SUSTAINABILITY is THE framing challenge of our time, how to have a thriving economy, vibrant communities AND a healthy planet. It can be done and those who lead will benefit the most. Join the growing flock of people and organzations prospering while creating a better world! As experienced sustainability consultants, we help organizations make sense of sustainability: Let us show you how to use sustainability to anticipate future risks and opportunities, energize employees, and improve your competitiveness. We provide practical tools: SCORE™ sustainability assessment) * SPaRK™ (Sustainability Planning and Reporting Kit) * Training materials. Authors of the award-winning book, The Business Guide to Sustainability (Earthscan, 2006) and many other popular business books and articles. We equip others to change the world: Co-founders of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals * Teach Foundations of Sustainable Business at the prestigious Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business * License people to use our tools * For two years, hosted the Sustainable Today TV show
SUSTAINABILITY is THE framing challenge of our time, how to have a thriving economy, vibrant communities AND a healthy planet. It can be done and those who lead will benefit the most. Join the growing flock of people and organzations prospering while creating a better world!
As experienced sustainability consultants, we help organizations make sense of sustainability: Let us show you how to use sustainability to anticipate future risks and opportunities, energize employees, and improve your competitiveness.
We provide practical tools: SCORE™ sustainability assessment) * SPaRK™ (Sustainability Planning and Reporting Kit) * Training materials. Authors of the award-winning book, The Business Guide to Sustainability (Earthscan, 2006) and many other popular business books and articles.
We equip others to change the world: Co-founders of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals * Teach Foundations of Sustainable Business at the prestigious Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business * License people to use our tools * For two years, hosted the Sustainable Today TV show
Page QuickLinks: Consulting services * Free services *About the owners * Testimonials
"I am stunned and amazed by the work that [Darcy] & Marsha do to demystify sustainability to the world. I am beyond inspired by this class." — Carol Schreitmueller, Director - Research and Development, Pacific Market International and MBA student at Bainbridge Graduate Institute
"I am stunned and amazed by the work that [Darcy] & Marsha do to demystify sustainability to the world. I am beyond inspired by this class."
— Carol Schreitmueller, Director - Research and Development, Pacific Market International and MBA student at Bainbridge Graduate Institute
AXIS Performance Advisors is a management consulting firm specializing in the implementation of sustainable business practices. We bring our organizational development, facilitation and training skills to help organizations -- businesses, governmental agencies and non-profits -- improve their economic. environmental and social performance. Our background in teamwork and collaborative work systems are particularly relevant to this line of work. Here is a sampling of the type of work we do. Please see our Annual Reports under Newsletters & Articles for more specific information. Sustainability plans and implementation strategy -- Worked with a museum to help them develop a strategy for implementing sustainability. Formed and facilitated a steering committee and two project teams (energy/climate and zero waste). Helped to develop metrics. Coached the executive director on how to support the effort through symbolic actions and to integrate sustainability into their daily work so that it would not be considered something extra. Sustainability Assessments -- We have conducted sustainability assessments for both government and businesses. These often include mapping sustainability-related impacts and doing a greenhouse gas inventory. In conjunction with our able colleagues, our assessments may also include facilities assessments, chemical inventories, and waste audits. SCORE, our proprietary assessment of sustainable business practices, was created in collaboration with the International Sustainable Development Foundation and the Zero Waste Alliance and has a companion book, The Business Guide to Sustainability (Earthscan, 2006). It includes assessments for common organizational funcitons (top management, facilities, purchasing, marketing, HR, etc.) and major sectors (manufacturing, government, services.) Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration and Facilitation -- We facilitated a six-month, multi-stakeholder process for the Unified Green Cleaning Alliance to identify preferred criteria for sustainable commercial cleaning products. The 40+ member alliance which included manufacturers, purchasers, cleaning services and government agencies, produced a consensus report of the process that was published last July. We also facilitate team meetings to achieve project goals or to resolve conflicts. Training and Education -- Darcy and Marsha both teach classes for the University of Oregon's Leadership in Sustainability program and have taught a number of seminars for the Oregon Natural Step Network. They currently are on the faculty for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business program. Their training methods have been included in the Teaching Business Sustainability books, both volume 1 and 2 (editor: Chris Galea). Business Systems Improvement -- Eventually all business systems need to be aligned to support sustainable practices. We developed a process for a governmental agency to help people develop individual and group work plans and performance goals associated with sustainability, helping to translate the concepts into action and building commitment for the effort.
AXIS Performance Advisors is a management consulting firm specializing in the implementation of sustainable business practices. We bring our organizational development, facilitation and training skills to help organizations -- businesses, governmental agencies and non-profits -- improve their economic. environmental and social performance. Our background in teamwork and collaborative work systems are particularly relevant to this line of work. Here is a sampling of the type of work we do. Please see our Annual Reports under Newsletters & Articles for more specific information.
Sustainability plans and implementation strategy -- Worked with a museum to help them develop a strategy for implementing sustainability. Formed and facilitated a steering committee and two project teams (energy/climate and zero waste). Helped to develop metrics. Coached the executive director on how to support the effort through symbolic actions and to integrate sustainability into their daily work so that it would not be considered something extra.
Sustainability Assessments -- We have conducted sustainability assessments for both government and businesses. These often include mapping sustainability-related impacts and doing a greenhouse gas inventory. In conjunction with our able colleagues, our assessments may also include facilities assessments, chemical inventories, and waste audits. SCORE, our proprietary assessment of sustainable business practices, was created in collaboration with the International Sustainable Development Foundation and the Zero Waste Alliance and has a companion book, The Business Guide to Sustainability (Earthscan, 2006). It includes assessments for common organizational funcitons (top management, facilities, purchasing, marketing, HR, etc.) and major sectors (manufacturing, government, services.)
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration and Facilitation -- We facilitated a six-month, multi-stakeholder process for the Unified Green Cleaning Alliance to identify preferred criteria for sustainable commercial cleaning products. The 40+ member alliance which included manufacturers, purchasers, cleaning services and government agencies, produced a consensus report of the process that was published last July. We also facilitate team meetings to achieve project goals or to resolve conflicts.
Training and Education -- Darcy and Marsha both teach classes for the University of Oregon's Leadership in Sustainability program and have taught a number of seminars for the Oregon Natural Step Network. They currently are on the faculty for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business program. Their training methods have been included in the Teaching Business Sustainability books, both volume 1 and 2 (editor: Chris Galea).
Business Systems Improvement -- Eventually all business systems need to be aligned to support sustainable practices. We developed a process for a governmental agency to help people develop individual and group work plans and performance goals associated with sustainability, helping to translate the concepts into action and building commitment for the effort.
"This is an awesome newsletter. I thoroughly read and borrow freely from each one."
--Mary Larson, Seattle City Light If you would like to receive any of these free services by e-mail, send an email to the appropriate address. (Privacy policy: We do not give our names to other organizations.)
--Mary Larson, Seattle City Light
If you would like to receive any of these free services by e-mail, send an email to the appropriate address. (Privacy policy: We do not give our names to other organizations.)
"I've been wanting to tell you how much I continue to appreciate your writings....because of all the people out there I think your insights are some of the best. Your experience 'in the trenches' is reflected in your [listserve] postings and I appreciate that. Thank you for sharing."
--Charlie Treher, US Army
Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard are the founders of AXIS Performance Advisors.
How we came to do this work: In the early 1990's, Darcy and Marsha became nationally recognized as experts in the implementation of high-performance (self-directed) work teams. They offered consulting, training, site visits and conferences to help organizations push accountability lower in their organizations. They coached managers to become more empowering and helped redesign business systems to support the team culture. Through these efforts, they were able to improve the financial performance of their clients, the work lives of the employees, and the quality/service customers enjoyed.
In 1995, they hosted a think tank on the just emerging buzzword: sustainability. During that think tank, it became clear that Marsha and Darcy had left out a key stakeholder: the environment. Improved organizational performance often came at the expense of natural systems. This epiphany led to their refocusing their business on sustainability, where the economy, community and environment are not traded off against one another, but instead are jointly optimized.
Marsha Willard is CEO of AXIS. She began her career as an instructional designer, having earned a Ph.D. in instructional technology from the University of Southern California. She was president of the local chapter of the American Society for Training and Development and taught graduate level classes on instructional strategies. Her experience has led her to design leading-edge web-based instruction for two universities. Her facilitation skills have earned the respect of her clients in resolving long-standing disputes. As senior examiner for the Oregon Performance Excellence Award, Marsha has also developed expertise in quality audits and performance measurement.
Darcy Hitchcock is president of AXIS Performance Advisors. Prior to forming AXIS, she was the director of a national training company, developing packaged training programs and consulting with a number of Fortune 100 firms. There, she developed a reputation for innovative management techniques and creative learning strategies. Having published scores of articles, booklets and books, Darcy has a knack for making complex theory easy to understand and implement. She teaches and does briefings for the Oregon Natural Step Network, teaching people about The Natural Step framework, a science-based sustainability framework. She is also past president of the local chapter of Business for Social Responsibility.
Darcy Hitchcock * darcy@axisperformance.com* 503 288-7704 Marsha Willard * marsha@axisperformance.com * 503 284-9132
AXIS is based in Portland, Oregon, USA
We are honored to have testimonials like these:
"I think that SCORE is an excellent tool to help an organization assess its internal strengths and weaknesses with respect to sustainability. I think it can be very helpful to organizations that are committed to sustainability and have a desire to improve and excel." — Dean Kubani, City of Santa Monica “This assessment was very valuable. It tells you where you are now but also gives you ideas of projects you should undertake to become sustainable. It was easy to use and a good reality check for how far we need to go." — M.S., City Administrative Manager "I am excited about the [SCORE] assessment and truly appreciate what you and Marsha have done to help put it all in place. Your book is extremely well written and organized, to the point where those who read and implement the assessment should be well on their way to understanding what it will take to develop a successful Sustainable Development program." —Yancy Wright, Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator, Sellen Construction "Even though we have been pursuing sustainability for several years and have a robust infrastructure to support our efforts, the SCORE process uncovered new directions and helped us refocus our energies and actions.” — Clark Brockman, SERA Architects “This was a good exercise because it really made me think about some of the areas Nike can improve on. We have a lot of work to do!” — Chuck Gatchell, Nike
"I think that SCORE is an excellent tool to help an organization assess its internal strengths and weaknesses with respect to sustainability. I think it can be very helpful to organizations that are committed to sustainability and have a desire to improve and excel." — Dean Kubani, City of Santa Monica
“This assessment was very valuable. It tells you where you are now but also gives you ideas of projects you should undertake to become sustainable. It was easy to use and a good reality check for how far we need to go." — M.S., City Administrative Manager
"I am excited about the [SCORE] assessment and truly appreciate what you and Marsha have done to help put it all in place. Your book is extremely well written and organized, to the point where those who read and implement the assessment should be well on their way to understanding what it will take to develop a successful Sustainable Development program." —Yancy Wright, Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator, Sellen Construction
"Even though we have been pursuing sustainability for several years and have a robust infrastructure to support our efforts, the SCORE process uncovered new directions and helped us refocus our energies and actions.” — Clark Brockman, SERA Architects
“This was a good exercise because it really made me think about some of the areas Nike can improve on. We have a lot of work to do!” — Chuck Gatchell, Nike
"All of us at Coastwide Laboratories appreciate your hard work and commitment to excellence. Thank you for your leadership and guidance as our Oregon Natural Step coach. We are newbies in the wide world of sustainability, but look forward to continuing our sustainable journey this next year. We are lucky to have sustainable role models like Darcy and Marsha to help us find our way. Marsha, the professional manner in which you facilitated the Unified Green Cleaning Alliance process was masterful. The recommendations derived from the UGCA process are inspiring change throughout the cleaning industry. " -- Roger McFadden, Vice President Technical Services, Coastwide Laboratories "My colleagues and I would like to thank you for doing an excellent job facilitating our meeting....Your skills allowed us to discuss the dynamics of our team, discover areas we would like to address, and surface issues blocking performance....Again, thank you for creating an environment of learning and development." -- internal consultant, City of Eugene "Marsha was extremely easy to talk to and helped our group to open up like we never have before." -- team member, Providence Health Plans "Darcy has a very down to earth approach and is a very good facilitator." --production manager, Scitex Digital Printing
"All of us at Coastwide Laboratories appreciate your hard work and commitment to excellence. Thank you for your leadership and guidance as our Oregon Natural Step coach. We are newbies in the wide world of sustainability, but look forward to continuing our sustainable journey this next year. We are lucky to have sustainable role models like Darcy and Marsha to help us find our way.
Marsha, the professional manner in which you facilitated the Unified Green Cleaning Alliance process was masterful. The recommendations derived from the UGCA process are inspiring change throughout the cleaning industry. "
-- Roger McFadden, Vice President Technical Services, Coastwide Laboratories
"My colleagues and I would like to thank you for doing an excellent job facilitating our meeting....Your skills allowed us to discuss the dynamics of our team, discover areas we would like to address, and surface issues blocking performance....Again, thank you for creating an environment of learning and development."
-- internal consultant, City of Eugene
"Marsha was extremely easy to talk to and helped our group to open up like we never have before."
-- team member, Providence Health Plans
"Darcy has a very down to earth approach and is a very good facilitator."
--production manager, Scitex Digital Printing
"Thanks for all your help with [our department]. My promotion was based on the executives being impressed with the organization and teamwork in [our] group. You have contributed a great deal to [our] success." --director, Con-way Transportation Services
"Thanks for all your help with [our department]. My promotion was based on the executives being impressed with the organization and teamwork in [our] group. You have contributed a great deal to [our] success."
--director, Con-way Transportation Services
"I thought it [sustainability briefing] was a very effective use of our time. The presentation was very thought-provoking and Darcy’s style and command of the material got across the concepts in a way we can take them forward. I think that every company needs to hear [this] training." —Amy Brooksbank, Marketing Manager, Harry's Fresh Foods "On behalf of the US State Department and the World Affairs Council of Oregon, I would like to thank you for speaking with our Community Connections interns [from Kyrgyzstan] on the topic of Sustainable Development....I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into making this presentation, especially on such short notice....I would be very interested in having you speak to our groups in the future." -- Christine Jacobs, World Affairs Council "The information you gave us was informative and very well presented. You are such a good speaker!" -- internal consultant, Consolidated Freightways "We have been inviting outside speakers to deliver presentations to senior management for the past six years. Darcy Hitchcock was one of the best!" --quality director, Pall Corporation "Darcy was insightful and charismatic. Would have liked to hear more from her." -- manager, Frito Lay
"I thought it [sustainability briefing] was a very effective use of our time. The presentation was very thought-provoking and Darcy’s style and command of the material got across the concepts in a way we can take them forward. I think that every company needs to hear [this] training."
—Amy Brooksbank, Marketing Manager, Harry's Fresh Foods
"On behalf of the US State Department and the World Affairs Council of Oregon, I would like to thank you for speaking with our Community Connections interns [from Kyrgyzstan] on the topic of Sustainable Development....I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into making this presentation, especially on such short notice....I would be very interested in having you speak to our groups in the future."
-- Christine Jacobs, World Affairs Council
"The information you gave us was informative and very well presented. You are such a good speaker!"
-- internal consultant, Consolidated Freightways
"We have been inviting outside speakers to deliver presentations to senior management for the past six years. Darcy Hitchcock was one of the best!"
--quality director, Pall Corporation
"Darcy was insightful and charismatic. Would have liked to hear more from her."
-- manager, Frito Lay
"We were truly amazed at the amount of information that came from the 24-item survey and the quality of the assessment results." -- plant manager, Monsanto (now Solutia, Inc.)
"We were truly amazed at the amount of information that came from the 24-item survey and the quality of the assessment results."
-- plant manager, Monsanto (now Solutia, Inc.)
"You two did a fabulous job. Best course I've ever had in terms of practical learning." --Participant in Implementing Sustainability Certificate Program at PSU "I quickly reviewed your latest course evalutions today. Looks like you walk on water now!" --Linda, University of Oregon "[The session was] very helpful since instructor was willing to meet the needs of the group!" --Public seminar participant "Darcy has a very disarming style which invites participation. I learned a lot from her." -- Public seminar participant "Darcy had a great style and challenged us." -- manager, Frito Lay
"You two did a fabulous job. Best course I've ever had in terms of practical learning."
--Participant in Implementing Sustainability Certificate Program at PSU
"I quickly reviewed your latest course evalutions today. Looks like you walk on water now!"
--Linda, University of Oregon
"[The session was] very helpful since instructor was willing to meet the needs of the group!"
--Public seminar participant
"Darcy has a very disarming style which invites participation. I learned a lot from her."
-- Public seminar participant
"Darcy had a great style and challenged us."