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Mission-Driven Organizations: Strengthen organizational strategy, partnerships, and policy understanding.
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Public and Social Sector Partners: Clarify priorities, build internal capacity, and plan for sustainable impact.
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Membership Organizations: Align stakeholders, build consensus, and organize effective advocacy.
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The Entrepreneurial Sector: Establish strategic priorities and build the structures needed for growth.
Strategic advisory · Southeast Michigan and nationwide
Stronger organizations.
More effective change.
M-1 Strategic Partners, LLC is a boutique strategic advisory firm based in Southeast Michigan that helps organizations turn complex challenges into clear decisions and lasting capacity. We partner alongside leadership teams for the long haul, combining objective research, strategic planning, skilled facilitation, and policy expertise to help leaders align people, processes, and priorities.
We work with
Ecosystem Scanning
Understand the conditions affecting your work. We assess relevant stakeholders, partnerships, opportunities, and policy context so your team can see where it can contribute most effectively and make decisions with stronger evidence.
Practical strategy, built with your team.
Every engagement starts with your organization's goals and strengths. M1 brings research, facilitation, and hands-on strategic support to help you make informed decisions and build the capacity to act on them.
Capacity Building
Strategy execution depends on team alignment and processes. We utilize a tailored combination of facilitation, targeted input gathering, and executive coaching to help teams unite behind priorities and improve their capacity to drive results.
What we do
Strategic Planning
Turn ambitious goals into a practical plan. We work with leadership teams to set priorities, connect strategy with available resources, and define actions that support long-term organizational development. For mission-driven organizations, this can include development strategies for public and private funding.
Policy Development
Bring research and practical experience to policy decisions. We support policy research and strategy across education, talent and economic development, and community development. For organizations engaged in advocacy, we also offer preparation workshops and strategic coaching for meetings with policymakers.
Principal & Lead Strategist, M-1 Strategic Partners LLC
Meet Daniel J. Quinn, Ph.D.
Dan has spent nearly three decades helping Michigan educators, nonprofit leaders, and statewide coalitions navigate complex public policy, execute research-based strategies, and drive action across sectors.
Before founding M1 Strategic Partners, Dan served as Chief Strategy Officer and Partner at Public Policy Associates (PPA) and Executive Director of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Throughout his career, he has led major statewide policy research and strategy initiatives, including a legislature-funded study on Michigan’s K-12 educator workforce, serving as project director for a multi-sector coalition supporting the Sixty by 30 goal, and presenting internationally on the landscape of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in Michigan.
Drawing on over a decade of research that has shaped statewide policy, his work continues to drive strategic initiatives and economic growth within Michigan's innovation economy.
A recognized authority in organizational leadership and policy research, Dan recently served as President of the Mid-Western Educational Research Association (MWERA). He is an alumnus of the prestigious, bipartisan Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP) at Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Michigan's A-F Peer Review Panel.
Dan’s career in Michigan spans secondary classrooms, research centers, and leading state-level roundtables. A former high school economics and social studies teacher with nearly two decades of experience, Dan earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership from Oakland University, a master’s degree from Saginaw Valley State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University. Growing up on Detroit's east side, he lives in Huntington Woods with his wife (Susan) and their two college-aged kids.
Brief biography:
Dr. Daniel J. Quinn is the Principal and Lead Strategist at M1 Strategic Partners, bringing nearly three decades of experience in public policy, educational leadership, and organizational leadership. He previously served as Chief Strategy Officer and Partner at Public Policy Associates and Executive Director of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, an East Lansing-based nonprofit.
A former secondary economics teacher for 20 years, Dr. Quinn has directed major statewide initiatives, facilitated large public meetings, and led organizational change for both small and large organizations. He has facilitated high-level meetings, presented research internationally, and his education research has been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Get in Touch
Let’s talk about what your organization needs.
Daniel J. Quinn, Ph.D.
Principal & Lead Strategist