CoLab Strategy partnered with The Lioness Den to develop its first strategy, creating the strategic building blocks to address housing insecurity for single mothers, connect women to community and resources, and support pathways to long-term economic participation.
Alongside the strategy, we prepared investor-ready materials that clearly articulated the social and economic return on investment, helping The Lioness Den confidently engage developers, investors and philanthropists with a compelling value proposition.
“When I approached Co Lab Strategy, I had so many ideas but was struggling to focus on a way that would help us secure seed funding. I’d been asked to create a pitch deck and strategy but didn’t feel I had the skills to do this in a way that would actually result in financial backing for our new social enterprise.”
– Jenna Wilson, Founder, The Lioness Den
The Ask
The Lioness Den is a bold, purpose-driven social enterprise creating social and economic impact for single mothers and their children through three solutions: The Lioness Loans, Intentional Communities and The Den. With a strong vision and early interest from philanthropists and developers, the team needed a clear strategic narrative and practical materials that would hold up in funding conversations.
The Challenge: Turning The Founder’s mission into a clear, investable story
Turning a powerful founder-led vision into a clear, investable story required:
- aligning on priorities, direction and strategic focus
- a clear, visual strategy to anchor decision-making and communication
- an investor-ready business case that balanced social impact with commercial realities.
The Lioness Den needed a strategy and materials that were not only compelling, but also practical, credible and ready for external engagement.
Our Approach: Co-designed clarity and investor readiness
CoLab Strategy worked closely with The Lioness Den Founder, Founding Partner and Investor Advisor using a structured and collaborative approach.
1) Co-design workshops to build clarity
We worked closely with The Lioness Den Founder, Founding Partner and Investor Advisor through a structured, collaborative process to:
- clarify the impact The Lioness Den seeks to create
- define strategic priorities and enablers
- shape a clear narrative for philanthropists, investors and developers
1) From workshop insights to investor-ready artefacts
We consolidated and refined the workshop outputs into clear, accessible and visually engaging artefacts – drafting the Strategy on a Page and an Investor Pitch Deck in close consultation with the team. The result was a set of materials that clearly communicate strategic intent and investment opportunity.
“We started with a half-day workshop with Vanessa where we got cracking on our business case (investor pitch deck), and Strategy on a Page. Vanessa is extremely passionate and skilled around strategy and made the whole process feel fun and easy. We were really impressed with how she took our 4-hour discussion and transformed it into easy-to-read, beautifully set out documents.
We then had the pleasure of working with both Vanessa and Cherie to finalise everything. Cherie is skilled at encouraging us to think big but create the small steps needed to get towards our massive goal of providing housing and support to 700+ mothers and children by 2026.”
– Jenna Wilson, Founder, The Lioness Den
What We Delivered?
- Strategy on a Page outlining vision, mission, values, strategic pillars and enablers
- Balanced Scorecard (tailored to not-for-profit organisations) with success measures across five lenses: impact, financial, customers, internal processes, and growth & development
- Investor-ready business case and pitch deck
- Go-to-market plan setting out a shared pathway to delivery
- Investment narrative and collateral clearly explaining the problem, opportunity, and the social and commercial benefits of investment.
The Outcome: A Strong Foundation for Growth and Investment
As a result of the engagement, The Lioness Den achieved:
- clear and shared understanding of its long-term impact and pathway to achieve it
- a succinct Strategy on a Page to anchor direction, decision-making and alignment
- a compelling, investor-ready business case (investor pitch deck)
- a strong foundation to pursue seed funding and strategic partnerships.
“Off the back of the work we did, we’re now in discussions with multiple backers who understand our vision, believe in us, and are in a financial position to back an impactful start-up that’s ready to scale and transform the lives of single mums and their children.”
– Jenna Wilson, Founder, The Lioness Den
Why This Work Matters
Single mothers are one of the fastest growing, yet least visible, groups at risk of homelessness. For many, homelessness does not mean sleeping rough; it looks like unaffordable rentals, housing instability and constant financial stress.
Systemic barriers limit single mothers’ access to secure housing and pathways to home ownership. increasing economic disadvantage and the risk of long-term instability for families.
The Lioness Den was established to respond directly to this challenge – driven by the belief that housing is a foundation for dignity and opportunity. The initiative seeks to surround women with the support they need to stay housed, participate economically and build pathways toward independence and home ownership – breaking intergenerational disadvantage and create lasting social and economic impact for women and their families.
To deliver on its ambition, The Lioness Den needed strategic partnerships and investment. This engagement helped the founding team and advisory board document a strategy and business case that showed how the model would create measurable impact and a credible investment proposition.
Why This Matters for Organisations Like Yours
Many social enterprises reach a point where founder vision alone is no longer enough to unlock growth. To secure investment and partnerships, organisations need to:
- clearly communicate the urgency of the problem they are solving
- show a credible plan to deliver outcomes
- demonstrate a compelling return on investment (social, and sometimes commercial)
How Can CoLab Strategy Help?
If your organisation or project is ready to clarify its strategy, articulate its impact and build an investor-ready story that stands up to scrutiny, CoLab Strategy can help. Book a free 30-minute strategy session to get clarity about your next steps.
“I’d recommend Cherie, Vanessa and CoLab Strategy to any social enterprise, charity or business that’s ready to grow and needs the documents, vision and strategy to do so.”
– Jenna Wilson, Founder, The Lioness Den
Let’s Chat!
Reach out to CoLab Strategy today to discuss how we can help you grow your organisation for greater impact.