capacity · engagement · impact

We work in the margin.

We partner with mission-driven organizations to strengthen capacity, deepen engagement, and create the conditions for lasting impact.

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A Colorado 501(c)(3) public charity

We work with, not for.

We build toward handoff, not dependency.

We commit to the work, not just the contract.

Our “why”

Across our careers, we've spent years inside mission-driven organizations working to address the same pattern: programs that didn't reach the communities they were built for, and structures that quietly worked against them. unspoken margin exists to change that.

Our name, unspoken margin, holds both halves of what we do:

unspoken
For the voices not yet invited into the conversations, for the ideas that don't get surfaced, for the real possibilities left unexplored.
margin
For the gap between what a program intends and who it actually reaches — and for the notes in the margin, the ideas that live there, the communities not yet in the room.
How we work

We start with a conversation.

About what's working, what isn't, and what's next: at this stage, in this season, for this work. Scope, depth, and duration follow from there.

We meet organizations where they are.

Inside mission-driven organizations, the hardest moments tend to be structural: a leadership transition, a funding shift, a program that has outgrown its design. We bring the practical experience to steady what's already there and work with you to build what comes next.

We treat technology as infrastructure. We don't shy away from it.

We embrace tools that can help compress what used to take weeks into hours. Whether it's introducing software, workflow automation, or AI, we work with organizations to build internal capacity that lasts beyond the engagement. We do this to free up time for the work only humans can do.

Why this approach

Working at the systems level is how impact compounds.

Every well-designed initiative reaches more of the communities it was built for.

Every organization we work with develops a deeper understanding of the work in front of them.

Every organization carries this approach forward.

This is the goal: more than strengthening one program at a time — building capacity that lasts.

Services

Eight core areas.

This practice was built for organizations doing community-centered, equity-driven work. Engagements are scoped to fit the work, not the other way around — available as one-time projects, ongoing retainers, or a more customized structure.

Two practitioners. One practice.

unspoken margin is a partnership between two practitioners with over 25 years of combined experience inside mission-driven organizations. We began this work with a shared conviction: that the strongest engagements look at the whole picture of how programs, people, funding, and structure fit together, and find the places where real change is possible. We work with organizations to surface what’s working, fix what isn’t, and chart a path forward.

Brittany Choate and Ashley Kaplan, co-founders of unspoken margin
Brittany Choate
Co-Founder
Director of Design & Impact

Brittany Choate is a strategic operations leader who has worked across program design, operational strategy, and systems-level infrastructure in academic, government, and social impact sectors. Her experience spans statewide operations, federal grant stewardship, and community engagement, including national networks and multi-country stakeholder convenings. She approaches the work at the design stage to ensure operational clarity, equitable access, and durable infrastructure.

Ashley Kaplan
Co-Founder
Director of Governance & Strategy

Ashley Kaplan is an attorney with more than a decade of experience at the intersection of law, governance, and organizational strategy in nonprofit, philanthropic, and for-profit sectors. Her work spans corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and internal systems design that align legal structure with strategic intent. She brings a cross-functional lens to every engagement, ensuring that legal framework, organizational culture, and strategic direction are built to last.

Download a one-page overview of our practice
Get in touch

Let's start with a conversation.

Tell us a bit about where your organization is — we'll take it from there.

Prefer email? hello@unspokenmargin.org

For the voices not yet in the room.

For the ideas in the margin.