Audience

DORIS serves mid‑ to large‑scale, mission‑driven organizations navigating complex people decisions.

Public sector: city and county governments, state and select federal agencies, transit authorities (airports, bus, multimodal hubs).
Utilities and quasi‑publics: energy, water, and infrastructure providers.
Education: K‑12 systems, private schools, and higher ed institutions.
Faith communities: dioceses, parishes, and faith‑based schools/ministries.
Nonprofits and healthcare: regional human‑services agencies, hospitals, and foundations.
Private corporate workplaces: organizations with 100+ employees and multi‑site or hybrid workforces.

Regional focus on the Midwest (IN, OH, KY), with national reach for the right fit and volume.

Roughly 150–5,000+ employees, students, parishioners, or residents engaged.
Multiple sites, departments, or campuses with interdependent missions and overlapping stakeholders.
Has budget and mandate to invest in research ahead of major facility, culture, or service decisions (often tied to grants, capital plans, or strategic initiatives).

Organizations usually call DORIS when something big is changing, stuck, or both.

Hybrid work shifts, new occupancy standards, and utilization concerns
Culture and engagement efforts where stated values and lived experience do not match.

Major grants, campaigns, or strategic plans that require evidence of community input and clear success metrics.
Persistent performance, service, or satisfaction issues that appear tied to space, process, or trust rather than individual effort.

Your best‑fit leaders are responsible for "getting it right" for both people and finances, and they feel that weight.

Decision paralysis: big calls on facilities, culture, or service models feel too political or risky to make without better evidence.
Fear of backlash: worry about angering long‑tenured staff, parishioners, unions, or the public with closures, consolidations, or policy changes.
Leadership misalignment: executives, boards, and on‑the‑ground leaders hold different stories about the problem and what "success" looks like.
Overwork and capacity constraints: staff are stretched thin and any change feels like “one more thing” without clear tradeoffs.
Distrust and silos: history of fragmented communication has created skepticism toward new initiatives and “top‑down” solutions.

Data + honesty: rigorous qualitative and quantitative research that does not sugarcoat misalignments.
Lead‑with‑listening alignment: processes that visibly honor stakeholders and show their fingerprints on final decisions.
Practical decision support: clear naming of challenges, solution criteria, and decision playbooks they can defend to leaders, boards, councils, and communities.
Sensitivity to politics, identity, and history paired with the courage to recommend letting go (of buildings, traditions, or processes) when the data supports it.