When growth starts to outpace your operating model.
You’ve expanded programs.
Revenue has increased.
The team is larger than it was two years ago.
But execution feels harder.
Decisions bottleneck with you.
Priorities multiply.
Systems that once worked are now straining.
You don’t need more ideas.
You need operational leadership.
What I Do
I step in as a Fractional COO Partner or Strategic Operations Advisor for CEOs and Executive Directors navigating growth, transition, or operational strain.
My role is to:
-
Take execution ownership off the CEO’s plate
-
Create structure around competing priorities
-
Strengthen accountability across leadership
-
Build operating systems that match your current scale
-
Bring calm, experienced judgment during complexity
This is not advisory theory.
It’s hands-on leadership focused on making things work.
Who This Is For
This engagement is designed for organizations that:
-
Have $5M–$20M in annual revenue
-
Are scaling programs or expanding impact
-
Feel operational friction under growth
-
Have a CEO carrying too much execution weight
-
Are not ready to hire a full-time COO—but clearly need operational capacity
If growth feels messy instead of controlled, this is likely your inflection point.
What Changes in 90 Days
Within the first three months, clients typically experience:
-
Clear execution cadence across leadership
-
Reduced bottlenecks and decision drag
-
Stronger internal accountability
-
Fewer dropped priorities
-
A CEO who regains strategic focus
Growth becomes structured instead of reactive.
Engagement Models
Option 1: Fractional COO Partnership
Ongoing strategic and operational leadership support for organizations navigating growth, transition, or operational complexity.
This engagement is designed for CEOs and Executive Directors who need experienced operational leadership without adding a full-time executive hire. As a Fractional COO partner, I work alongside leadership teams to strengthen execution, improve organizational alignment, build scalable systems, and reduce the operational burden carried by the CEO.
Typical areas of focus include:
-
Leadership execution cadence and accountability
-
Operational systems and workflow design
-
Cross-functional alignment and prioritization
-
Scaling infrastructure during growth
-
Strategic decision support for CEOs and leadership teams
Typical Engagement:10–15 hours per week | Retainer-based
Option 2: 90-Day Strategic Operations Advisor
Focused operational support during key moments of growth, transition, or organizational strain.
This 90-day engagement is designed for organizations that need immediate strategic and operational partnership to stabilize execution, address bottlenecks, and strengthen internal operations during a critical period.
Together, we identify where growth is creating friction, clarify priorities, improve follow-through, and establish practical systems that help leadership teams operate more effectively.
This engagement is often a strong fit for organizations experiencing:
-
Rapid growth or expansion
-
Leadership transition or restructuring
-
Operational bottlenecks and execution drift
-
Increased complexity across teams or programs
-
CEO/ED capacity strain
Outcome: Greater operational clarity, stronger execution, and a more sustainable foundation for the next stage of growth.
Meet Your Partner — Scott Phillips
Founder & CEO, Phillips Impact Advisors | Longtime Nonprofit Leader | Strategic Operations Advisor & Fractional COO
Scott Phillips is a nonprofit executive and strategic operations leader with nearly 20 years of leadership and advisory experience. For nine years, he served as a founding CEO, leading an organization from startup through significant growth and gaining firsthand experience navigating the operational realities that come with scale, complexity, and organizational transition.
Through Phillips Impact Advisors, Scott partners with nonprofit CEOs and leadership teams as a strategic operations and fractional COO advisor, helping organizations strengthen execution, improve operational clarity, and build the systems needed to scale sustainably. His work focuses on supporting leaders in the “messy middle” of growth—when expanding programs, teams, and expectations begin to outpace existing infrastructure and leadership capacity.
Scott holds an MBA from the University of Illinois and a certificate in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management from Harvard Business School.
Let's Connect
If you’re leading through growth and feel the strain in your systems, execution, or capacity, I’d love to have a conversation.