Hi there! Welcome to my website!
I appreciate you taking the time to get to know more about me and my work ethic beyond my resume and/or social media. Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions. I look forward to working with you.
-Nita
I help established small businesses, mission-driven organizations, and social responsibility-focused corporations ethically manage their evolving brand & stakeholder needs.
My Mission
Function with high moral fiber and deliver research, facilitation, and advocacy/training services that will aid our society in the fight towards social and racial equity.
Professional Services
Research
BRAND & BUSINESS
Community Outreach & Involvement
Funding & Grant Opportunities
Potential Clients & Talent
Strategic Partnerships
Vendors & Venues
Facilitation
ORGANIZATIONAL
Leadership Coaching
Cross-functional Team-Building Activities
Human Resources & Onboarding Functions
Project & Client-Specific Ideation Sessions
Topic or Industry Specific Speaker Panels
Advocacy/Training
SOCIAL & RACIAL EQUITY
Professional & Performance Development
College & Career Pipeline Initiatives
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Recruitment & Retention
Transferable Skills & Self-Assessment
What People Are Saying
I appreciate the way Nita brings her expertise to any topic of conversation while sharing her thoughts in a succinct manner. When you hire her, expect a passionate, HONEST, and multifaceted experience. I am confident that, even after one convo with Nita, you will find that she is full of invaluable knowledge. Nita is intentional, compassionate and she really does have the tools to help guide you to the next level.
— Fatiana, Atlanta GA
Nita is an absolute pleasure to work with. Her sharp insights, attention to detail, and comprehensive strategizing greatly improved my productivity as a scholar and community organizer. Nita's thoughtful and compassionate approach is attentive to the whole person. It's a privilege to work with someone who gives the sense that I am being guided by a knowledgeable and capable friend with strong expertise in brand management.
— Hadiya, St. John US Virgin Islands
Nita Penn is a multi-talented professional with the gift of not only seeing micro-details but assembling them into a coherent whole. What else would you expect from a former military linguist? The same rigor, precision, and nuance she brings to mastering language systems are what she brings to her client's multifaceted projects and brands. Penn is notable for her grounded wisdom, astute observations, and direct truth-telling. And what she presents publicly is what you will experience in a personal conversation and in the services she provides--meaning that the ethics she calls for in work are the same she practices with integrity.
— Dana, Washington DC
Industry Fit?
Somewhere in the space between
Human Centered Design & Human Capital Management
Work Philosophy: Rooted in I/O Psychology
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
The specialty of industrial-organizational psychology (also called I/O psychology) is characterized by the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the workplace. The specialty focuses on deriving principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work.
Specialized Knowledge
Specialized knowledge and training in the science of behavior in the workplace requires in-depth knowledge of organizational development, attitudes, career development, decision theory, human performance and human factors, consumer behavior, small group theory and process, criterion theory and development, job and task analysis and individual assessment.
Problems Addressed
The specialty of Industrial Organizational Psychology addresses issues of recruitment, selection and placement, training and development, performance measurement, workplace motivation and reward systems, quality of work life, structure of work and human factors, organizational development and consumer behavior.
Skills and Procedures Utilized
Practitioners Identify training and development needs; Design and optimize job and work and quality of work life; Formulate and implement training programs and evaluate their effectiveness; Coach employees; Develop criteria to evaluate performance of individuals and organizations; and Assess consumer preferences, customer satisfaction and market strategies.
Source: American Psychological Association
Work Methodology: Rooted in Design Thinking
What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. Involving five phases—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test—it is most useful to tackle problems that are ill-defined or unknown.
The Five Stages of Design Thinking
The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (aka the d.school) describes design thinking as a five-stage process. Note: These stages are not always sequential, and teams often run them in parallel, out of order and repeat them in an iterative fashion.
Empathize—Research Your Users' Needs
Define—State Your Users' Needs & Problems
Ideate—Challenge Assumptions & Create Ideas
Prototype—Start to Create Solutions
Test—Try Your Solutions Out
Your goal throughout is to gain the deepest understanding of the users and what their ideal solution/product would be.
Source: Interaction Design Foundation
My Ethos
Always Center your Intuition
Always Choose Culture over Conformity
Always Choose Values over Money
Always Lead with Ethics
Always Maintain Lifelong Learning
Industries where I’ve Tried:
★ Tech Startup
★ Higher Education
★ Fine Dining Hospitality
Transparency/Reasons for Leaving: Toxic Work Environments, Discriminatory Business Practices, Burnout, and/or Relocation
Industries where I’ve Thrived:
★ College & Career Readiness
★ Creative, Art, & Design
★ Military
★ Health & Wellness
★ Nonprofit
★ Government
Transparency/Reasons for Leaving: Relocation, Contract/Project-based work, and/or Moved on to another Opportunity
