Strategic Facilitation & Advisory

Get clear.
Get aligned.
Get going.

Strategy work for individuals, teams, and organizations who are done with vague plans and circular conversations. We make the work simple, honest, and doable.

Book a Clarity Call
Is this for you?Explore the work

What this is

Third Space Strategy is a clarity
and leadership practice.

This work is about cultivating leadership at every level. Not just at the top, but throughout the team, the room, and the organization. When people feel clear about what they're doing and why, they lead better. They collaborate better. They move.

Whether it's working with an individual leader navigating a transition, a team that needs to get aligned, or an organization facing real structural or strategic change, the work is relational, rigorous, and grounded in what's actually true.

We are not therapists or clinicians. We are clarity consultants. Our work is built on a simple rhythm: pause, get clear, and move with alignment and intention. The facilitation, the coaching, the strategy. All of it grows from that.

Is this for you?

Who this work is for.

If you're navigating something real, this might sound familiar.

For individuals

You're navigating something real.

Founders, facilitators, creatives, and leaders navigating a decision, transition, or season of uncertainty who need space to think clearly and move forward with intention.

  • You're sitting with a decision and need space to think it through honestly
  • You're in a transition and want clarity before you act
  • You want a thought partner, not a consultant with a template
  • You know something needs to move. You're just not sure what, or who owns it
Book a Clarity Call

For teams

You need everyone in the room.

Teams that need alignment, honest conversation, stronger decision-making, and a clearer way of working together.

  • Your team keeps circling the same conversation and nothing moves
  • There's tension in the room, but no one is saying the actual thing
  • You have a strategy, but no real alignment behind it
  • Decisions get made, and then quietly undone
  • You need structured space to think, decide, and commit
Send an Inquiry

For organizations

You need a more honest path forward.

Mission-driven organizations navigating growth, change, values misalignment, restructuring, or internal friction, and needing a more honest, strategic, and sustainable way forward.

  • The org has grown faster than its structure or culture can hold
  • There's misalignment between leadership, staff, and board
  • Values are stated but not practiced, and people feel it
  • A major transition is coming and you need to navigate it with care
  • You need outside perspective that's honest, not just diplomatic
Send an Inquiry

The work

Most teams and organizations
don't have a strategy problem.

They have a clarity problem.

Most individuals, teams, and organizations move from problem to solution without ever stopping to look at what's really happening. The third space is where you slow down, tell the truth, and get aligned on what actually matters. Not as another meeting, but as a deliberate practice.

Here's how that shows up in the work.

"The quality of the time and intention determines the quality of the outcome. That's where the third space comes in."

The foundation of this work

Strategy Facilitation

For individuals, teams, and organizations that need to get clear on direction and build a plan grounded in their real capacity.

Organizational Alignment

For teams and organizations where tension is visible, conversations are stalling, and no one is saying the actual thing.

Retreats & Offsites

For groups that need structured space to step back, reconnect, and make meaningful decisions together.

Executive Advisory

For leaders navigating complexity, growth, or critical decisions who need a direct and honest thought partner over time.

How it starts

Everything begins with a clarity call.

We talk through what you're navigating, what's feeling stuck, and what you actually need. If there's alignment, I'll come back with a thoughtful proposal for how we can work together.

Book a Clarity Call

What shifts

Here's what actually
changes.

You leave the room with a clear decision, not a list of things to revisit.

The conversation that's been avoided for months finally happens, and it moves.

Everyone knows what was decided, who owns what, and what's next.

Leadership, staff, and board are pulling in the same direction.

Next steps don't stall. They're specific, owned, and already in motion.

You build the muscle to do this again, without needing to bring someone in every time.

Ways we can work together.

Direction gets built here, not handed down. Through structured facilitation, we surface what's actually true about your situation, align the people who need to move together, and build a plan grounded in your real capacity.

What this looks like

  • Strategic planning sessions
  • Theory of change development
  • Scenario planning & decision-making

You leave knowing what matters, who owns what, and what happens next.

The person behind the work

Zakiya Mackey, Founder of Third Space Strategy

Hey there, I'm

Zakiya Mackey

Founder & Principal, Third Space Strategy

Creating space for what actually matters.

I'm a facilitator and strategist. I help individuals, teams, and organizations get honest, get clear, and move forward in a way that actually holds.

Background

I grew up in Oakland, CA, the child of an educator and an advocate. With both of my parents being entrepreneurs, I was raised to pay attention: to people, to what's happening in a room, to what's going on beneath the surface. That's not a skill I learned. It's how I've always moved through the world.

For over a decade I've worked across education, entrepreneurship, and social impact, building programs, leading teams, and holding spaces where people are asked to think, decide, and take responsibility for what comes next. My work has supported teams at Microsoft Philanthropies, Google, Dream Corps, and ESO Ventures.

Perspective

Most people don't need more information.

They need space to think, tell the truth, and make aligned decisions.

That's what I build, and then I facilitate in a way that responds to what's actually real in the room.

Approach

Sometimes that looks like direct conversation. Sometimes reflection. Sometimes I introduce play, not to lighten the mood, but because it shifts something and opens people up. It disarms, calms, and creates space for a real pause, a break for understanding, for clarity.

The Third Space.

I'm not here to impress you with a framework you won't use. I'm here to help you get to what matters, make decisions you can stand behind, and leave with next steps that are clear, grounded, and actually doable.

This is the rhythm I work from.

01

Pause

Stop performing urgency. Create space to actually look at what's happening beneath the surface, without the pressure to fix it yet.

02

Clarity

Name the real thing. Cut through the noise to what actually matters and build shared understanding around it.

03

Aligned Action

Move with confidence. Not because everything is resolved, but because everyone is honest about the direction.

Clarity isn't about having all the answers.
It's about being honest enough to move.

Start the conversation

Let's create the space
to think it through.

If you're navigating something complex, unclear, or important, start here. No pitch deck needed.

01

Book a Clarity Call

Prefer to talk first?

A 30-minute conversation to understand what you're navigating and whether there's a fit. No prep required. Just show up honestly.

02

Send an Inquiry

Rather write it out?

Share what you're navigating in your own words. It doesn't need to be polished, just honest. The form is below.

How it goes

01

You reach out

Book a call or send an inquiry below. Either way, you're just starting a conversation. Nothing is committed yet.

02

We talk

We spend 30 minutes understanding what you're navigating. I listen, ask the right questions, and get honest about whether and how I can help.

03

We decide

If there's a fit, I'll come back with a clear proposal. If not, I'll tell you that too, and point you somewhere useful.

Send an Inquiry

You don't need to have it all figured out before you reach out.