Who I Am

I’m Andrew Benedict-Nelson, the premiere consultant helping leaders in the helping professions realize projects outside their comfort zone. I got here through an entire life lived in proximity to helpers and healers, all of whom taught me how to think with them, but who also showed me the need to transcend their limitations.

That started with my parents. My mother was one of the first pediatric nurse practitioners. My father was a leading transplant surgeon and surgical educator. They were both gifted healers in very different ways. They also both died prematurely, unable to seek help due to limitations deeply intertwined with their professional identities. It hurt them to be healers, and I never forget that.

I built my skills in strategy in innovation through Insight Labs, a group that convened interdisciplinary strategy sessions on behalf of groups facing tough questions. Labs were held for more than 60 groups, including NASA, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Starbucks, and TED. As a researcher and workshop instructor, I helped highly educated professionals set aside assumptions and unleash the creativity they needed to realize new ideas together.

Now as the founder of Help the Helpers, I bring the same dynamism to problems facing helping professionals and the systems in which they work. Over my career I’ve worked with many of the leading organizations in health care and social work, plus a smattering of projects with teachers, physicians, patient advocates, and other helping professions. Past clients and partners in this area include Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Harvard Medical School, Ashoka, and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.

What I Believe

I don’t just feel a great personal affinity for the helping professions. Helpers are my theory of change.

Here’s what I mean. It is clear to everyone that many of our critical systems for human care are in distress. You look around at your hospital, your agency, your school, and you wonder how it all came to this. Or perhaps your institution is doing okay, but you feel out of touch with contemporary problems like racism, climate change, social determinants of health, and political unrest. In any case, you are sure we could be doing much better for those we serve — so am I.

The first problem is that the helping professions are often left out of decision-making entirely. Even though nurses, social workers, and teachers are often the closest to the conditions on the ground, they are often the last ones consulted about major changes. (Every once in a while someone will ask a physician, but not as often as they used to.) When you work with me, the first assumption is respect for your experience and expertise — and the expectation that we be at odds with the powers that be. Don't worry, I’m comfortable here.

At the same time, every time I work with the helping professions, I challenge some professional assumptions. All modern professions were designed to work within a strict set off conditions and protocols. As we advance professionally, we become more and more adept at solving a smaller and smaller set of complex challenges. We optimize to eliminate error and often save lives in the process.

But innovation and strategy require a wildly different mindset. Breaking rules and making mistakes is to be expected. The answers almost certainly involve exploring a pathway that initially seems crazy or wrong. My special talent is leading helping professionals down these paths while staying true to your professional training and ethical core. Together, we can get creative about what needs to happen in our institutions and develop a real strategy to get it done.

Let’s Talk

If you are a helper, I want to get to know you! Reach out any time.