Cygnet Projects LLC is a specialized consultancy serving nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven businesses in the behavioral health and addiction field.
We offer strategic analysis, project management, content development, program design, and partner coordination, working alongside organizations to deliver on complex projects that require both field expertise and focused execution.
As a small, independent practice, we bring senior-level attention to every engagement, with the flexibility to adapt our role to what each project needs.
Our Services
From discovery and planning through implementation, Cygnet Projects LLC is the augmenting force that drives projects from vision to fruition.
Strategic analysis
Organizations often know what they want to accomplish but, over time, lose clarity on how their programs, communications, and partnerships connect to that goal. Our strategic analysis process helps leadership teams develop shared understanding, identify what's working, and move forward with purpose.
Project management and program design
From the spark of an idea to launch day, we keep our eye on your intended impact while designing a workflow that fits your team's real capacity. We can serve as a supporting entity or take the lead, adapting our role to what your organization needs.
Partner coordination
Effective collaboration doesn't happen by accident. We help organizations identify the right partners, build productive working relationships, coordinate participation in shared initiatives, and create new networks, so that the field moves forward together rather than in parallel.
Content development
We translate clinical, scientific, and policy content into clear, accessible language for public audiences, whether that means building a consumer-facing website from scratch, creating plain-language guides from academic research, or developing program materials that meet people where they are.
About Cygnet Projects LLC
Cygnet Projects LLC is led by Elizabeth (Liz) Cairns, a nonprofit professional with over a decade of experience in the substance use and behavioral health field. Liz co-founded The Peter G. Dodge Foundation in 2014 and built three flagship programs there: Mission Grants, Technical Assistance Partnerships, and AlcoholUseDisorder.org, before transitioning to a consulting and Board role. From 2020 to 2024, she was embedded at Partnership to End Addiction as Director of External Partnerships, where she developed and launched the Community Partners Network, growing it to more than 250 organizations nationwide, as well as developing partnerships and content for Raising Resilient Kids and supporting other partner-involved initiatives.
Since launching Cygnet Projects in 2024, she has completed strategic analysis for Mobilize Recovery and CMC Foundation for Change, led the creation of CodeRecover.org, supported initiatives such as Operation Understanding and Campus Surge 2025 and coordinated a research study involving focus groups held on college campuses.
"I love to build things — programs, partnerships, resources, organizations — and I believe the field moves faster when organizations work together rather than duplicating their efforts. I combine big-picture thinking with attention to practical details, accomplishing not just planning, but execution as well. My favorite work is helping organizations get to the strategic projects that keep getting pushed aside, the ones that are actually critical to their long-term health. Ultimately, I want to help create better systems and a more humane world for people facing addiction and behavioral health challenges."
