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Experience That Understands the Mission--and the Work Behind It
Experience That Understands the Mission--and the Work Behind It
FMJ Organizational Strategies was founded to help mission-driven organizations build the direction, alignment, systems, and leadership required to strengthen services and grow responsibly.
We provide practical strategy and operational guidance grounded in two decades of nonprofit leadership experience. Our work considers both the decisions made at the executive level and the realities faced by the employees responsible for carrying those decisions forward.
Our objective is to move beyond plans that fail to produce results. We partner with organizational leadership to identify root causes, develop realistic and sustainable solutions, and establish clear pathways for implementation and accountability.
Why FMJOS Exists
Why FMJOS Exists
Throughout my career, I have helped shape, strengthen, and oversee services reaching thousands of people. At the center of that work has been a consistent commitment: to create quality service environments that treat people with dignity and respect while supporting them in pursuing their self-defined goals.
That commitment influenced how I approached every leadership responsibility. I continuously examined how services could be improved, how systems could function more effectively, how resources could be used more strategically, and how programs could expand without compromising quality.
Growth was never the objective by itself. The objective was to build organizations capable of serving more people while remaining accountable to their missions and the communities that placed their trust in them.
Over time, I recognized that even substantial growth within one organization placed a natural limit on the number of people I could reach. By helping multiple organizations strengthen their services, systems, and leadership, I could contribute to a much broader level of impact.
That realization became the foundation for FMJ Organizational Strategies.
Meet the Founder
Meet the Founder
Alfredo “Freddy” Matthews Jr.
Alfredo “Freddy” Matthews Jr.
Founder and Managing Principal
My professional experience spans every level of nonprofit operations—from frontline service and middle management to senior leadership and executive oversight.
I have led through organizational startup, program implementation, rapid expansion, operational maturity, and long-term sustainability. This progression has given me a comprehensive view of how an organization functions and a practical understanding of how decisions made in executive offices ultimately affect employees and the people receiving services.
My prior executive experience includes leading within an organization managing more than $400 million in annual funding. During my tenure, I helped lead organizational growth that secured more than $200 million in additional annual funding.
Expansion of that magnitude required far more than securing resources. It required disciplined planning, scalable operating systems, clearly defined responsibilities, cross-functional coordination, leadership development, quality controls, and consistent implementation.
I have seen ambitious strategies fail because they were not translated into realistic plans. I have seen highly capable employees promoted into leadership without receiving the preparation or support necessary to succeed. I have also seen programs, operations, finance, and administrative departments work toward the same mission while unintentionally creating barriers for one another.
These experiences taught me to examine an organization in its entirety—to understand how decisions, processes, people, and resources interact rather than addressing individual challenges in isolation.
FMJOS allows me to bring the strategies, operating experience, and lessons developed throughout my career to organizations preparing for their next stage. My role is to understand the organization’s needs and ambitions, help its leaders clarify where they want to go, and provide guidance that is comprehensive, practical, and suited to its operating environment.
Experience Behind the Work
Experience Behind the Work
Freddy's prior experience includes
Freddy's prior experience includes
20 years of nonprofit service and leadership
Experience across frontline service, middle management, senior leadership, and executive oversight
Executive leadership within an organization managing more than $400 million in annual funding
Simultaneous executive oversight of more than 50 programs
Responsibility for services reaching thousands of people
Experience navigating organizational startup, expansion, maturity, restructuring, and long-term sustainability
Design and implementation of multiple service models addressing the needs of people served through the New York City Department of Homeless Services system
Multiple initiatives progressing from an initial request through funding and program opening in fewer than 30 days
Leadership of operational planning for the coordinated transition of more than 30 shelters in a single day with 60 days lead
Written hundreds of policies many still governing DHS programs today.
Developed and facilitated numerous trainings ranging from 15 - 165 participants
Designed curricula for a week of orientation for all employees to complete before ever getting in front of a client
Recovered hundreds of millions in longstading receivables. During one project identified and collected over $80 Million in just under 18 months.
This experience informs an approach that anticipates operational realities, considers how decisions affect every level of an organization, and produces recommendations designed for actual implementation.
What Guides Our Work
What Guides Our Work
Understand the Entire Organization
Understand the Entire Organization
Challenges rarely exist within only one department or process. We consider how leadership, programs, operations, finance, staffing, governance, technology, and available resources affect one another.
Build for Real Operating Conditions
Build for Real Operating Conditions
Nonprofit organizations must often accomplish more with limited staffing, delayed funding, regulatory demands, competing priorities, and significant service responsibilities. Recommendations must reflect those realities to be useful.
Listen to the People Closest to the Work
Listen to the People Closest to the Work
Depending on the engagement, this may include board members, executive leadership, managers, frontline employees, partners, and service recipients. Meaningful participation helps uncover barriers, practical considerations, and opportunities that may otherwise be missed.
Connect Strategy to Implementation
Connect Strategy to Implementation
A strong idea is only the beginning. Plans must establish responsibilities, milestones, resources, measures, decision points, and escalation pathways so the organization can move from intention to coordinated action.
The FMJOS Standard
The FMJOS Standard
With my name attached to the firm, the standard is personal.
Every engagement carries an obligation to my clients, my family, and the communities ultimately affected by the work. Clients can expect the full benefit of my experience, judgment, candor, and commitment.
The goal is to understand what the organization is working to accomplish, identify what is required to move forward, and provide the practical guidance necessary to help turn that direction into action.
Build. Align. Strengthen. Grow.
Build. Align. Strengthen. Grow.
Whether your organization is preparing for growth, establishing its next direction, strengthening its internal foundation, or addressing a complex operational concern, the conversation begins with understanding where you are and what you want to accomplish.
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