Contracted research and program evaluation services for education-sector clients, applying What Works Clearinghouse-aligned evidence standards and ESSA evidence-tier frameworks to assess program impact for state education agencies, districts, and education nonprofits.
• Evaluation Capacity Building Multi-year consulting engagement that builds internal evaluation capabilities within education organizations, including training, tool development, and ongoing methodological support.
• Infographic Design Services Custom infographic design and data visualization services that translate research findings and complex datasets into visual communication products for education publishers and education-sector clients.
• Mindful Leadership Training Workshops and training programs in mindful leadership practices for education-sector professionals, delivered as both open workshops and customized on-site engagements.
• 10 Steps to Creating an Infographic (Book) Published book codifying the firm's proprietary "10 Steps to Creating an Infographic" methodology, sold to education professionals, researchers, and individual learners through retail channels.
• Infographic Fundamentals Workshop Structured workshop that teaches participants the firm's infographic design methodology, offered as open self-registration workshops and as customized on-site or virtual programs for client teams.
• 10 Steps to Creating an Infographic Workshop Advanced workshop built around the firm's proprietary "10 Steps to Creating an Infographic" framework, delivered as both an open self-registration workshop and a customized on-site or virtual program.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients receive rigorous, actionable research findings that meet highest standards of education research
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• Hope Street GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership since 2015 with Hope Street Group State Teacher Fellows, a nonprofit supporting State Teacher Fellowship programs in Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. Magnolia provides data analysis support and develops recommendations based on annual teacher survey and focus-group data collection across over 16,000 teachers nationwide.
• National Solar ObservatorynotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to evaluate the NASA- and NSF-funded Citizen CATE (Citizen Continental-America Telescope Eclipse) Experiment, which prepared citizen scientists across the path of totality to capture images of the solar corona during the August 2017 solar eclipse.
• Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central at Marzano Research AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with REL Central to provide technical support in developing a systematic process for conducting evidence searches in support of the Nebraska Department of Education.
• Children's Trust of South CarolinanotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivered 'Introduction to Infographics and Strategies for Use in Evaluation' workshop at Children's Trust of South Carolina, a statewide nonprofit focused on strengthening families and preventing child abuse.
• Nebraska Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership providing technical support, evaluation design assistance, and resources to support Nebraska's education system and evidence-based program implementation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IMPAQ International: Research and analytics firm focused on social programs, education, and workforce policy, with strong survey, evaluation, and capacity-building offerings. Directly comparable to Magnolia's evaluation and capacity-building services for public-sector clients.
• WestEd: Nonprofit education research and evaluation firm providing rigorous study design, program evaluation, and capacity building for schools, districts, and state agencies. Highly comparable to Magnolia's research and evaluation, capacity building, and education-sector focus, though at significantly larger scale.
• MDRC: Nonprofit social policy research organization focused on evaluations of education and workforce programs using rigorous methods including RCTs. Direct overlap with Magnolia's community college/workforce development and education evaluation focus.
• 2M Research: Small, certified minority- and woman-owned research and evaluation firm providing program evaluation, research design, and capacity building for federal, state, and nonprofit clients. Highly comparable in size, certifications, and service mix to Magnolia Consulting.

Broad incumbents

• RAND Corporation: Policy research institution with substantial K–12 and higher education research and evaluation work for government and philanthropic clients. Overlaps with Magnolia on rigorous study design and education-policy analysis, though much broader in scope.
• Abt Associates: Research and evaluation firm with a substantial education practice serving federal agencies (including Department of Education and DOJ/NIJ), matching Magnolia's federal evaluation work. Operates at materially larger scale with broader service lines.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Large-scale social policy research and evaluation firm with deep education and human services practices, including RCT and quasi-experimental designs meeting WWC standards. Closest comparator to Magnolia's evaluation methodology stack, but operating at far greater scale and across many policy domains.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): Major nonprofit behavioral and social science research organization with a sizable education evaluation practice serving federal, state, and district clients. Comparable in research methodology and ESSA-aligned evidence work, with a much broader portfolio and larger staff.
• ICF International: Large advisory and digital services firm with a sizable education and public-sector research and evaluation practice, including survey and program evaluation work. Comparable in offering type and federal client base, though at much greater scale and breadth.

Others

• Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program: Federally-funded network of laboratories (including Magnolia's partner REL Central) that provide research, evaluation, and evidence support to state education agencies. Magnolia is a subcontractor to this network, making the REL Program an ecosystem partner and partial competitive peer for state education evaluation work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/magnolia_eval
• Facebookfacebook.com/MagnoliaConsultingLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/magnolia-consulting-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Magnolia Consulting