RDA Consulting

What they do

Headquartered in Oakland, CA, RDA Consulting (formerly Resource Development Associates) is a majority women-managed social purpose corporation founded in 1984. RDA is a full-service consulting firm working with public and social sector organizations across the U.S. in research and evaluation, planning, organizational development, outreach and engagement, and implementation support, among other services.

Their mission is to “work toward a just and equitable society by addressing barriers to individual, organizational, and community well-being.”

RDA focuses on a variety of pressing social issues, including criminal and juvenile justice, public safety, health, housing and homelessness, child and family welfare, education and youth development, workforce development, and transportation.

Why we invested

One of the goals of the Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund is to promote resilient quality jobs, support benefits access and training, and increase worker voice by catalyzing a broad, regional shift toward employee ownership.

Former CEO Patricia Marrone Bennett, PhD, joined her late husband Robert Bennett as co-principal in 1996 and led the organization for more than two decades. As she considered her retirement and succession planning, she and the RDA leadership team found it was a great time to embed their values in the governance structure with employees.

“For small businesses, it can be easy to feel like family,” says new CEO Amalia Egri Freedman, who has been with RDA since 2010, “However, it can be less easy to feel the benefits. Patricia saw employee ownership as an opportunity to secure that commitment to employees.”

The team worked with Project Equity to transition RDA into an employee-owned trust (EOT). This perpetual trust will exist to fulfill the mission, vision, and values of RDA in serving their clients while providing equity for their employees and ensuring that RDA remains rooted in their community.

After more than a year of planning and solidifying financing and agreements, employees have purchased RDA from former owner and CEO Patricia, who will hold a seat on the Trust Stewardship Committee. Employees will join the board of directors to provide strategic direction.

The Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund provided a transition loan to RDA to support the transition to an EOT.