Four Services. Senior-Level on Every Engagement.
Lumora Strategic Advisors was built around four services — strategic planning and small business development, loan fund setup and management, economic impact analysis, and grant and closing coordination. Each one is delivered directly by the founder. No junior associates running the work behind the scenes. No template-driven engagements. No outsourced delivery. Just twenty years of credentialed experience, applied directly to the work in front of us.
Strategic Planning & Small Business Development
Loan Fund Setup & Program Management
Economic Impact Analysis & Data Management
Grant Administration & Closing Coordination
HOW LUMORA ENGAGES
Three Engagement Models. One Standard of Work.
Every organization has its own procurement structure, budget cycle, and internal capacity. Lumora Strategic Advisors is built to work within yours — whether the engagement is a long-term retainer, a defined-scope project, or hourly support tied to a specific contract. The model can change. The standard of work does not.
Not sure which model fits the work you have in front of you? Start the conversation. We will figure it out together..
Retainer-Based
Project -Based
Hourly
Best for organizations that need ongoing senior-level support — outsourced loan fund management, embedded program administration, or consistent advisory access between formal milestones. Retainer engagements are structured as monthly or quarterly arrangements with a defined scope of work and clear deliverables tied to each period. This is the model most lending institutions, CDFIs, and nonprofits choose when the work is continuous rather than one-time.
Best for engagements with a defined scope and a defined finish line — a strategic plan, a loan fund design, an economic impact study, a small business program build-out. Project engagements are delivered on a fixed-fee basis with a clear scope, timeline, and deliverables agreed in writing before the work begins. This is the most common model for one-time engagements where the goal is a specific outcome rather than ongoing presence.
Best for engagements that require billing flexibility — public sector contracts with rate-based procurement requirements, work that cannot be scoped fully in advance, or shorter-term advisory needs. Hourly engagements are offered when the contracting structure requires them or when the nature of the work does not fit neatly into a retainer or project model.
01
Strategic Planning & Small Business Development
A strategic plan is only as useful as it is implementable. Lumora's strategic planning engagements are not exercises in producing a polished document that lives on a shelf — they are designed to give your organization a clear, realistic, and actionable path forward, grounded in what your team can actually execute. Lumora brings particular depth to engagements focused on small business development, minority and diverse business advancement, and inclusive economic growth — the areas where a strategic plan has to translate directly into program design, funding strategy, and measurable community impact.
What This Includes
Organizational assessments and readiness reviews.
Strategic plan facilitation and development Goal alignment and prioritization sessions with leadership and stakeholders.
Multi-year roadmap development with phased implementation milestones
Small business development program design and strategy
Minority and diverse business advancement strategies Inclusive economic growth strategies
Implementation planning, KPI development, and progress tracking frameworks.
What Engagement Looks Like
Who This Is For
State agencies and economic development organizations refreshing or rebuilding a strategic plan after a leadership transition, funding shift, or change in community priorities.
Nonprofits launching or restructuring a small business development program and looking for a plan that is both visionary and operational.
Municipalities working to formalize their approach to small business support, minority business advancement, and inclusive economic growth.
Lending institutions building strategic alignment between their portfolio and the economic outcomes they want to drive in the communities they serve.
Most strategic planning engagements run between three and six months from kickoff to final plan, with the actual length depending on organizational complexity, the depth of stakeholder engagement, and how much of the work is focused on small business and inclusive economic development strategy. Engagements typically begin with an organizational assessment, move through facilitated planning sessions with leadership and key stakeholders, and conclude with a written plan and an implementation roadmap built for the team that has to execute it. Engagements are scoped on a project-fee basis with all deliverables agreed in writing before the work begins.
02
Loan Fund Setup & Program Management
Few boutique firms in the country offer end-to-end loan fund expertise. Fewer still have the operational experience to back it up. Lumora's loan fund engagements span the full lifecycle — from initial fund design and capitalization strategy through governance, underwriting policy, portfolio management, and the ongoing compliance work that keeps a fund in good standing with the CDFI Fund, EDA RLF, SSBCI, and state-level program requirements. Whether your organization is launching its first revolving loan fund or strengthening one that already exists, Lumora brings the experience to do the work right and the senior-level judgment to know when something is not.
What This Includes
Loan fund design, structure, and capitalization strategy
Governance frameworks, board policies, and credit committee design
Underwriting policies, loan documentation, and program guidelines
Portfolio management systems and operational infrastructure
Outsourced loan fund administration and program management
Compliance reporting for CDFI Fund, EDA RLF, SSBCI, and state programs
Fund performance reviews, portfolio assessments, and program audits CDFI certification readiness and application support
What Engagement Looks Like
Who This Is For
Nonprofits standing up their first community lending program and looking for an experienced partner to design and operationalize the fund from the ground up.
Municipalities and state agencies launching revolving loan funds funded through CDBG, EDA, SSBCI, or state appropriations and needing senior-level expertise on both design and ongoing administration.
CDFIs and community lenders that need outsourced portfolio management, program administration, or compliance support without the overhead of an additional senior hire.
Organizations preparing for CDFI certification, EDA RLF compliance reviews, or restructuring an existing fund that has outgrown its original design.
Loan fund engagements vary in length and structure depending on whether the work is design, ongoing administration, or somewhere in between. New fund design and launch typically runs four to nine months from initial readiness assessment through first loan closing. Ongoing program administration is most often structured as a monthly retainer scaled to portfolio size and program complexity. Compliance and reporting work is offered on either a project or retainer basis. Every engagement is scoped to fit the stage your fund is in, the capacity of your team, and the contracting structure your organization requires.
03
Economic Impact Analysis & Data Management
Most economic impact analysis ends up in a binder, a board packet, or a funder report — and stops there. Lumora's data work is built to do more. Every assessment, dashboard, and performance report is designed to answer the questions your organization actually needs to answer: whether the program is working, where the gaps are, what the funder is going to ask next, and what the data is telling you to do differently. The technical work is grounded in twenty years of running the kinds of programs being analyzed — which means the analysis comes back with judgment, not just numbers.
What This Includes
Economic impact assessments and program evaluations
Performance reporting and KPI development Data gathering, cleaning, and management system design
Funder and grant program reporting
Outcome dashboards for boards, elected officials, and executive leadership
Annual reports for nonprofit and municipal economic development offices
Analytical support for program design and ongoing decision-making
Compliance reporting for federally funded and state-funded programs
What Engagement Looks Like
Who This Is For
Nonprofits running grant or small business programs that need rigorous outcome reporting to retain funding and demonstrate program value to funders and boards.
Municipalities producing annual economic development reports for elected officials, the public, and state-level reporting requirements.
State agencies and quasi-public organizations with statutory reporting obligations or program evaluation mandates tied to public funding.
Lending institutions and CDFIs that need impact reporting tied directly to portfolio performance, capital deployment, and community outcomes.
Organizations preparing for a funder audit, a competitive renewal, or a program review where the quality of the data and the analysis will determine the outcome.
Economic impact and data engagements range from defined-scope project work — a single assessment, an annual report, a one-time outcome dashboard — to ongoing outsourced analytical support. Project engagements typically run two to four months from kickoff to final deliverable. Ongoing engagements are structured as monthly retainers, often tied to a quarterly or annual reporting calendar. The right model depends on whether your organization needs analysis on a recurring basis or has a specific reporting requirement to meet. Either way, every engagement is scoped to the actual question your organization is trying to answer.
04
Grant Administration and Closing Coordination
Grant administration and closing coordination is the operational backbone of any well-run grant or lending program. It is also where most organizations feel the gap between what their team can manage internally and what the work actually requires. The compliance details are unforgiving. The funder reporting is exacting. The closing process leaves no margin for error. Lumora serves as an outsourced senior partner for lending institutions, nonprofits, and government agencies that need this work done at a high level — without the overhead and management burden of bringing a full-time senior hire in-house.
What This Includes
Grant program administration and ongoing operational management
Grantee intake, due diligence, and grant agreement preparation
Disbursement coordination and sub-recipient monitoring
Loan and grant closing process coordination
Settlement statement preparation and closing document review
Post-closing reviews and compliance verification
Compliance tracking for federal, state, and private funders
Programmatic and financial reporting to funders, boards, and elected officials Grant program closeout and final reporting
What Engagement Looks Like
Who This Is For
Lending institutions and CDFIs that need senior-level closing coordination across an active loan pipeline without expanding internal headcount.
Nonprofits administering grant programs — CDBG sub-recipient programs, SSBCI sub-awards, foundation grant cycles — that need experienced operational management to stay in compliance and in good standing with funders.
Government agencies and quasi-public organizations administering federal pass-through funds with strict compliance, monitoring, and reporting requirements.
Organizations stretched thin on the operational side of their lending or granting work — where the program is funded and approved, but the back-office capacity to run it well is missing.
Grant administration and closing coordination is most often delivered as an ongoing retainer engagement, scaled to the volume of activity in the program. Lending institutions with consistent closing volume typically engage Lumora on a monthly basis. Nonprofits and government agencies with grant cycles tend to engage on a project or program basis, scoped to the full lifecycle of the cycle. For organizations with episodic needs — a single complex closing, a one-time grant cycle, a stand-alone compliance review — engagements are scoped on a project or hourly basis depending on the contracting structure required.
2025
That's What Lumora Does. What Are You Working On?
Tell us. The first conversation is short, focused, and aimed at one thing — figuring out whether Lumora is the right partner for what you are working on.
Whether you already know which service fits or you are still working through what your organization actually needs — start the conversation here. Most engagements begin with a simple call, not a detailed scope or a long form. Tell us about the work in front of you. We will tell you honestly whether Lumora is the right fit, which engagement model would work best for the situation, and what a working relationship would look like from there.