Systems for the people who run them
Hibiscus Collaborative (Hi.C) is an independent practice that helps mission-driven organizations strengthen how they work, so your goals don't get lost in unclear decisions, overloaded staff, or fragile systems.
I'm Christelle Prophete. I bring structure where things are fuzzy, take friction out of the places where work stalls, and build systems your team can run on their own.
- Demos
- Living Cities
- Data & Society
- New Left Accelerator
What I help with
I work best with organizations that value clarity, accountability, and intentional operations, and I'm most useful when:
- Decisions are slow, unclear, or repeatedly revisited because decision rights aren't defined.
- Accountability is fuzzy, and coordination work falls to a few “glue people.”
- Workflows and tools don't match how work actually happens, so execution is fragile.
- Knowledge lives in people's heads, Slack threads, and scattered documents.
- A new program is being designed and no one has mapped how it will actually get delivered.
- Growth, restructuring, or leadership transition is outpacing operational capacity.
- A key operations role is empty, and you need someone doing the job now, not a report about it.
I'm probably not your person if
- You need fundraising strategy or communications. I work on how the organization runs, not on what it raises or what it says.
- The decision is already made and you need someone to endorse it.
- You want a system nobody has to maintain. Every system has an owner; part of my job is making sure that owner is named rather than assumed.
Services
Three ways to work together, depending on where you are and how much of the work you need carried.
Interim & Fractional Operations
Best for
Organizations that need an experienced operator in the seat while they hire, restructure, or grow.
- Someone does the job: the day-to-day keeps running instead of waiting for the next hire
- Stalled work gets picked up and finished, not just flagged
- Senior leaders get their attention back for decisions only they can make
- Your next hire inherits a role that’s working and written down
Diagnostics & Audits
Best for
Teams experiencing friction, inefficiency, or growing complexity, and are unsure where to start.
- You learn where the time actually goes, not where you assumed
- The bottleneck gets named, and so does the person who can clear it
- You stop maintaining tools that duplicate each other
- You get a ranked list you can act on, tradeoffs stated
Program & Systems Design
Best for
Organizations designing a new program, or ready to reduce reliance on institutional memory and informal workarounds.
- A new program launches with its delivery model already worked out
- Recurring work runs the same way whoever is holding it
- Onboarding stops depending on one person's memory
- Every handoff has a named owner instead of a gap
- The team can change the system later without rebuilding it
Pricing
We'll talk first, at no cost, so you know the scope and the price before anything starts. Price depends on how big and how clearly defined the problem is, and how embedded you need me to be. Each engagement is scoped as one main type of work; if it blends two, it's priced at the higher of the two.
Budgets vary, and I would rather scope the work to fit than not do it at all. If this is a fit and the number isn't, say so and the scope can usually be adjusted.
Operations Read
$3,000 · two weeks · fixedNot ready to commit to a full engagement? Start here. Two weeks, one fixed fee, one document: a short findings memo naming the three things costing your team the most time, ranked, with what I would do about each.
If you go on to a larger engagement within 30 days, the fee comes off that scope.
How we work together
My approach
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Listen + Map
Understand what's happening, where it's breaking, what's costing you time.
You getA map of where the time goes and where it stalls
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Design + Decide
Propose options, tradeoffs, and a path that fits your reality.
You getOptions with the tradeoffs stated, and one clear decision
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Build + Embed
Create the system, document it, and make it stick with the team.
You getDocumented systems your team can run on their own
Tell me what’s going on in your own words, no polished brief needed. I reply within 2–3 business days; on a deadline, include your decision date and I’ll tell you quickly whether I can meet it. If it’s a good fit, we’ll talk through goals, scope, and constraints.
Not every engagement uses all three stages. We agree together where yours starts and stops, and you’ll get a written proposal with scope, timeline, and fees before any work begins.
I'm a program operations and systems leader. Over the past decade, I've run complex portfolios and cross-functional initiatives at organizations advancing racial, economic, and democratic justice, usually as the person turning an ambitious plan into something with owners, deadlines, and a clear way to get done.
At Hi.C, I focus on the operational realities that shape how the work gets done: how decisions move, where handoffs break down, what gets documented (and what doesn't), and who ends up carrying the invisible labor that holds everything together. I design lightweight, durable operational infrastructure that strengthens follow-through without multiplying processes. The goal is that your operations become stronger, fairer, and more sustainable.
I hold an MPA from Pace University and a BA in Political Science from Stony Brook University, have completed Rockwood Leadership Institute's Art of Black Leadership, and am a Core Fellow with the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. When I'm not building better systems, I'm likely deep in speculative fiction or crossing things off of my bucket list.
Start a conversation
Accepting inquiries, even if you’re not sure what to ask yet. Expect a reply within 2–3 business days.