Today we’d like to introduce you to Harold Hogue.
Harold, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my career out of college as a classroom teacher and football coach in West Dallas, serving in Dallas ISD. That experience put me face to face with many deeply rooted systemic disparities in our city. I gained tremendous respect for the hardworking teams in the social sector striving to address these challenges, and I was often enlisted to support their work to help improve the experience of those engaging with their services.
As I volunteered and took on board positions for different charitable and civic causes, I became a fierce advocate for ensuring organizations gain strategic clarity rooted in community context. I had a vision where programs, services, and policies were designed to create meaningful impact now while also addressing underlying systems for long term transformation. The morning after my wedding, I turned to my wife. I asked for her permission to quit my job to pursue building a business that could become the strategic bridge between the incredible generosity of the social sector and the authentic, underlying pain points of the community.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. This journey has deepened my faith and stretched me in ways that a traditional job never could. I, however, have been incredibly fortunate to have so much support from established leaders across the social sector who believed in my vision and approach to this work early on. That support has opened so many doors and allowed us to serve large national organizations and smaller local operations. Every leadership book I have ever read suggests that great leaders surround themselves with smart, capable people. As I began to struggle with capacity and realized my skill set gaps, I was able to enlist the support of my colleague Lauren Coppedge to serve side by side with me to help take CoSpero to the next level. Having her support and thought partnership had been a significant value add.
Please tell us about your work.
Our approach to consulting is straightforward but different from traditional firms. We start every one of our projects by talking to people. Not whitepapers, not data and colorful charts, not roundtables with executive leaders. While those pieces all play a role, none of them outweigh the voices of the community members our clients are working to support. By entering the authentic community voice, we can efficiently guide organizations and funders in developing sustainable and impactful avenues to creating social change.
Our projects typically fall into what we call our 4C’s:
Clarity – Ensuring a strong strategic foundation with alignment between vision, metrics, culture, human capital, etc.
Context – Centering the needs of community members to increase the impact of programs and services.
Capacity – Providing dedicated project management or implementation support for new or existing projects.
Communications – Establishing consistent brands and clear impact narratives and helping organizations get their message out there via website design or other marketing collateral.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Determining success is the simplest part of social impact work. The goal is always to impact the communities served positively. While the pathway to accomplishing such a goal can be incredibly complex, we believe that every person whose life changes for the better due to the work of our clients is a significant win.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cosperoconsulting.com
- Phone: 682-305-1554
- Email: harold@cosperoconsulting.com
- Instagram: CoSpero Consulting
- Other: LinkedIN: Cospero Consulting
Image Credit:
Caitlyn Schaefer Photography
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