Amanda Weingarten is the Founder and Principal of Seven Cranes Consulting, where she advises nonprofit leaders, donors, families, and foundations on organizational strategy and planning, fundraising, and philanthropic investment.

Over two decades working across the third sector, Amanda has helped organizations navigate growth and change, clarify strategic priorities, assess programmatic and institutional capacity, strengthen leadership and fundraising, and translate ambitious ideas into actionable plans. Her work has included strategic planning and facilitation, organizational and program assessments, campaign and growth studies, impact evaluation, executive and board counsel, and fundraising strategy. She has built her career at the intersection of ambitious ideas, impactful organizations, and the philanthropic capital required to make them possible.

Before founding Seven Cranes, Amanda served as Chief of External Affairs and Chief Development Officer at International Crisis Group, where she led a 28-person global fundraising and communications function. She designed an organization-wide impact evaluation framework and tracking system that achieved 90% staff adoption, strengthening the organization’s ability to assess performance, allocate resources, report impact, and secure renewed funding. She grew annual revenue from $19 million to $41 million and surfaced a transformational opportunity that resulted in a $20 million multi-year commitment from Open Society Foundations.

As Senior Consultant at Graham-Pelton, Amanda advised more than 20 organizations across social justice, education, healthcare, environmental, and international aid sectors. Her work included organizational and program assessments, strategic planning, growth and capacity studies, campaign readiness, fundraising strategy, and executive counsel. Earlier in her career she served as an Assistant Dean for Development at The Citadel where helped align the four-year strategic plan with the Dare to Lead capital campaign which raised more than $250 million from over 20,000 donors.

Amanda’s perspective is also informed by a global experience beyond traditional nonprofit roles, including working with ultra-high-net-worth clients and advising organizations, boards, and funders. This breadth gives her an unusual understanding of both how organizations translate their ambitions into strategy and how funders evaluate opportunities for significant investment. She brings these perspectives together to examine leadership, strategy, financial and operational capacity, fundraising strength, evidence and impact, and the ability to deliver.

Amanda holds a B.A. in History of Art and Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Board of Advisors of Penn’s Weingarten Learning Resources Center.