"I had the joy of working closely with Christine to develop a comprehensive and community-centered five-year strategic plan for the NAYA Family Center. From the start, Christine prioritized inclusive engagement, ensuring that voices across our entire staff were heard and reflected in the plan. Her thoughtful approach, responsiveness, and clear organization made my role as staff liaison and project manager on the NAYA side feel seamless. Christine was not only a fantastic collaborator, but also a steady and insightful guide throughout the process. The result was the most actionable and robust strategic plan our organization has ever had. Rather than sitting on a shelf as many strategic plans do, it has served as a guiding organizational document to help us stay aligned and navigate challenging times".

- Kaelyn Rushforth, Native American Youth and Family Center

"1000 Friends of Oregon partners with a wide range of Oregonians - farmers, ranchers, foresters, developers, architects, and Oregonians who live, work, and enjoy every corner of Oregon. That means our attention can be pulled in a lot of different directions, misunderstandings can happen about what success looks like, and conflicts can arise about resourcing. Christine built new structures for the board, staff, and statewide membership to come together to adapt, create, and take care of one another in new and stronger ways. Christine has an innate ability to bring people together to focus, practice discipline, and set out on a shared path with clear roles and responsibilities. Nothing feels better than having someone help you level up your abilities while bringing excitement and energy to a shared future."

- Sam Diaz, 1,000 Friends of Oregon

“I want to express my sincere thanks for the exceptional work you led in the preparation and facilitation of last month's retreat. I thought the day and a half you spent guiding our staff and Independence Historical National Park Service colleagues was both efficient and impactful. You created the structure and space necessary for honest reflection, constructive dialogue, and shared understanding. That carried over to the afternoon with the Board. What began with some understandable apprehension, the attitudes of the board members began to switch to thoughtful acceptance. We had lots of difficult conversations and you guided us through. Thank you for everything."

- Jonathan Burton, Independence Historical Trust

"I am so impressed with the expertise of Christine Rontal. This is the second successful strategic plan that we have developed together. She brings deep knowledge of the needs of nonprofits and I highly recommend her services to others."

- Paul Lumley, Cascade AIDS Project

"Christine jumped in to lead our strategic planning process after Friends of the Columbia Gorge failed to complete a planning process the year before. She faced skepticism and fatigue among staff and board members and produced an engaging and inclusive process. People felt heard and we created a clear and inspiring plan. Christine was the right person at the right time to help us through a rough patch!"

- Kevin Gorman, Friends of the Columbia Gorge

"Christine Rontal brought a rare blend of professionalism, empathy, and strategic insight to Portland Oromo Community Association (POCA) as we embarked on creating our first-ever strategic plan. Her approach was both thoughtful and empowering—she took the time to understand our community's values, strengths, and challenges, and helped us articulate a shared vision for the future that felt both authentic and achievable.

What stood out most was her ability to guide us through a structured process while remaining flexible and responsive to our needs. Christine didn’t come in with a one-size-fits-all model; instead, she tailored each step to fit our organization’s culture and pace. Her facilitation helped build trust among our team, encouraged honest dialogue, and turned complex discussions into clear, actionable goals.

Throughout the process, Christine was a steady and supportive presence. Her clarity, calm demeanor, and genuine interest in our success made what could have been an overwhelming task feel inspiring and even enjoyable. The final plan not only reflects who we are—it has become a tool we actively use to guide our decisions and stay focused on what matters most."

- Moti Felema, Portland Oromo Community Association

"Following our first meeting (in the spring of 2023) to explore Christine’s potential work with a group of multicultural leaders in the Portland Metro Area, many of whom I’ve worked with since 1999, I can say without equivocation that Christine is exemplary in all ways management and nonprofit. Her knowledge of the nonprofit world, diverse communities, governance processes, strategy development and strategic planning is extensive; her skills in organizing and running planning sessions, making participants feel welcome and respected, and keeping diverse groups on track and on task are unequaled. I’ve worked over my 40+ year career with many people who do this work well and Christine is among the strongest. I know that she has other skills and brings other assets to the table, but in these areas I’ve worked with her extensively and can attest not only to her competence, but to her warm personality as she guides our work forward.”

- Erna Gelles, Leadership Fellows; Associate Professor Emerita, Public Administration and Nonprofit Management, Portland State University

"Christine consulted and guided our organization through a strategic planning process which resulted in an effective strategic plan that we refer to on a regular basis to guide our work. I appreciated her strong focus on DEI, which is important to our organization, and her support developing indicators of success for our work, which have been extremely useful as we evaluate the effectiveness of our programs."

- Megan Kemple, Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network

"The Oregon Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Network worked with Christine Rontal in two different capacities. We brought Christine on to provide Board Recruitment training for our local CASA programs to which our program leaders found valuable and were appreciative of Christine’s engaging techniques while utilizing a virtual learning experience. Additionally, Christine provided consultation during our Board’s Strategic Planning work sessions and her organization and expertise allowed us to not only accomplish our goals but did so as we pursued non-traditional approaches to our plan. To us, this exemplified her professional abilities and depth of her wisdom in being supportive to different ideas and processes, leaving us with a final product we were proud of and that aligned with our mission and values."

- Aubrey Henshaw, Oregon CASA Network

"Christine's breadth and depth of experience is evident in her intuitiveness. Her warmth and attentiveness elicited the information she needed from our staff and board members, and then her expertise and her "gut" helped move forward our conversations and planning so effectively and efficiently. She is simply amazing to work with!"

- Kimra McAfee, Alpine Watershed Association

"Christine assisted my organization at a pivotal time in our pursuit of health equity implementation in every facet of our work. Her approach was empathetic and well-rounded, working within the constraints of a rural health center. She supported the formalization of our equity committee in a way that worked for our leadership and committee goals, which has been crucial to creating change in our community."

- Emory Edwards, Tillamook County Health Department

"Christine skillfully guided our Buddhist meditation community through a thoughtful and inclusive strategic planning process. As a new board member with no prior experience in the nonprofit world, I found her perspective incredibly valuable. She modeled how to listen deeply and respond sensitively to complex and sometimes delicate issues within the community. Christine proposed a clear, well-structured path forward, yet remained flexible—adapting her approach to meet the evolving needs of the group. Her facilitation and engagement skills are exceptional, and her ability to synthesize diverse viewpoints into an accurate and nuanced report was truly impressive."

- Jennifer Chang, Kagyu Changchub Chuling

"I have been fortunate enough to occasionally partner with forward-thinking funders who see the value of pairing technical assistance with direct service funding. This approach has created higher program and operational performance to better serve the community. Capacity Bridge is a low-cost way for a funder to give a typical grant more depth and has the power to create a longer lasting impact on a funded organization – and in turn our community. Having worked in operations and program management for many years, I am confident that every nonprofit would value the Capacity Bridge program."

-  Lynn Baker, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center

"I appreciated Christine's partnership in building a new strategic plan for Janus Youth. Her structure and process of facilitating pre-work and the day long session with the Board of Directors and the Janus leadership team helped to create a positive working environment for us to brainstorm and align on strategic priorities. I appreciated Christine's receptivity to my experience and opinions on the strategic planning process. I also appreciated her positivity and persistence in working with a Janus leadership team that had never done a strategic plan before."

- Mary Seabright, Janus Youth Programs

“I, Ibrahim, don't think there’s a word in Webster's dictionary to express how grateful Right 2 Survive is for Christine’s help and insights.”

- Ibrahim Mubarak, Right 2 Survive

“For two years, CareOregon worked with the consultant Christine Rontal, MSW at Capacity Bridge to provide technical assistance in program implementation and evaluation to our community giving grantees. Christine has expertise in board development, strategic planning, action planning, fundraising plans, time management, meeting facilitation, and executive coaching. She has worked closely with organizations working to improve community health and increase racial equity. Christine was able to facilitate improved outcomes tracking and program evaluation in grantee organizations. I recommend her services to any organization looking to step up their program evaluation and overall organizational development.”

 - Shawn DeCarlo, CareOregon

"Capacity building is hard work. Finding skilled and passionate professionals to bridge the gap and strengthen relationships between foundations and grantees makes this work all the more challenging.

The relationship between funders and grantees is a complex one. I've found Capacity Builders are key when it comes to supporting grantees to deliver on grant-driven outcomes and establish principles of mutual accountability. This allows funders to have a deeper understanding around the context this work exists in.

Professionals like Christine are hard to come by. Christine brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and tools to support grassroots groups achieve their capacity building goals. Her experience combined with a strong practice of meeting grassroots groups where they are, is an invaluable asset to MRG Foundation's capacity building work with grantees."

- Stephan Herrera, Seeding Justice

“The non-profit sector is more exciting and challenging than ever. Many of our challenges are related to business processes and organizational infrastructure…not always exciting areas for directors of small to medium sized organizations typically fueled by passion for the mission. 

 Project Access NOW’s work with Capacity Bridge has been critical as our organization grows. Christine does a great job of reinforcing the value to the mission of a strong business operation. She breaks the work down in a way that feels (and actually is) doable. Her in-person support is helpful in terms of holding the organization accountable to doing what we know needs to happen.

 Christine is outcomes and action oriented. She is direct and kind – a pleasure to work with. Most importantly, I am sincerely excited about this work and that it is actually happening. This would not be possible without Capacity Bridge’s support.”

-  Linda Nilsen, Project Access NOW

"Capacity Bridge emphasizes building a partnership and finding great ways to work together. Christine has a knack for strategic planning and was immediately able to help me identify my strengths and ways to capitalize on those strengths in order to better achieve my goals. I've also been really happy with the support Christine has shown me in identifying my operational weaknesses and how to overcome them. Now that I have a better handle on the day to day issues that once plagued me, I have rediscovered the passion and vision I had when I first started my business. Capacity Bridge is a logical step for anyone facing challenges in realizing their business goals."

-  Leslie Wilda, Yoga Playgrounds