Shriver Group Consulting
Build an inclusive business or employment program that lasts.
We help families, nonprofits, schools, businesses, and communities create meaningful paid work for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). From the first idea to launch and beyond, our advice comes from building and operating programs ourselves.
Based in Sarasota, Florida. Available to work with communities beyond our region.
Our work begins with a simple goal: real roles, real wages, and the support to succeed.
Rise Up Cafe figures cover 2020-2024. Inclusion Revolution figures were reported in 2026. These are separate programs, not a combined total.
Two ways to build opportunity
What would you like to create?
Some communities need a new business that employs people with IDD. Others need a program that connects people to jobs with existing employers. We help with both.
Track 01
Inclusive enterprise development
Build a cafe, shop, studio, service business, or other venture where people with IDD hold useful paid roles. We help you balance your mission with the demands of operating a real business.
- Assess community needs and test the business concept.
- Design jobs, workflows, staffing, and training.
- Plan the budget, partnerships, funding, and launch.
- Explore for-profit or nonprofit-supported models with your legal and financial advisers.
Track 02
Integrated employment program development
Build the system that finds jobs in existing workplaces, prepares people with IDD for those jobs, and supports employees and employers after placement.
- Find and develop employer partners and real openings.
- Assess interests and strengths, then prepare participants.
- Design tasks and train job coaches and workplace teams.
- Plan onboarding, follow-up support, and sustainable funding.
Already operating?
We can also help an existing business, nonprofit, school, or employer strengthen its approach: refine job roles, prepare managers, improve coaching, develop partnerships, or plan the next phase of growth.
Practical support
The details determine whether it works.
Concept and feasibility
Clarify who you will serve, what work needs doing, what resources you have, and which model fits your community.
Jobs and training
Define real responsibilities, break tasks into teachable steps, and prepare participants, managers, and coaches.
Partners and funding
Build relationships with employers and community partners, and map the funding needed to sustain the work.
Launch and improvement
Move from plan to operations, learn from early results, and adjust the model as people and workplaces grow.
Why Shriver Group Consulting exists
What Rise Up taught us.
Rise Up Cafe showed our community what people with IDD could do when given real work and a supportive team. But we learned that training hundreds of people was not enough if too few outside employers were ready to hire them.
That experience helped shape Inclusion Revolution's Integrated Jobs Program, where we develop employer relationships, prepare participants, and provide support at work. Shriver Group Consulting brings the lessons from both models to your project, including the lessons we learned the hard way.
Meet Beaver Shriver and The Shriver GroupSee our work
Experience you can learn from.
These two stories show how we have approached an inclusive business and a workplace partnership, and what each taught us.
Inclusive enterprise
Rise Up Cafe
See how a working cafe created paid roles and hands-on training, and what we learned about building opportunities beyond one shop.
Read the Rise Up Cafe storyCommunity partnership
Sunnyside Village
Explore how partners identify useful tasks across a senior living campus and support a path toward paid employment.
Read the Sunnyside Village storyWays to work together
Choose the support your project needs.
These packages give you a starting point for planning. We will discuss your goals and define the scope before you commit.
Discovery & Design
Best for: An idea or existing initiative that needs a clear assessment and practical recommendations.
From $2,500
- Needs assessment
- Written recommendations
- Core training materials
- Two follow-up calls or emails
Implementation Support
Best for: A project moving from planning into launch or a substantial improvement phase.
Pricing based on project scope
Includes everything in Discovery & Design, plus:
- Up to two additional site visits
- Customized materials with your branding
- Three months of follow-up
Full Partnership Launch
Best for: A team that wants continuing guidance through launch and early operations.
Pricing based on project scope
Includes everything in Implementation Support, plus:
- Six months of advisory support
- Up to three site visits
- Staff and employer training sessions
Travel is additional, billed at actual cost or available as a flat-rate package. Hourly virtual consulting is also available. Final scope and pricing are confirmed in a proposal.
The first step
Start with a consultation.
You do not need a finished plan. Tell us what you hope to build and where you are now.
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01
Share your idea. Use the short inquiry form to tell us about your community, organization, or business.
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02
Talk it through. We will have a free consultation about your goals, challenges, and possible next steps.
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03
Decide on a scope. If there is a fit, we will recommend a package or a tailored consulting plan.
Common questions
Do we need to be a nonprofit?
No. We can help you explore a for-profit business, a nonprofit program, or a business supported by a nonprofit. Your attorney and financial advisers should guide the formal legal and tax decisions.
Do we need to be ready to open?
No. Some projects begin with a concept and a feasibility question. Others come to us while preparing to launch or looking to improve a program already in operation.
Can we work together from outside Florida?
Yes. Virtual consulting is available, and packages can include site visits with travel costs addressed in the proposal.
Let's build what's next
You bring the idea. We'll help you make a plan that works.
Whether you want to launch a business or build a pathway to jobs across your community, we would be glad to hear what you have in mind.
No pressure and no obligation.