About us
I’m Aldo Simone, founder of Navigante Strategies. I bring over 20 years of leadership experience across the military, nonprofit, and startup worlds — with a focus on helping mission-driven organizations secure funding, deliver programs, and strengthen their systems.
My path has been anything but traditional. I served as a Commander in the Italian Navy, where I led diverse teams in high-stakes maritime operations, strategic intelligence, and international cooperation. That experience gave me the ability to navigate complexity, manage risk, and coordinate across cultures — skills I now apply directly to nonprofit program management.
After two decades in uniform, I transitioned to environmental conservation. At WildAid, I advanced from Program Manager to Interim Director and then Latin America Director, leading multi-country teams, securing multi-million-dollar institutional awards, and building regional partnerships across ministries, NGOs, and philanthropic donors. Highlights include:
Securing $3.8M from Global Affairs Canada through co-authoring a winning proposal (narrative, MEL, budget, compliance).
Leading a $6M portfolio across 16 countries, improving KPI tracking and grant reporting systems.
Strengthening donor relationships and brokering cross-border MoUs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.
Streamlining invoicing and grant-coding processes, reducing errors and saving staff time.
Today, through Navigante Strategies, I combine this unique background to support nonprofits and mission-driven organizations in three areas:
Grant Writing — developing clear, compelling, and compliant proposals.
Program Management Consulting — designing logic models, theories of change, and monitoring frameworks that translate funding into measurable results.
Operations & Process Improvement — helping organizations streamline internal workflows, from invoicing to reporting systems.
What sets me apart is the navigator’s mindset: I don’t just deliver documents or frameworks — I help organizations chart a course through complexity, stay aligned with funder expectations, and ultimately achieve greater impact.
When I’m not working with clients, you’ll often find me sailing or reconnecting with my Mediterranean roots — a reminder that navigating uncertain waters, whether at sea or in organizational strategy, is both an art and a discipline.
What we do
At Navigante Strategies, we provide affordable grant writing services, nonprofit consulting, and program management support for organizations in Maryland, Washington DC, and nationwide. We specialize in crafting grant proposals that are clear, compelling, and funder-ready, with experience in conservation grant writing, environmental grant proposals, ocean conservation, and other conservation programs. Beyond fundraising, we strengthen your organization with program management consulting—including logic model design, theory of change development, and performance monitoring frameworks that meet donor compliance requirements and demonstrate measurable results. We also offer operations and process improvement consulting, helping nonprofits streamline workflows such as invoicing, expense coding, approvals, and grant reporting systems. These improvements reduce errors, save staff time, and build donor confidence. With more than 20 years of leadership across international nonprofits, conservation programs, and complex operations, Navigante Strategies acts as a trusted partner to help your organization secure funding, manage programs effectively, and deliver lasting impact.
Contact us
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