Mary Berryman Agard & Associates (formerly Hyperion Associates) is a consulting firm working to help individuals, organizations, and communities translate aspirations into accomplishments. We work in cultural planning, civic dialog, foundation management and consulting, donor services, project management, and non-profit consulting. Our clients include non-profit organizations, foundations, individual donors, and units of government.

We are an experienced, flexible consulting firm working to clarify issues, identify options and opportunities, define a course of action, build consensus, secure necessary resources and partnerships, and evaluate outcomes. We work nationwide with large and small organizations and undertake both long and short-term projects.

Our work has taken us into many topic areas including arts and culture; education; social, economic, and environmental justice; verified voting systems; sustainable agriculture; and human development.

We have been in practice for over 25 years and have advanced experience in philanthropic systems, cultural planning, governmental affairs, political processes, public dialog and communication, and non-profit planning and management. 

The Way We Work

Mary Berryman Agard & Associates designs each consultancy individually, shaping work plans to the client’s specific circumstances and preferences. We assemble a project team particular to each client’s needs and each project’s particulars.

We define expectations for each consultancy in clear, concrete terms. Our work builds on the strengths of the client. We design our work to enhance the client’s capacity. We work to keeps things as simple as possible, but we do not shy away from complex challenges.

We create dialog. We have special skills in facilitating successful communications among powerful and disenfranchised people and groups, helping our clients understand systems, issues, and options in a broader context.

We are experienced researchers, looking both inside and outside each client’s practice in seeking solutions. We bring the experiences of other similar systems to our clients, to help them evaluate their own choices.

We are communicators, focusing staff, board, constituents, the public and elected officials on an agreed upon trajectory by articulating our methods and styles of communication to specific audiences.

We work with our clients to build solutions that sing. Our work is creative, practical, and energetic.

Our Style

We invest in human connections and forge lasting relationships. Our work is highly interactive. We’re flexible. We do our homework, keep our sense of humor, and perform on time. We focus on what matters. We keep it clear and frank. We tell the truth. We do what we say we will do, and we do it well.