ABOUT
Analytically grounded. Deeply human. Designed to endure.
Cambium + Root integrates the structural rigor of organizational psychology with the relational depth of social work. This is not a soft skills consultancy. It is not a data-only firm. It is both.
OUR FOUNDER
Megan Mahoney
Founder and Principal Consultant
Megan is an organizational culture consultant based in Chicago. She founded Cambium + Root after two decades of leadership in mission-driven organizations.
Her career has been shaped by doing meaningful work with incredible people, and by the full range of challenges that comes with it. She has designed and led large-scale regional and national projects spanning direct service, training and consultation, advocacy, and cross-sector partnership—the kind of work that requires holding complexity and achieving big outcomes while keeping people at the center. She has led in-person and remote teams through layoffs, guided organizations through rebrands and restructures, and navigated the particular difficulty of sustaining culture through leadership transitions, funding crises, and the misalignments in communication and goals that quietly erode even strong teams. That simultaneously structural and relational work is what she does.
Megan holds an MSW from Columbia University and a certificate in IO Psychology from the Chicago School. The combination is deliberate. Social work gave her a framework for understanding how people are shaped by their environments—what motivates them, what holds them back, the weight of history and inequity they carry into a room. It taught her to lead with empathy and without judgment, to build from strengths, and to hold a vision of future possibility no matter where the starting point. Organizational psychology gave her the structural and scientific tools to act on that understanding at scale. Cambium + Root is built on both.
OUR NAME
The name Cambium + Root draws from nature. The cambium is the living layer just beneath the bark of a tree: the thin, active zone where growth happens. The roots are the foundation: strong, consistent, everything that holds the tree upright. Together they describe our work: structural change that fortifies what’s already there and creates the conditions for durable, healthy growth from the inside out.
Stay grounded. Keep growing.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH MEGAN
I hired Megan to lead a high-profile national project because of her resume and reputation. I called on her again when I needed someone to lead a talented team through some tricky transitions. She delivered both times. She has a rare combination of professional competence and genuine relational skill. She brings people together, moves them forward, and I'd work with her again and again.
Megan was the face and voice of my office during my tenure as President. She was unflappable. She managed relationships across every level of the organization with remarkable nuance and brought a calm, forward-thinking presence to every challenge. Whatever room she walks into, she makes it work better.
Megan is an exceptional collaborator and connector whose extensive experience in complex organizational environments is matched by her deep understanding of people and interpersonal dynamics. She brings an innate ability to dig beneath the surface of challenging issues, identifying the nuances that shape effective solutions. This insight allows her to design thoughtful, tailored programs that are grounded in real-world needs—setting a strong foundation for long-term success.
Megan is one of my favorite collaborators and thought leaders. She gets what it means when we say an investment in your people is an investment in your outcomes.
OUR VALUES
Empathy
We care deeply about this work. We’ve navigated the challenges you’re facing and are right there with you.
Collaboration as Sustainability
We work together from the start so you can maintain what we build—your organizational knowledge, our frameworks, one shared investment in lasting outcomes.
Focus on Strengths
We build from what is already working. Change is more durable when it grows from existing roots.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We design with attention to who benefits and who is left out. Good culture is not one-size-fits-all.
Dignity of Work
We respect each individual contribution and believe everyone deserves to work in conditions that honor their full humanity.
FRAMEWORKS WE DRAW FROM
METHODOLOGY
Appreciative Inquiry
Change is more durable when it grows from strengths rather than from a diagnosis of failure. We start with what gives life to the system and build toward a collective vision of what is possible—engaging people as co-designers of the future rather than subjects of a fix. This approach makes change feel accessible and worth pursuing. It also builds the internal capacity to sustain what we create together.
THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Self-Determination Theory
Autonomy. Competence. Relatedness. When these needs are met, they produce genuine motivation at work. When unmet (e.g., through micromanagement, unclear expectations, isolation), engagement erodes. We design structures and practices that satisfy these needs intrinsically, building workplaces where people are motivated by the work, improving both their experience and the organization’s outcomes..
LENS
Trauma-Informed Leadership
A trauma-informed leader asks what is happening to make a person act a certain way, rather than what is wrong with them. They look at conditions as causes rather than blaming personal shortcomings. Trauma-informed leadership is a powerful tool to foster accountability and resilience. It is relevant everywhere, in every industry, at every level.
OUR AI PHILOSOPHY
Culture work is human work.
We feel all the things you do about AI: Curiosity. Excitement. Healthy skepticism.
The thing is, culture work is inherently relational. Nothing can replace the value of lived experience or outmatch the creativity of an intellectually and whole-heartedly invested thought partner.
We use AI selectively and responsibly as an administrative tool that allows us to focus our time and energy on all the things a machine can't do. We work in closed systems and put nothing sensitive or proprietary into general-purpose AI programs, so your information stays yours.
We're paying close attention as the technology landscape evolves and are committed to using it in ways that translate to stronger outcomes for our clients.
Every deliverable we produce is something we've architected and stand behind.
Ready to get started?
