Who We Are

Ancora Associates was founded in 1987 to provide strategic planning and management consulting to not-for-profit clients in the United States and abroad. We work primarily with public sector agencies, social service organizations, and cultural institutions. Ancora’s consultants are fluent in English, Spanish and French.

What sets Ancora apart is our breadth of experience and our personalized approach to every engagement. We don’t have a template that we apply to every scenario. The situations and challenges your organization faces are unique and nuanced. Our strategic planning specialists recognize and honor this distinctiveness by treating each project separately … ensuring that our process is the best possible fit for your organization’s needs.

Please click on any of the links above to learn more about our work and expertise. We also encourage you to contact us for further detail and information.

Clare Muñana, President

Clare Muñana founded Ancora Associates in 1987. She has extensive management consulting experience with a focus on strategic and organizational alignment and transformations, having performed numerous engagements for clients in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Ms. Muñana has led teams tasked with fostering economic development in underserved regions within the State of Illinois; devising international strategy for a US/European foundation and museum; strategic planning for a major natural history museum, creating a technology plan for a major US school district; and establishing an economic development agency for a large U.S. city. Prior to leading Ancora, Ms. Muñana worked on projects for the World Bank and United States Agency for International Development with Grant Thornton International, and was a researcher at the Brookings Institute.

Ms. Muñana has held BPA contracts with the US Agency for International Development as a Senior Education Specialist and a Senior Local Capacity Development Specialist. She received a Bachelors degree from Boston College, a MA with Honors in International Economics and Politics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ms. Muñana is a Board member of the Aspen Institute, the Middle East Investment Initiative, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, The Field Museum, and After School Matters. Additionally, she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition. She has also been named a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government.

Certifications

Ancora Associates has been certified as a MBE/WBE firm by the City of Chicago, the WBENC and the CMSDC.