Why We Exist
Fly Buffalo was started because I saw the same thing over and over:
Talented and dedicated people doing powerful work, but were experiencing burnout, who were bogged down and fatigued, and stuck in systems that couldn’t support them. Teams with vision but no roadmap. Good intentions struggling against messy infrastructure.
Founded on the belief that every organization has untapped potential, Fly Buffalo Consulting partners with clients to unlock growth and drive success. We exist to bring clarity, alignment, and momentum to mission-driven organizations.
Whether you’re restructuring, refining your vision, or untangling your operations, we partner with leaders, staff, and stakeholders to build cultures that thrive on clarity, adaptability, and meaningful progress.
Mission
Fly Buffalo Consulting Group helps communities, businesses, and organizations thrive through equity, creativity, and collaboration.
We specialize in strategic consulting and fractional COO services in the arts, education, and social impact sectors, delivering solutions that amplify voices and build lasting change.
Who We Work With
We partner with people and organizations who are navigating growth, change, and complexity—with purpose at the center.
Whether you’re running a small-but-mighty nonprofit, launching a creative initiative, or leading a social impact team that’s outgrown its systems, we meet you where you are and help you move forward with clarity and intention.
Nonprofits, Collectives, and Foundations
From grassroots orgs with no operations team to multi-stakeholder foundations navigating transitions. We help mission-driven teams align vision with action, especially during moments of reorg, growth, or burnout.
Arts & Culture Organizations
We support artists, cultural leaders, and creative orgs in building the operational backbone needed to sustain powerful work. This includes program design, staffing strategy, and systems that protect your creativity, not stifle it.
Educators & Learning Leaders
Whether you’re in a school, university, or community learning space we work with education and training teams to design smart programs, build internal capacity, and create structures that support teaching and transformation.
Social Impact Entrepreneurs & Global Majority-Led Startups
You’re building something bold—and you need strategy, structure, and sanity to keep it moving. We help founders and leadership teams clarify roles, streamline systems, and create operational scaffolding without losing sight of why you started.
Small Businesses with BIG Missions & Ideas
You don’t have a huge staff, but you have heart, hustle, and a mission that matters. We help small teams align operations, improve communication, and build toward long-term sustainability without burning out in the process.
Don’t See Yourself on the List?
We work with values-aligned humans and organizations in all shapes and stages. If you’re doing good work and want to do it better, we’re here for it!
Core Values
At Fly Buffalo, our values aren’t just words. Our values shape they the way we show up in rooms, relationships, and decision-making. They guide our partnerships, guide our process, and anchor our work in both impact and integrity.
Equity
Equity is a practice, not a buzzword.
We center equity in how we design, communicate, facilitate, and build systems. We name power dynamics. We challenge assumptions. We work to create spaces where everyone can access their full potential, and not just survive, but thrive.
Creativity
Creativity is strategic.
We believe creative thinking is essential to solving complex problems. We bring imagination, experimentation, and curiosity to our process, and we make room for unexpected brilliance.
Collaboration
Collaboration is the work.
We don’t “deliver solutions”, we co-create them. Every engagement is a shared process, shaped by the people closest to the work. We listen, ask real questions, and build trust before we build plans.
Innovation
Innovation with integrity.
We support bold moves rooted in real purpose. Our work is about doing better, not just doing more! We value progress over perfection, and we aren’t afraid to challenge norms if it leads to more just, joyful, sustainable outcomes.
Courage
Courageous conversations, always.
We name the hard stuff with clarity and care. We believe truth-telling is a form of respect, and that real trust is built through honesty, not avoidance. Growth starts when we can speak honestly about what’s working and what’s not.
Joy!
Joy is part of the strategy.
We bring our whole selves to this work, and we invite our clients to do the same. We believe that joy, humor, rest, and creativity are not distractions from impact. They’re fuel for it.
Want to know if we’re the right fit?
We’ll start with your goals, not our pitch.
How We Work
We believe strategy is only useful if it’s human. So is structure. So is growth.
That’s why we approach every project with a combination of listening, systems thinking, and real partnership. Our process is rooted in our Clarity → Alignment → Action framework, but is flexible to meet you where you are.
Here’s what that looks like in action:
We start with questions, not answers.
We get curious. We learn your language. We listen between the lines. This is how we build trust and get to the real work.
We co-create everything.
We don’t drop a plan and bounce. We build it with you, your team and stakeholders, your rhythms, your reality. Ownership matters.
We design for humans.
Our systems breathe. Our tools make sense. Our strategies respect the people doing the work, not just the people funding it.
We say what needs to be said.
With kindness, with clarity, and always with care. We don’t dodge the hard stuff, because that’s where transformation comes from.
We care about what happens after we leave.
Everything we do is about building capacity, not dependency. You’ll leave with tools, language, and systems that stick.
In short, we show up with strategy, structure, and spirit, and build what works with you, not just for you.
What Makes Us Different
- We blend operational strategy with creative intuition, and treat both as essential.
- We’re not afraid of complexity. In fact, we specialize in untangling it.
- We approach change with care, not just urgency.
- We’re strategic without the ego. We roll up our sleeves, shift when the work shifts, and bring just enough humor to make hard things feel doable.
- We design for impact and implementation. That means big-picture vision and workflow-level details.
- We don’t play consultant savior. We partner like collaborators, build like co-conspirators, and exit with grace.
Fly Buffalo isn’t just here to deliver a strategy. We’re here to build momentum. Together.
Founder & Principal Strategist
Amber Epps, DSc, EdD, MBA, MS
I am a strategist, systems thinker, and creative disruptor who believes in the power of vision, clarity, and storytelling to move organizations forward.
As the founder of Fly Buffalo Consulting Group, Amber brings over two decades of experience leading mission-driven work at the intersection of equity, education, community development, the arts, and organizational change. She’s known for helping leaders and organizations untangle complex problems, align their people and operations, and design strategies that work.
My approach is both head and heart. With degrees in business, communications, information systems, and education, I bridge analytical thinking with lived experience, especially around healing-centered leadership, justice, and capacity-building for organizations that serve marginalized communities. I am also a longtime nonprofit executive, educator, artist, and cultural worker, leading initiatives that blend creative practice with real-world impact.
But, no, for real, what exactly is a “Fly Buffalo”?
In the Yoruba tradition, Oyá is a powerful Orisha associated with storms, wind, transformation, and the fierce energy of change. She governs the marketplace, the cemetery, and transitions, embodying both destruction and renewal. The water buffalo and the dragon fly are both connected to Oyá.
The water buffalo represents strength, resilience, and determination, mirroring Oyá’s unwavering force in clearing paths and pushing through obstacles.
The dragonfly symbolizes adaptability, lightness, and evolution, reflecting Oyá’s role in transformation and guidance through change.
Together, they capture the balance between power and fluidity, destruction and rebirth, making them perfect symbols of Oyá’s energy. Maferefún Oyá!
