About Us
We are realistic, strategic, empathetic, and nuanced thinkers and listeners who embed ourselves as part of our clients’ teams.
Our name is inspired by the Third Plateau, a bluff in the Santa Cruz Mountains that our founders hiked to as kids at summer camp. The annual pre-dawn trek would arrive at the Third Plateau just in time for sunrise, guiding campers to a moment of light, joy, and accomplishment. Today, we take our clients on a similar journey, walking together on the path to a brighter future.
Our Core Values
Our core values form the foundation for who we are and how we show up in our work to drive social change. From recruiting and onboarding new team members, to providing ongoing professional development and support to our team and systems to hold ourselves accountable to each other and the work, our values help us create an environment that is inclusive and collaborative, where all team members feel a deep sense of purpose and belonging. Check out our values below, and read more about our ongoing work to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive place to work here.
Step Up
We’re hungry for a future where all people and the planet thrive. We approach our work with purpose and intentionality and are eager to try new things, take thoughtful risks, and challenge the status quo. We passionately rise to the challenge of co-creating a future world we have never seen but know is possible.
Learn Up
We are insatiably curious and honor multiple ways of learning. We don’t have all the answers – and never will – so we actively listen, reflect, explore, and seek to uncover and address gaps in our understanding with people from diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and unique perspectives. We encourage ourselves and those around us to think expansively and celebrate progress rather than perfection.
Team Up
Relationships and community are at our core. Centering empathy, we develop deep and authentic connections with those around us – including those with whom we disagree. We recognize that people, not organizations, are at the center of social change, and approach our interactions with a belief that we will go farther together than we can alone.
Live Up
We believe all people are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. We take care of ourselves and each other by finding joy in our work, practicing balance, and prioritizing wellness. We are here to improve the world and live fully while we do it.
Our Team
Our creative and visionary team is the lifeblood of who we are. Our strength comes from our diversity - we’re an eclectic mix of strategists, experts, ideators, and jokesters from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences dedicated to supporting our clients’ efforts in creating social change.
Learner. Introvert. Problem solver. Love one on one conversations.
Staff Accountant
Vice President & Executive Coach
Californiafied Carolinian. Question seeker. Empathy enthusiast. Proud mama. Whale spotter.
Vice President & Executive Coach
Lifelong learner. Outstanding organizer. Systems creator. Lover of the little things.
Director of Operations
Senior Associate
Democracy crisis hipster. Philanthropy nerd. Aspiring Spanish speaker. Global circumnavigator. Black and white cookie aficionado.
Co-Founder & Principal
Senior Associate
Mindful globetrotter. Empathetic humanitarian. Franco-Uruguaya-American. Stops to smell the flowers.
Critical thinker. Voracious reader. Prose wrangler. Newspaper fan. Passionate believer in civil liberties.
Senior Grants Manager
AKA #ClassicCaruso. Strategist. Justice seeker. Connector. Hip-hop fanatic. Hispanophile.
Vice President
Intentional listener and communicator. Funk lover. Cautious optimist. Professional skeptic.
Associate
Information gumshoe. Creative sponge. Seeker of nuance. Extroverted introvert. Ancestral Storyteller.
Researcher
Process developer. Apartment gardener. Hobbyist.
Administrative Assistant/Office Manager
Methods Connoisseur. Canine Enthusiast. Conservation Advocate
Researcher
Committed social impact seeker. Avid hiker. Science fiction/fantasy lover.
Associate
Shaper and doer. Connector of dots. Aspiring homesteader.
Senior Director
Advocate. Crocheter. Arctic Enthusiast
Associate
Gen X music nerd. Libra, Creative strategist. Curiously curious. Your biggest fan.
Senior Director & Executive Coach
Social Justice Champion, Includer, Empathetic, Thought Partner, Dal and Chai Enthusiast
Vice President of Research, Evaluation, Learning
Critical overthinker. Philadelphiafied Californian. Justice advocate. Proud Latina. Educator.
Associate
Process nerd. Creative hobby hopper. Dreamy pragmatist. Story seeker. Chocolate enthusiast.
Director & Executive Coach
Restless learner. List aficionado. Flexible planner. Proud pedestrian.
Chief Operating Officer
Driver of game-changing ideas and awesomeness. Ambitiously ambitious. Trained slaughterhouse butcher. Ironman athlete. Spreadsheet nerd. Able to eat more than you.
Co-Founder & Principal
Social entrepreneur. Constant questioner. Community builder. Sacramento evangelist. Committed taco connoisseur. Diehard Arsenal and Kings fan.
Co-Founder & Principal
Believer in access to opportunity. Ambivert. Lover of routine and spontaneity. Constant questioner.
Director
Cultural enthusiast. Change catalyst. Cat lover. Boba connoisseur.
Associate
Thoughtful listener. Dog lover. Expert napper.
Senior Associate
Adventure seeker. Step counter. Community builder. Kinesthetic learner. Baseball cap aficionado.
Director
Enthusiastic learner. Bibliophile. Dog lover. Relational introvert.
Senior Director
Creative problem solver, Contemplative questioner, Fast-walking Midwesterner, Egg roll enthusiast
Senior Researcher
Jane of all trades. Oxford comma. Mayor of Calmville. Perennial wanderlust. In search of noodles.
Senior Director
Informed risk-taker. Cat lover. Grammar and spelling nerd. Eternal student of history. Francophile.
Big picture thinker. High energy doer. Experience seeker. Animal lover. Bachata dancer. World traveler.
Director
Community-oriented Latina. 916 enthusiast. Food-inspired traveler. Inconsistent exerciser.
Director
Extroverted listener. Energized facilitator. Coast-to-coast code switcher. Wannabe park ranger. Bread whisperer.
Director
Lifelong Student. Bullet Journal Enthusiast. Comics Lover. Melomaniac.
Finance Director
Culinary alchemist. Daydream believer. Truth seeker. Holistically conscious connoisseur. Star gazer.
Senior Accountant
Doer, Hobbyist, Unapologetic inquisitor, and a guaranteed laugh
Senior Associate
Forever student. Sweet tea lover. Kindness broadcaster. Gregarious introvert.
Administrative Assistant
Systems builder. Furniture maker. Easily distracted.
Senior Director
Utility player. Democracy protector. Californian with New Yorker tendencies. Sunshine hiker, rainy day bookworm. New York Times enthusiast.
Director
Third Culture Kid. Detail obsessor and synthesizer. Outdoor adventurer. Rocky Road loyalist. ISFJ.
Vice President
Champion of inclusive process. Dreamer-doer combo special. Lover of spy stories. Citizen of the world. Snack queen.
Senior Director
Community creator. Big picture proponent. Detail devotee. Lake Michigan lover. Alliteration aficionado.
Associate
We believe that complex social change requires new ideas, a deep understanding of people and systems, and a commitment to continuous learning.
Join Our Team
At Third Plateau, we believe in the power of diverse teams. In our recruiting efforts, we always seek to reach a broad and diverse pool of applicants to ensure our final candidates are not a homogenous group in terms of demographics or experience. You can read more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) here. Furthermore, we’ve been and are continuing to experiment with our own application process to decrease implicit and explicit biases as much as possible. We ask that you anonymize your resume, and we anonymously review answers to our application’s questions so that we can focus on how your strengths and skills could look on our team.
We welcome applicants of all backgrounds to apply. Third Plateau is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to their race, color, age, religious creed, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics.
Learn more about our team and culture and see our open positions below.
Employee Benefits
- Remote-first with annual technology stipend
- Platinum-level health insurance with FSA options
- Dental and vision insurance
- Regular high fives (virtual during COVID)
- Generous paid time off policy
- Wellness program ($500/year to invest in your mental, emotional, and/or physical wellness)
- Professional development and curated team learning opportunities
- Cell phone and home internet reimbursement ($110/month)
- 401k with employer matching
- Pre-tax transportation and parking plans