Stoake

Stoake brings together the best talent with not-available-anywhere-else expertise in advising some of the most complex organizations in the world on strategic problem solving and innovation. We help our clients succeed because we understand that their ability to innovate isn’t just about technology. It’s about people and how they combine technology with powerful ideas and insights to produce tangible results.

Knowledge and Expertise

Our focus is singular to provide the highest value to our clients: as experienced external thought partners we help public and private sector leaders develop new capabilities and high-performing solutions. We aren’t academics approaching this work as outside observers, or private sector practitioners with little-to-no experience in global institutions. We understand, through direct experience, that leveraging new innovations and technologies within a complex bureaucracy presents unique challenges. We’ve developed proven, contextually-relevant tools and methods to help our clients achieve their goals.

Advising for Change and Transformation

At Stoake we start in the future by clearly defining what success looks like and then we work our way back to the present. Without a clear vision for what success looks like it is difficult to know which path to take to get you there. Every organization is unique, and we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to designing an innovation program or transformation initiative. We work closely with our clients to understand the current capabilities of their organizations in order to determine the most appropriate systems, processes, communication tools and institutional support that will be needed to create an enabling environment for innovation.

The changes occurring in our climate and environment create both unprecedented challenges and critical opportunities for partnership. Stoake helps our clients identify high-impact ways to overcome challenges and leverage new resources for sustainable development. 

Facilitating Consensus and Collaboration

The challenges we face will only be solved through aligned actions and investments by the public and private sectors. Stoake brings decades of hands-on experience facilitating consensus and collaboration at local, national, and global levels. We identify tangible opportunities for public and private sector leaders to mobilize resources to achieve shared goals. Our work makes the business case for public-private partnerships and quantifies the return on investment, enabling our clients to scale these models for greater impact. 

Advising for Sustainability and Scalability

We understand what governments, companies, and communities need in order to invest in a cleaner, greener future. As experienced development practitioners, our focus is accelerating locally-designed, locally-led solutions that are sustainable and scalable. Our advising helps clients and partners apply global best practices, attract new resources, and leverage new technologies to share knowledge and expand networks, scaling up what works. 

Knowledge and Expertise

Stoake provides advising, facilitation, and capacity strengthening across a spectrum of environment and sustainable development issues, including

• climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience

• sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries

• ocean and coastal resources management

• biodiversity conservation 

• clean energy development

• finance and investment

• public-private partnerships 

• governance for environmental sustainability and inclusive development 

Adapting to Change

Technology companies have learned the hard way that policy and politics matter to their businesses – even in markets driven by rapid innovation, creative destruction, and changing consumer behavior.  Meanwhile, government decision-makers struggle to revise and implement fair market regulations fast enough to keep pace with market developments.  Foreign policy practitioners have only begun to grapple with the implications of network technologies in a networked global economy.  And experts in think tanks and universities struggle to get their research translated into political-speak and injected into the decision-making process where it can make a difference.

Your Trusted Advisor

Stoake offers experienced counsel to inform strategic planning to engage effectively in technology policy debates. We deliver strategic planning documents, options memos for immediate decisions, and analytical reports on preparing for future developments.  We also help you deliver your ideas to decision-makers, build partnerships with allies, and craft your advocacy approach. Our consultants have served at high levels in both the public and private sector and dealt extensively with a wide range of issues.

Technology Policy

Market structure, regulatory context, and political dynamics in every country shape the political economy of new technologies. We offer analysis and strategic planning to navigate both domestic and international policy debates to find the right approach for you.

Political Strategy and Advocacy

The way new ideas come into the political process varies dramatically from country to country. But the science of constructing messages, sequencing objectives, building coalitions, and presenting your case is fairly constant. We provide clear counsel on which tools to use, how to use them, and when to act — all to make your advocacy work successful.

Risk Assessment / Scenario Planning

Often the most important decisions you can make are about when not to act. Complex technology policy debates can drain resources without resolution. Cultural norms and political constellations can turn the obvious into the infeasible. We clarify these risks and offer sober assessments of where your decisions may lead you.