About StrideForward

A thinking partner.
A working partner.

Careful strategy matters. So does having someone alongside you who can help turn it into working materials, decisions, and next steps.

Gina Wilt, founder of StrideForward, smiling in a pink room — Gina Wilt · EdD, MBA

Meet the founder

Hi, I’m Gina.

Most of my career has lived at the intersection of education, leadership, and program design. I’ve helped develop new programs and initiatives, shape strategy for growing organizations, and design learning experiences for the people doing the work.

StrideForward brings that experience to entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofits, and learning ventures that need more than advice, but don’t need to build a whole new team.

I also help small teams put AI to work in ways that respect the people doing it. I run my own businesses on the workflows I set up for clients, so I know what saves time and what needs a person.

My doctorate in education and MBA bring together two sides of the work: understanding how people learn and grow, and making the operating model practical and sustainable.

I care about doing careful work, being clear about what the evidence supports, and leaving you with something useful. We start with your context, work within your constraints, and build from there.

StrideForward is the consulting identity of GMW Group LLC. The name is new; the practice and relationships continue.

What I have built

I have built what you are building.
I know where it gets hard.

Most of my career has been spent inside the work: designing programs, selling them, and running the systems behind them.

More than twenty years building learning programs and education ventures, from the special education classroom and instructional coaching to teacher-preparation faculty.
Led curriculum as an associate vice president for an online university.
Directed and scaled a market-facing professional learning business inside a large public university, building partnerships and sales with school systems and national education organizations.
Helped HIKI Education in Hawaiʻi make its professional learning easy for school leaders to understand and contract, with a playbook and workflow systems the team uses to run it.
Shaped a dual-enrollment strategy for an arts-and-humanities education organization, giving it a path to offer college credit to high school students.
Currently the fractional partnerships and business development manager for an early-learning company.
I run my own businesses on the AI workflows and systems I set up for clients: voice and brand guides every draft follows, planning briefs twice a week, outreach and follow-up playbooks, shared team hubs, and the booking, email, and CRM behind them.

Why StrideForward exists

Good ideas stall
for two reasons.

Across education, nonprofit, and small-business work, I kept seeing the same pattern. Capable people with a real audience and a good idea would stall, not for lack of effort, but because the problem underneath had never been named, or because no one had the time to turn the plan into working materials.

StrideForward exists to do both: find the real problem with you, then help build the fix, at a pace and scale that fits a small team.

What happens on the call

Thirty minutes on Zoom,
nothing to prepare.

You tell Gina what you are building and what is getting in the way. Three short questions when you book help the call start where you are.
Together you name the real problem and one next move, whether or not we work together.
If it is a fit, a one-page scope note with the fee arrives within two business days.

Book a discovery call

Work like yours

Three snapshots
of the work.

Situation, what we built, what changed. Organizations are described rather than named unless they have said yes to being named.

A college of education at a large public university

Making a workforce portfolio legible to outside buyers.

Situation: Learning, credentials, consulting, research, and events had grown up separately. Districts, employers, and partners could not see how the pieces fit or where to start.
What we built: A connected offering and capability strategy: audience-specific offers, pathways between them, and the market intelligence and financial logic behind each.
What changed: One portfolio that external partners could read, with clear entry points and a shared language across teams.

HIKI Education · Hawaiʻi

Positioning place-based professional learning for schools.

Situation: Strong, culturally grounded programs and a fishpond site, but no clear way for principals and district leaders to understand or contract the professional learning.
What we built: A school-buyer strategy, a soft-launch website, professional-learning packages, a scoping-call-to-proposal path, an operating playbook, and pitch materials for funders and partners.
What changed: School leaders can now see what is offered, who it is for, and how to begin. The team has a playbook to run it.

An early-learning media startup

Building the evidence base and partnership plan for a new product.

Situation: A founder with a product for four- to six-year-olds and strong instincts, but no structured evidence or partnership approach to bring to schools and families.
What we built: A research brief connecting the product to learning science, a pilot plan across parents, homeschool, and classroom settings, and a partnership development approach.
What changed: Product decisions now have a Now, Next, Later logic tied to evidence, and partner conversations start from a clear story.

Want to see how this applies to your situation? That is what the first call is for. Book a discovery call.

From the people I’ve worked with

“Gina has a gift for taking complex, heart-centered work and translating it into a clear market presence. She simplified our core offerings and built the tangible tools we needed to actually grow. The engagement felt structured yet fluid, and honored the Hawaiian values our organization is grounded in, like aloha and pilina.”

Kai MeadDirector, HIKI Education

“Gina did not just consult, she built alongside us. She provided the business development framework and high-leverage assets we needed to go to market with confidence, and she translated our cultural mission into a clear, actionable strategic plan.”

Dr. Kapono CiottiPresident, Pacific American Foundation

“Gina is an excellent thought partner and collaborator. She asks intelligent, insightful questions, assimilates large amounts of information quickly, and is extremely responsive, able to adjust her plans in response to realities on the ground. My colleagues and I have been consistently impressed with the quality, depth, and thoughtfulness of her work.”

Caitlin Ballotta RajagopalanExecutive Director, an arts-and-humanities education organization

“Dr. Wilt is one of the most impressive educational leaders and innovators I have ever met. She is a tremendous collaborator with a rare blend of deep pedagogical expertise and technical savvy. Gina takes incredible pride in the quality of her work, and partnering with her is both exhilarating and fun.”

Dr. Andrew SheanChief Academic Officer, an online university

What guides the work

Purpose shows up
in the decisions.

These values guide how we work with you and how we build across the GMW Group family.

Growth

Make room for learning, testing, and progress. Better is built through practice.

Community

Value relationships and shared learning. Work is stronger when people contribute.

Meaningful time

Respect the capacity you have. Focus effort on work that makes a difference.

Care

Pay attention to the people affected by each decision, not just the deliverable.

Innovator’s mindset

Ask better questions, try workable ideas, and use what happens to improve.

One family. Different kinds of support.

Support for what
you’re ready to do next.

StrideForward

Bring in a working partner for strategy, program design, and implementation.

NextReady Studio

Build practical skills through workshops, private sessions, and coaching.

Explore NextReady Studio ↗

Thrive Vibes

Explore other businesses and discover possibilities for your own through entrepreneurial travel. For entrepreneurs, side hustlers, and small business owners. DIY resources are available now; hosted Journeys are in development.

Explore Thrive Vibes ↗

Other businesses I run

I run these on the same workflows I set up for clients, so I see what saves time and what still needs a person.

Boss Dog Co.

Home-based dog daycare and boarding in Laveen, Arizona, beginning November 2026, with care and travel guidance for dog owners. A separate company I founded.

Explore Boss Dog Co. ↗

Z-Access

A 3D print hub I am co-founding, coming to the Scottsdale Road and Thomas area, with classes, repair, and custom printing.

Explore Z-Access ↗

Your next move

What are you trying
to make possible?

Thirty minutes with Gina, no preparation, and one clear next step whether or not we work together.

You’ll talk with Gina WiltFounder, StrideForward · EdD, MBA

Book a discovery call Prefer to write first?

Or email hello@strideforward.world. Gina replies within two business days.

Sharing this with a board, co-founder, or funder? Get the capabilities overview, a one-page PDF.

A thinking partner.A working partner.