What Works Institute

What What Works Institute does

What Works Institute is a privately held, member-driven research and consulting organization focused on Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) leaders, founded in November 2024 and operating as What Works Foundation, LLC in Wilmington, Delaware. The firm is led by co-founders John Dony (former VP of Workplace Strategy at the National Safety Council and Director at the Phylmar Group) and Michelle Garner-Janna (former Global HSE leader at Cummins Inc. and past Campbell Institute chair), with a roughly 10-person team drawn almost entirely from National Safety Council and Cummins alumni. Its product portfolio spans tiered organizational memberships, topic- and industry-based learning communities, five regulatory newsletters (Federal, State, EPA, World Health, International), proprietary implementation guides (notably the Heat Stress Implementation Guide and the Neurodiversity in EHS Insights Report), the Risk Recalibrated executive research report co-produced with Evotix, on-demand webinars, and custom EHS consulting.

Revenue is generated through six streams: professional-services consulting sold directly to enterprises, recurring organizational membership subscriptions, recurring newsletter subscriptions priced $299-$599 per year, premium community memberships priced at $2,500 per year, one-time purchases of implementation guides and reports, and freemium webinars that drive top-of-funnel engagement. The company is not a technology vendor — it explicitly identifies as a research and consulting organization — and has no API, app, or proprietary AI/ML product. Distribution combines a self-serve e-commerce storefront, direct enterprise sales for consulting, and freemium content funnels into paid membership and community offerings. Customer logos visible across the site include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Abbott, Sanofi, Roche, Takeda, Vertex, Alnylam, AT&T, Southern California Edison, Cummins, DEKRA, and Paramount, spanning aerospace, pharmaceuticals, utilities, telecommunications, and consumer goods.

Name

What Works Institute

Legal name

What Works Foundation, LLC

Website

https://whatworksinstitute.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

What Works Institute is a member-driven EHS research, consulting, and community organization that serves senior environmental, health, and safety leaders at large enterprises through memberships, learning communities, regulatory newsletters, implementation guides, and custom consulting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Consulting and Research

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Occupational Health & Industrial Hygiene (BPAHAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

EHS Training, Competency & Culture Programs (BPAHAJAL), EHS Auditing, Inspections & Assurance (BPAHAJAG)

Keywords

• EHS consulting services
• Environmental health safety
• Workplace safety research
• Safety program design
• Regulatory compliance advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Glen Ellyn

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Custom consulting engagements for program design, on-site support, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, and leadership advisory. Sold directly to organizations.
2. Organizational Membership: Tiered membership model giving teams access to tools, insights, peer networks, benchmarking, collaborative research, and member-led influence on agenda.
3. Product Sales: One-time purchases of implementation guides and reports (Heat Stress Guide, Neurodiversity in EHS report) sold through e-commerce store.
4. Newsletter Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions to weekly/biweekly newsletters covering Federal ($599/yr), State ($299/yr), EPA ($299/yr), World Health ($299/yr), and International ($299/yr) regulatory and health topics.
5. Community Memberships: Access to specific communities such as the Heat Stress Express Community at $2,500, including monthly benchmarking meetings, peer surveys, and regulatory analysis.
6. Webinars & Events: On-demand webinar content available for free download. In-person events and webinars with free attendance for members and guest passes for non-members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

What Works Institute operates a member-driven platform delivering Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) consulting, research, and peer learning communities for enterprise safety leaders. It sells custom consulting engagements (program design, on-site support, on-call expertise), annual tiered organizational memberships, topic- and industry-specific learning communities, implementation guides, research reports, and annual newsletter subscriptions covering federal, state, EPA, world health, and international EHS developments.

Product overview

What Works Institute is a member-driven organization offering a platform of EHS (Environmental, Health, and Safety) solutions comprising consulting services, learning communities, research reports, program guides, newsletters, and webinars. The core offerings include the Heat Stress Implementation Guide and Neurodiversity in EHS Insights Report as program guides; Risk Recalibrated Report as flagship research; five specialized newsletters (Federal, State, International, World Health, EPA) with annual subscriptions; Learning Communities for peer-led knowledge exchange; What Works Community-Heat Stress as a premium community offering; on-demand webinars; and consulting services spanning program design, on-site support, and on-call expert assistance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• What Works Consulting Services Custom EHS consulting covering Program Design (assessments, gap analysis, strategy development), On-Site Support (implementation, industrial hygiene, ergonomics), and On-Call Help with board-certified specialists in Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics, and Leadership Support. Sold to enterprise organizations.
• Organizational Membership Tiered membership model giving enterprise teams access to tools, insights, peer networks, benchmarking, and member-led collaborative research. Members influence the agenda, vote on topics, and shape research direction.
• Learning Communities Peer-led 90-minute sessions every other month covering topic-based groups (AI in EHS, Executive & Emerging Issues, Human-Centric EHS, Modernizing Metrics & Measurement), industry-focused groups (BioPharma EHS Forum, Utilities), and regional outlooks (LatAm & Global Contexts, Pacific Regulatory Roundtable).
• What Works Community - Heat Stress Premium community offering for heat stress injury and illness prevention at $2,500/year, providing monthly virtual benchmarking and discussion meetings, peer-to-peer surveys, regulatory analysis, insight, and advocacy, including a complimentary copy of the Heat Stress Program Guide.
• Heat Stress Implementation Guide A field-ready manual providing actionable tools, policy templates, and frameworks for organizational heat stress management. Includes a 4-stage maturity model, 40-question diagnostic tool, 7-factor risk assessment, policy templates, and implementation checklists.
• Integrating Neurodiversity in EHS Insights Report An insights report exploring neurodiversity in EHS, including neurodivergent profiles, case studies, guidance for redesigning EHS systems, and practical recommendations for cognitive diversity support in areas like signage, sensory environments, and high-stakes decision-making.
• Federal EHS Newsletter - Annual Subscription Weekly newsletter at $599/year covering OSHA, MSHA, DOL, NIOSH, EPA, and DOE updates, plus upcoming rules, proposed legislation, and federal investigations for EHS professionals.
• State EHS Newsletter - Annual Subscription Biweekly newsletter at $299/year focused on high-impact state developments including infectious disease rules, climate safety bills, and enforcement trends.
• EPA Newsletter - Annual Subscription Biweekly newsletter at $299/year covering environmental compliance news, enforcement shifts, and climate-related regulatory changes from the EPA.
• World Health Newsletter - Annual Subscription Biweekly newsletter at $299/year covering disease surveillance, health system disruptions, and WHO-level updates for global health awareness.
• International EHS Newsletter - Annual Subscription Biweekly newsletter at $299/year tracking global regulatory changes, industrial safety news, and activity across Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
• Risk Recalibrated Report The 2026 Executive Leadership Report on AI, SIF, and Human-Centric EHS, providing executive-level direction based on a multi-industry roundtable and 2025 survey of senior EHS leaders on serious injury prevention and AI applications.
• What Works Webinars On-demand expert-led webinar sessions on EHS challenges including Hearing Conservation Programs, BioPharma Regulatory Outlook, Technology in EHS, 2026 Strategic EHS Outlook, Heat Stress, Neurodiversity, AI in EHS, and more. Available for free download to drive awareness and engagement.

Named customers13 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EvotixminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-produced the Risk Recalibrated report (2026 Executive Leadership Report on AI, SIF, and Human-Centric EHS). The report includes insights from the What Works Institute & Evotix 2025 Executive Roundtable & EHS Strategy & Innovation Survey.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Velocity EHS: EHS SaaS platform sold to mid-market and enterprise safety teams. Not a direct model competitor but represents the software-first path that incumbents and newcomers could use to encroach on What Works' content and community moat, especially around heat stress, ergonomics, and learning.
• Cority: Cloud-based EHS software platform serving enterprise safety, occupational health, and sustainability programs. Comparable buyer (senior EHS leaders at large manufacturers and pharma) and overlapping use cases in industrial hygiene and ergonomics.

Broad incumbents

• National Safety Council: Large member-driven safety organization offering training, advocacy, networking, and research to EHS leaders. Direct antecedent to What Works Institute (where both co-founders spent the bulk of their careers) and a benchmark for scaling a member-led EHS community model.
• BSI Group: Standards body and EHS consultancy offering ISO 14001/45001 management systems consulting, training, and certification. Comparable on the EHS consulting-and-training axis even though What Works' membership community angle is distinctive.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): Global EHS and sustainability consulting giant serving most Fortune 500 industrial buyers across health, safety, and environmental programs. Comparable on the consulting-services axis and on buyer overlap (Cummins, Roche, pharma/biotech) even though much larger.

Direct peers

• Trinity Consultants: EHS and air-quality consulting firm delivering regulatory compliance, permitting, and program support to industrial clients. Directly comparable consulting offerings, with What Works differentiating through member-driven content versus project-based billable consulting.
• Enhesa: Provides regulatory intelligence, compliance updates, and advisory services for EHS and sustainability professionals, packaged as subscription products and consulting. Closest comparable to What Works' newsletter subscriptions plus consulting model, with similar buyer persona.
• Phylmar Group: EHS and sustainability consulting practice co-founded by John Dony prior to What Works, serving enterprise clients across industries. Closely comparable service offerings and customer base, with operational continuity as What Works now manages Phylmar memberships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/whatworksinstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 What Works Institute