Who We Are

McAlpine Consulting for Growth — McAlpine Consulting was started in September 2001 by Laura McAlpine to provide expertise and services to nonprofit organizations and individuals, with a primary focus on communities addressing complex social issues. Since that time, we have served over 35 nonprofit organizations in a variety of ways.

Laura McAlpine, LCSW, Principal, Mairita Smiltars, Project Associate

Our primary work is in the following areas :

  • Organizational Development
    • Strategic planning with Board and Staff
    • Fiscal planning and management
    • Organizational audits
    • Program development and evaluation
  • Leadership coaching
    • Planning and training with executive and management leadership
    • Supervision training for new and experienced supervisors
    • Interim executive leadership for organizations in transition
  • Policy Advocacy
    • Legislative and administrative advocacy at local, statewide and federal levels
    • Grassroots organizing with key community members
    • Media communication and public education
  • Event Planning
    • Conference coordination
    • Meeting and retreat facilitation

Laura McAlpine
Laura McAlpine, LCSW, Principal
laura@lmcalpine.com

Laura McAlpine is the Principal of McAlpine Consulting for Growth and has more than 25 years of management and leadership expertise in non-profit health and social service organizations. Her skills, gained in positions as executive director, manager, and board member, include strategic planning, program development, staff supervision, grant writing, organizational development and public relations. She has worked in a variety of settings, including social service, academic, community, collective, and public/private partnerships. Laura is also a skilled policy advocate with a special focus on health access, maternal and child health, adolescent health, reproductive rights and anti-gay violence.

Laura is a licensed clinical social worker and has a Master’s degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. She is a board member and Treasurer of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, as well as a community advisory board member of the Amundsen and Lakeview High School Health Centers. Governor Blagojevich appointed Laura in August 2005 as a Member of the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.

mac-mairita
Mairita Smiltars, Project Associate
mairita@lmcalpine.com

Mairita Smiltars joined McAlpine Consulting for Growth as a Project Associate in January 2007, and has since worked with Laura McAlpine on projects in the focus areas of policy advocacy, conference management & meeting coordination, and organizational development. Mairita joined McAlpine Consulting with a range of experience in the non-profit arena, acquired from her time doing project management for the New Teacher Center at the University of California – Santa Cruz and program management for Kidsave International in Los Angeles, California. In 2004, she received her Master’s degree from the University of Chicago – School of Social Service Administration.

As McAlpine Consulting’s main conference coordinator, Mairita has worked with clients on the following events:

  • American Theological Library Association
    • 2009 Annual Conference Exhibits Coordinator, St. Louis, Missouri
    • 2008 Annual Conference Exhibits Coordinator, Ottawa, Canada
  • HealthConnect One (formerly Chicago Health Connection)
    • Birth, Breastfeeding and Beyond 2009 Networking Conference, September 2009, Chicago, Illinois
    • Community-based Doula Leadership Institute/HRSA Grantee and Advisory Board Meeting, December 2008, Rockville, Maryland
    • Birth, Breastfeeding and Beyond 2008 Networking Conference, October 2008, Chicago, Illinois
    • Community-based Doula Lobby Day, February 2008, Washington D.C.
  • Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
    • Center for Long-Term Care Reform
      • Translating Values Into Action, June 2008, Matteson, Illinois
      • Maturing of Rural Illinois, September 2007, Effingham, Illinois
    • Freestanding Birth Centers
      • Moving Forward: Delivering Freestanding Birth Centers in Illinois, November 2008, Oak Park, Illinois
    • Court-Involved Girls Project
      • Gendered Justice, April 2008, Chicago, Illinois
  • Illinois Public Health Institute
    • SHIP Summit, July 2008, Chicago, Illinois
    • Partners in Action Conference, May 2007, Chicago, Illinois
  • U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services/Office on Women’s Health–Region V
    • Building a Healthier Community: Eat Well, Live Well, January 2009, Chicago, Illinois
    • Women, Girls, and Trauma with Stephanie Covington, April 2008, Chicago, Illinois

Mac Grambauer, Project Assistant
mac@lmcalpine.com

Mac Grambauer provides project assistance with a focus on meeting & conference coordination and policy advocacy campaign support.  She also leads McAlpine Consulting’s marketing department and web-based communication.  Mac is the lead Project Assistant to Laura McAlpine and Mary F. Morten for Executive Retreats, assisting with marketing, curriculum development and logistics coordination.  She joined McAlpine Consulting for Growth in January 2008.

Prior to beginning at MCFG, Mac worked at the Leaning Tower YMCA, an affiliate of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, as the School-Age Program Coordinator and Day Camp Director.  She received her BA in Communications from Northern Illinois University in 2006.