Founded by two transformational former public sector executives with over 30 years of combined experience, our firm brings tested and trusted expertise to your table. 

Who we are

We spent our careers in government running toward the hardest problems we could find, then rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. Now we’re starting our own firm to bring everything we learned to public and nonprofit clients across the country.

Meet the Team

Janani Ramachandran Yates
Partner

Steve Watson
Partner

What we’ve done

As public servants, we: 

  • Played a key role in the City of Detroit’s return to an investment grade credit rating after the largest municipal bankruptcy in history.

  • Developed and implemented multi-year budgets and an innovative financial strategy that ensured Detroit would be able to meet its legacy pension obligations.

  • Navigated municipal fiscal crises during the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Led Detroit back to the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, for the first time in 11 years.

  • Launched a unique Detroit economic analysis partnership with Michigan’s top public research universities.

  • Rebuilt budget processes to improve transparency and enable evidence-based decision-making in multiple cities, states, and counties.

  • Led the strategic allocation and active management of billions of dollars in local, state, and federal infrastructure funding.

  • Built budget processes, tools, and analysis from scratch at new agencies and at cities rebuilding and reinventing themselves

  • Balanced budgets in both boom and bust years, advising mayors, governors, and legislators on how and where to spend taxpayer money and reduce costs

  • And much, much more!