Experienced guidance for complex work
Why Grava Strategy was created
Grava Strategy was founded on a simple observation: many organizations with strong missions and real potential do not struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because they lack the strategic capacity, operational clarity, or leadership bandwidth needed to solve complex problems and move important work forward.
Over many years working in marketing, communications, and leadership roles, I saw the same pattern repeatedly. Nonprofits, institutions, and growing businesses often reach a point where growth, change, or opportunity outpace internal capacity. Leaders are carrying too much. Priorities compete. Important initiatives stall. Communication gets harder. The work becomes more complex, but the path forward becomes less clear.
Grava Strategy was created to help fill that gap.
What Grava Strategy brings
Grava Strategy works with leaders who are facing complicated challenges and need a trusted strategic partner to help them think clearly, solve problems, and move meaningful work forward.
Rather than focusing only on communications or only on strategy, Grava Strategy brings together strategic thinking, operational problem-solving, and hands-on project leadership. This helps clients not only clarify direction, but also build momentum and follow-through.
The work often sits at the intersection of leadership, communications, operations, and execution—where important initiatives need both clear thinking and practical support to move forward.
Who we serve
The firm also supports select growing businesses that need strategic clarity, operational problem-solving, and experienced leadership during pivotal moments of growth, transition, or complexity.
In both settings, the goal is the same: help organizations untangle hard problems, make clear decisions, and move important work forward.
Grava Strategy primarily serves nonprofits and mission-driven institutions navigating complexity, change, and important decisions. These organizations often carry high expectations, limited capacity, multiple stakeholders, and work that carries real consequence.
How Grava WorksWe believe good strategy should be clear, grounded, and actionable.
It should help leaders make better decisions, create alignment, and move important work toward completion.
Our approach is thoughtful, practical, and hands-on. I bring structure to ambiguity, clarity to complex situations, and steady support to work that needs momentum. I am often most useful when a situation is important, multifaceted, and difficult to move forward without focused leadership.
Clients do not always need more ideas. Often, they need a trusted advisor who can help them assess what is really happening, identify what matters most, and guide the work forward with sound judgment and practical follow-through.
About
Gia Riney
Gia Riney is the Founder and Principal of Grava Strategy, where she advises nonprofits, mission-driven institutions, and select growing businesses facing complex challenges, important decisions, and work that needs clear direction and steady momentum.
Her background spans senior leadership roles in nonprofit, healthcare, and mission-driven organizations, with experience across strategic communications, brand and messaging, growth strategy, operational problem-solving, and hands-on project leadership. Over the course of her career, she has led cross-functional teams, supported enterprise-level strategic planning, guided major communications and digital initiatives, and helped organizations navigate complexity during periods of growth, change, and transition.
Before founding Grava Strategy, Gia served as Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Editor for the Diocese of Nashville, where she built a new department, led a multi-year communications strategy, managed a 12-person team, and supported institution-wide communications, media, fundraising, and digital initiatives. Earlier, she served as Director of Communications for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, an international child welfare nonprofit, where she worked across nine countries, helped lead strategic planning, supported crisis response, and guided enterprise-wide communications and systems initiatives. She also held senior marketing leadership roles with Joint Commission International and First Nonprofit Insurance Company, leading strategy, messaging, growth, and market-facing initiatives in complex organizational settings.
Gia is especially skilled at stepping into situations where the work is important, the stakes are real, and the path forward is not yet fully clear. She brings a combination of strategic perspective, practical judgment, and follow-through that helps leaders untangle hard problems, make sound decisions, and move meaningful work forward. Her experience includes work in the United States and Latin America, and she brings particular strength in mission-driven communications, stakeholder alignment, strategic planning, and leadership support for complex initiatives.
Gia founded Grava Strategy to provide the kind of support many organizations need but do not always have internally: thoughtful strategic guidance, operational problem-solving, and hands-on leadership that helps important work gain traction and move toward completion.
The goal of Grava Strategy is simple:
to help organizations untangle hard problems so they can grow stronger, serve more effectively, and create lasting value in the communities and markets they impact.
Let’s Talk.
If your organization is navigating a complex challenge, an important initiative, or a period of change, Grava Strategy can help bring clarity, structure, and momentum to the work ahead.