Meet Change with Purpose.

The Culture Patterns Project uses data and assessment to help values-driven organizations map where they are, where they can be, and how to get there intentionally.

Understand Culture.

Change is inevitable. It’s not uncommon for intuition or inertia to guide how organizations respond, often without a deep understanding of what their response means for organizational culture.

The Culture Patterns Project helps organizations let purpose guide their response. We build assessments and analytics specifically for values-driven organizations, providing insight on what change means for culture and the people doing the work.

Values drive movement.

Data informs direction.

Together, we help organizations meet change with purpose.

A Guide Through Organizational Change.

The Culture Patterns Project helps shine a light on changes ahead. Assessments reveal. . .

  • Staff concerns simmering beneath the surface

  • Team and organizational alignment on current directions

  • Consequences of restructures for engagement

  • Equitable shifts and continuous improvements to programs

  • Effective and values-driven succession planning

If you’re facing change and looking for support, reach out!

The Project Was Built for Social Change

The Culture Patterns Project is the creation of George Chavez, PhD. After years in the nonprofit data and organizational strategy scene, it was clear that many values-driven organizations worked to reflect their values inward and beyond. But they did so without access to tools and frameworks for reliably assessing their unique organizational cultures.

The Culture Patterns Project was built to bridge the gap by offering values-driven assessments that speak specifically to the cultures of social change organizations. It’s an approach uniquely crafted to help organizations meet change with purpose.

Past partners in the work

  • ". . .Assessments were both high quality and spoke to the shared humanity of our staff and volunteers"

    George was a critical part of our People and Culture work when I was on the Executive Team and as Managing Director at Sierra Club. George's assessments were both high quality and spoke to the shared humanity of our staff and volunteers, helping us navigate change in powerful, clear, rigorous ways. No small feat!

    - Eva Hernandez, former Managing Director Sierra Club; current Executive Director Mosaic

  • ". . .Extremely knowledgeable and kind, helping us develop a survey and analyzing the results in a way everyone could understand."

    I worked with George on a project assessing the satisfaction of thousands of volunteers at a large organization. George was extremely knowledgeable and kind, helping us develop a survey and analyzing the results in a way that everyone could understand. He brings an equity lens to large data sets, combining the best of both worlds!

    - Kiersten Iwai, former Chair of the Volunteer Satisfaction Survey

  • ". . .Expertise and skill, and general willingness to share what he knew. . . as we navigated a crisis. . ."

    While working at the Sierra Club, George and I partnered on a needs assessment, analysis and recommendations to transition 400 program staff to remote, digital-first work during the pandemic. George was instrumental in the project - he taught our scrappy team that came together in a crisis how to structure a needs assessment, what it means to do data analysis and he was the primary author of the recommendations and report we brought to senior leadership. Highlights from our partnership included George's expertise and skill, generous willingness to share what he knew to help train up our team and his warm accompaniment as we navigated a crisis together and did our best to support needs that were bubbling up across the programmatic staff. It's a pleasure to recommend George and the Culture Patterns Project. If I had the opportunity to work with George again, I wouldn't hesitate.

    - Mary Alice Crim, former Sierra Club Distributed Organizing Director

  • "The work George does changes lives for the better."

    I worked with George in several capacities over our 5 years together at Sierra Club. Whether it was co-creating data informed vision and outcomes rooted in skillfully crafted strategies or discussing staff feedback about how they were experiencing the organization, George Chavez was right there, bringing his leadership, knowledge, expertise, and talent to every stage of the process. George has a remarkable ability to seamlessly create data and assessment tools that weave narratives together, uncover themes, and highlight patterns that allow organizations to create actionable and impactful strategies that improve organizational culture & climate. The work George does changes lives for the better. If you are looking for a brilliant, people centered change maker who is a true leader and expert regarding data analysis, organizational culture, and assessment, I cannot recommend George Chavez enough.

    - Brittany Lee, Founder & Principal, Transformation Strategies (Former Senior Manager, Strategic Implementation, Sierra Club)

  • "His work to shift the culture around finances and create transparency in budgeting in our union was foundational. . ."

    George is an incredibly detail-oriented and forward-looking thinker. His work to shift the culture around finances and create transparency in budgeting in our union was foundational to setting PWU up for success for many years. He is integrity personified!

    - Kiyana Allen, former Progressive Workers Union leader (2016-2025)

  • "He gathered and analyzed employee data and presented nuanced analyses. . ."

    George was an anchor to Sierra Club's multi-year efforts to understand and shift its organizational culture. He gathered and analyzed employee data and presented nuanced analyses to leadership. People trusted George as a clear eyed, purposeful and kind addition to every team project. I miss working with him.

    - Sonya Lunder, former colleage at Sierra Club