Spark the Firm

What Spark the Firm does

Spark the Firm is a management and organizational development consulting firm headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 2023 by Tamara Steward, the firm serves government agencies, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and other mission-driven organizations. Its service portfolio comprises three tiers: workshops and facilitation, short-term strategic engagements, and ongoing advisory partnerships focused on equity-centered organizational transformation.

The firm's core offering is human-delivered advisory services — there is no proprietary technology platform, no software product, and no AI/ML capability underlying its work. The firm monetizes through project-based consulting fees and retained advisory contracts with public-sector and institutional clients. Brand visibility is supported by the founder's published book "Light It Up" (2023) and the "Strong Face" podcast (2024), which function as thought-leadership distribution channels rather than standalone revenue lines.

Spark the Firm is a privately held, founder-owned micro-firm with 1–10 employees. It has no disclosed funding rounds or external investors. Notable institutional clients include the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), EPB, the University of Tennessee, the Kingsport Chamber, and the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA), on whose $7.07M AI-Powered Neighborhood Mobility Zones project the firm serves as a subcontractor responsible for community engagement strategy.

Name

Spark the Firm

Legal name

Spark the Firm

Website

https://sparkthefirm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Spark the Firm is a Chattanooga-based management and organizational development consulting firm founded in 2023 by Tamara Steward, serving government agencies, nonprofits, and higher education institutions through workshops, strategic engagements, and ongoing advisory partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Organization Design & Change Management Consulting (BPAHACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Change Management & Transformation Consulting (BPAHAGAC), Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB), Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL), Leadership Development & Executive Coaching (BPAHAGAD), Talent Management & Leadership Advisory (Succession, Performance, Culture) (BPACAJAH)

Keywords

• Organizational consulting services
• Strategic planning facilitation
• Leadership development training
• Executive coaching services
• Change management consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chattanooga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Organizational Consulting Services: The firm provides organizational consulting including culture and engagement strategy, change management, process improvement, stakeholder engagement, and organizational effectiveness services.
2. Strategic Planning Engagements: Strategic planning services where the firm leads organizations through planning processes, facilitates hard conversations, aligns leadership around shared priorities, and builds strategic plans with implementation roadmaps and accountability structures.
3. Leadership Development and Facilitation: Learning experiences including leadership development training, workplace culture training, strategic facilitation, and human-centered innovation programs, delivered as workshops or multi-session cohort programs.
4. Executive Coaching: Tailored, confidential coaching engagements for senior leaders navigating transition, growth, or next-level opportunity. Optional executive rebranding services include resume and bio development, messaging strategy, and LinkedIn optimization.
5. Workshops and Facilitation: Designed and led sessions for leadership teams that produce real decisions, real alignment, and real next steps. Available as individual workshop engagements.
6. Ongoing Advisory Partnerships: Long-term advisory relationships providing consistent trusted thinking partnership for leaders, described as not a project but a relationship.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Spark the Firm is an organizational consulting firm that delivers culture and engagement strategy, change management, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and stakeholder engagement services to government agencies, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and mission-driven organizations. The firm works through three engagement models: Workshops and Facilitation, Strategic Engagements, and Ongoing Advisory Partnerships, helping clients close the gap between strategy and execution.

Product overview

Spark the Firm is an organizational consulting firm that offers three core service engagement models: Workshops and Facilitation, Strategic Engagements, and Ongoing Advisory Partnerships. These are delivered through four primary service offerings: Organizational Consulting, Strategic Planning, Leadership Development and Facilitation, and Executive Coaching. The firm also produces the Strong Face Podcast as a content/media extension of their leadership development work. There is no software product or platform—all services are professional consulting and advisory services delivered directly by the firm's team.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Strong Face: A podcast hosted by Tamara Steward for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so — without losing themselves in the process.

Products and services

• Workshops and Facilitation Designed and led sessions for leadership teams that need to work through something together, producing real decisions, real alignment, and real next steps rather than just conversation. Targeted at organizational leadership teams in government, nonprofit, and higher education settings.
• Strategic Engagements Comprehensive engagements that move organizations from where they are to where they need to be, with a clear plan, clear owners, clear accountability, and execution support. Targeted at organizations navigating planning inflection points or major transitions.
• Ongoing Advisory Partnerships Long-term advisory relationships providing a consistent trusted thinking partnership for senior leaders, structured as an ongoing relationship rather than a fixed project. Targeted at executives and senior leaders who want sustained strategic counsel.
• Organizational Consulting Assesses how organizations actually operate versus how they are supposed to on paper, surfaces friction points, identifies drivers, and builds practical solutions including culture and engagement strategy, change management, process improvement, stakeholder engagement, and organizational effectiveness. Targeted at government agencies, nonprofits, and higher education institutions.
• Strategic Planning Leads organizations through planning processes that produce actionable deliverables: a written strategic plan, implementation roadmap, and defined accountability structure, while facilitating hard conversations and aligning leadership around shared priorities. Targeted at leadership teams needing alignment and executable strategy.
• Leadership Development and Facilitation Designs and delivers learning experiences that build leadership skills, including leadership development training, workplace culture training, strategic facilitation, and human-centered innovation. Delivered as workshops or multi-session cohort programs for leadership teams and administrators.
• Executive Coaching Tailored, confidential coaching engagements for senior leaders navigating transition, growth, or next-level opportunity, with optional executive rebranding services including resume and bio development, messaging strategy, and LinkedIn optimization. Targeted at C-suite and senior executives.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community engagement strategy execution for $7.07M federally funded mobility initiative involving CARTA, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and Penn State partnerships

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CARTA (Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCARTA serves as the lead agency on the $7.07M AI-Powered Autonomy Aware Neighborhood Mobility Zones federally funded project. Spark the Firm operates as subcontractor responsible for designing and executing community engagement strategies ensuring residents, riders, and neighborhood stakeholders are meaningfully engaged throughout the mobility initiative.
• Vanderbilt UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on the AI-Powered Neighborhood Mobility Zones project, contributing academic research capabilities to the federally funded mobility initiative in Chattanooga. Partnership covered by Vanderbilt Engineering research coverage.
• Cornell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on the AI-Powered Neighborhood Mobility Zones project. Cornell's involvement announced through official university news coverage describing their role in helping revamp Chattanooga public transit using AI.
• Penn State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner collaborating with CARTA, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and Spark the Firm on the federally funded neighborhood mobility zones initiative in Chattanooga.
• TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTamara Steward led strategy work at TVA during her prior career as an executive. The relationship has transitioned to a consulting partnership where Spark the Firm supports organizational initiatives for the federal utility.
• EPBminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal utility and strategic partner for organizational consulting engagements. EPB is one of the institutions with which Tamara Steward has partnered on strategy work.
• University of TennesseeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity system including UTC campus where founder holds degrees. Engagements span leadership development, strategic planning, and institutional transformation work across the UT System.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Bridgespan Group: Nonprofit and mission-driven consulting firm offering strategy, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development services. Closely comparable to Spark the Firm in vertical focus on mission-driven organizations and in service mix of strategic planning plus leadership advisory.
• BCT Partners: Mission-driven management consulting firm specializing in organizational change, equity, and leadership development for government, nonprofit, and higher education clients. Comparable to Spark the Firm in vertical specialization and emphasis on change management and inclusive leadership.
• The Clearing: Boutique management consultancy focused on organizational strategy, change management, and leadership development. Comparable in size, service mix, and consultative delivery model to Spark the Firm.

Broad incumbents

• Huron Consulting Group: Large publicly traded consulting firm with significant higher education and public-sector practices spanning organizational transformation, strategy, and leadership. Comparable at the category level and a credible incumbent competitor for institutional RFPs.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Established nonprofit leadership development and research organization offering executive coaching, leadership programs, and organizational consulting. Comparable in the leadership development and executive coaching revenue streams.
• ghSMART: Leadership advisory and executive coaching firm serving executives and leadership teams. Comparable in executive coaching and advisory partnership offerings.
• Deloitte (Government & Public Services): Global professional services firm with a dedicated government and public-sector practice delivering change management, organizational design, and leadership services to federal and state agencies including utility and transportation clients like TVA and CARTA.
• Developmental Dimensions International (DDI): Global leadership development and talent management firm offering leadership development training, executive coaching, and organizational consulting. Comparable in the leadership development and facilitation offerings of Spark the Firm.

Emerging players

• Whiteboard Advisors: Specialized advisory focused on education, nonprofit, and mission-driven sectors with a similar horizontal mix of strategy, communications, and organizational consulting. Comparable emerging player in the higher education and nonprofit vertical.
• Cornerstone Consulting Group: Boutique organizational change and strategy consultancy serving mid-sized institutions. Comparable delivery model and service mix to Spark the Firm in organizational consulting and change management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@StrongFacePodcast
• Facebookfacebook.com/sparkthefirm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spark-the-firm

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 Spark the Firm