Rachel Branaman
Rachel Branaman, she/her, is a nonprofit executive, consultant, and organizational strategist with a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Regis University (Summa Cum Laude). Her career in the sector began unexpectedly after college; although she initially planned to become an industrial-organizational psychologist, she chose not to pursue that path after realizing she was not aligned with HR-focused work. Instead, after gaining early experience in nonprofits, she pursued graduate studies in nonprofit management and remained in the field, developing a career rooted in fundraising, leadership, and organizational development. Over time, her work evolved to blend fundraising strategy with deep expertise in how organizations function, grow, and adapt.
Rachel is the Principal Consultant at Talem Consulting, where she has led mission-driven consulting work for approximately 15 years, with consulting practice beginning in 2011. Her work focuses on fundraising strategy, organizational development, crisis management, and executive leadership support, including interim executive director roles for organizations in transition or at risk of closure. She specializes in helping nonprofits strengthen infrastructure, stabilize operations, and build sustainable models, with a particular emphasis on leadership education and capacity building for organizations led by Black and Brown women. She has also designed leadership development programs to support emerging leaders and founders who may lack access to formal nonprofit training but are deeply committed to advancing their missions.
In recent years, Rachel has expanded her practice to include intensive work in power dynamics, organizational behavior, and movement infrastructure. After serving in consecutive interim executive leadership roles, she took a sabbatical to write a book exploring power, communication, and structural dynamics within community-based and activist environments, with a focus on how different forms of power shape organizational outcomes. She now integrates these insights into her consulting work while returning to a more project-based client model. Her approach reflects a hybrid of practical nonprofit leadership experience and a systems-level understanding of organizational behavior—an evolution that, in many ways, mirrors her original interest in industrial-organizational psychology, applied through a nonprofit and social impact lens.
• Leadership Texas Certificate
• Austin College - BA, French, Psych
• Regis University -MNM
• Top Interim Services Provider 2023
• Pam Blumenthal Community Service Award
• Volunteer of the Month
• Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) Board Member
• Leadership Texas - Leadership Women Program
• Association of Philanthropic Counsel
• Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
• ASSOCIATION OF PHILANTHROPIC COUNSEL INC
• The City of Takoma Park
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington, DC
• Nonprofit Organizations
What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's frankly basically just perseverance, because there's a burnout factor in nonprofits. It's also about knowing when to step away from either projects or groups that aren't enriching you. One of the things that I talk about a little bit in the book is how we continue to not necessarily take care of ourselves because we think the mission of the work that we're doing is so much more important, to the detriment of our own health. It's really much more valuable to make sure that we're healthy so we can continue the fight. You can't help someone from an empty cup, and that's something I've learned throughout my 25 years in this field.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say taking care of themselves first and the mission second would probably be number one. And then also letting them know that just because the organization or whatever place they're working within might have a broken system, it doesn't have to remain broken. There are tools and ways for them to create better systems of governance that can improve how their work is perceived and accepted by the community. Don't sacrifice your health for the mission - make sure you're healthy so you can continue the fight. The systems we work within don't always work on our behalf, but we can help break them down or create parallel systems of governance that will really benefit the communities we serve.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Helping people navigate systems to do good for their communities is really fulfilling to me. A lot of the time, we work within systems that don't necessarily work on our behalf, so being able to help people navigate them and understand how to break them down or create parallel systems of governance that will really benefit them is probably my larger goal and what makes me happiest when working with folks. I'm also passionate about community care networks and mutual aid networks, especially now - having a community care network and mutual aid network is incredibly important. I think it's about making sure that folks who have done a huge amount of work on an issue, even if it's for a very niche community, can have the support and resources they need to make a difference.
Locations
Talem Consulting
Staunton, VA 24401