Understand / Six weeks
The Diagnostic
Map where organizational demands have pulled attention away from the people you serve.
The focusA clearer picture of where the gap has opened.
Discuss the Diagnostic Advisory practice for human-serving organizations
Start by finding
the person.
I help leaders see where organizational demands pull attention away from the people they serve—and build a practical plan to close that gap.
10 questions. About 5 minutes. A place to begin.
Mark Hilliker’s perspective
Across Academia and LTSS.
Nearly 2 decadesin academia, applying Asset Based Community Development
100+organizations and communities engaged through that work
Almost 20 yearsin LTSS, with leadership roles at Inclusa and Humana
01 / The approach
Everything is improving.
Why does something
still feel missing?
A strong organization can still lose sight of the individuals it exists to serve.
Compliance, reporting, growth, and financial sustainability all demand attention. Over time, those demands can become the center of an organization’s work.
Human Gravity is the enduring pull within a person’s life toward the relationships, identity, purpose, belonging, and possibilities that give it meaning. It is already present before a system enters the picture.
It reveals itself over time in what a person keeps returning to, tries to preserve, and continues reaching toward as circumstances change. Support begins by recognizing that life already in motion.
Organizational Gravity is the systemic pull toward what an organization needs to survive: funding, regulation, performance, staffing, and sustainability. These responsibilities are legitimate. Drift occurs when they draw attention away from the lives they exist to serve.
The gap opens when organizational attention and human meaning move in different directions. My advisory work helps leaders recognize that drift and respond through stewardship.
From insight to actionWho I work with
Leaders responsible for organizations.
Accountable to human lives.
My experience is rooted in LTSS and community and organizational development. The questions this work addresses also arise in healthcare, education, social services, philanthropy, and community development.
02 / Working together
A clear way forward.
Understand the gap.
Build the plan. Sustain the attention.
Plan / A six-month roadmap
The Remediation
Roadmap
Turn the findings into a practical six-month plan for closing the gap.
The focusA path from what you see to what you change.
Discuss the Roadmap Sustain / Ongoing advice
The Standing
Advisor
Keep attention on the gap as the plan moves forward and new pressures emerge.
The focusContinued attention to the people behind the decisions.
Discuss ongoing advice 03 / About Mark
Communities.
Organizations.
The people within.
Mark Hilliker
“I wasn’t discovering the importance of centering the person. I already knew it.”
For nearly four decades, across two different careers, I kept running into the same problem. What was missing wasn’t belief. It was language precise enough to be useful.
My perspective comes from nearly two decades in academia, using Asset Based Community Development to work with more than 100 organizations and communities.
I also bring almost 20 years in long-term services and supports (LTSS): first at Inclusa as COO and CEO, then at Humana as VP Market Development, Medicaid Operations.
My nine years as CEO of Inclusa included leading a nearly $1 billion managed care organization serving 17,000 LTSS members. Together, these experiences inform how I work with leaders, organizations, and communities today.
Organizational Gravity doesn’t mean leaders are misguided. It emerges naturally from the conditions organizations must navigate just to keep existing.
Start a conversationWhat progress can look like
Real people.
Visible in the work.
Practical signs of attention.
A direction for the work ahead.
01A board packet with a real story in it.
02A leader who can name a person from memory.
03A complaint that reaches real authority in days.
04A workforce that stays.
A useful first step
Where is your organization’s
attention actually going?
The Gravity Gap Self-Assessment offers a starting point for reflection. Ten questions to help you see where your organization may stand today.
Take the free assessmentAbout 5 minutes · A self-assessment, not an audit-grade score
Let’s begin
Let’s talk about
what you’re seeing.
Bring a question. Share what you’re noticing. We can talk about where to start.
Email Mark mark@markhillikerstewardship.com