About ALK Consulting
ALK Consulting began in 2017 when a colleague encouraged founder Ali Kane to host an LGBTQIA+ inclusion workshop in preparation for Pride month. In the following months, Ali began offering similar workshops throughout the museum and public garden fields, incorporating best practices in workplace inclusion, authentic visitor engagement, and community-centric fundraising to create affirming spaces for queer people.
In 2022, Ali took the plunge to turn an extracurricular passion project into ALK Consulting. We offer LGBTQIA+ inclusion workshops and advising for companies, organizations, and community groups of all sizes, with a specialization in cultural nonprofits.
ALK Consulting is a Certified LGBT Enterprise with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Our Values
As a business, we value equity in our practices to make our expertise accessible to all members of our community. Our learning opportunities prioritize amplifying lived experience that is supported by research to prepare participants with comprehensive understanding of the intersectional diversity of our community. Most importantly, we foster learning environments that encourages compassionate curiosity to develop effective allies.
About Ali
Pronouns: she/they
Hometown: Worcester, MA
Queer Hero: Laura Jane Grace
Hey there!
I am a Queer nonprofit leader and lifelong learner working to assert the value of the unique role that cultural nonprofits play in the world of social justice. Through ALK Consulting, I further this mission by offering LGBTQIA+ inclusion workshops to cultural organizations to create more affirming spaces for staff, visitors, and the community at large.
In addition to ALK Consulting, I advocate for health equity as Manager, Grants Administration at Family Health Center of Worcester. Previously, at New England Botanic Garden, I served as Manager of Corporate and Foundation Relations and founded the Garden’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee. I was also appointed to the American Public Garden Association’s IDEA Committee, considering how gardens throughout the nation can be welcoming to all.
In 2020, upon discovering there was no public LGBTQ+ resource and support network for Queer professionals in the museum field, I founded the LGBTQ+ Museum Staff & Students with Sam Dinnie, which is hosted by the New England Museum Association, building queer community across the globe.
I have served as Treasurer of Love Your Labels and Founding Treasurer of Central MA Trans Visibility. I hold a Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, a Diversity & Inclusion Champion Certificate from the Bentley University Center for Women & Business, and is a graduate of the Boston’s Future Leaders program at Harvard Business School.
Aside from educating and community-building, I enjoy playing board games, supporting local drag artists, and sampling local eats with my partner and cats in Worcester, MA.
Press
How to Keep Momentum on LGBTQ+ Inclusion Year-Round
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
June 2023
Performative actions are nothing new, but this Pride Month major brands made national headlines because of rainbow-washing …
AFP Member Spotlight: Ali Kane
Association of Fundraising Professinoals
June 2023
Ali Kane (she/they) is a Queer nonprofit leader and lifelong learner committed to intersectional inclusion and equity …
Garden for All: A Year in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Journey of Tower Hill Botanic Garden
New England Museums Now
Summer 2018
At 2pm on a Tuesday, you don’t expect that an email about proofing marketing copy is going to make you cry …
Blog
Museum Monday: Sarah Orne Jewett House
The Sarah Orne Jewett House in South Berwick, Maine, was bequeathed to Historic New England (HNE), the nation’s oldest regional heritage organization, in 1931 by Jewett’s nephew. For many years, interpretation focused on the architecture of the home of author Sarah Orne Jewett. Jewett and her sister married lived at the house for twenty-two years, though split her time between Maine and Boston, where she lived with Annie Adams Fields for half of the year.
Celebrating Queer Icons for Women+ History Month 2025
This Women+ History Month, I am revisiting biographies of women who were included in the 1996 Scholastic Encyclopedia of Women in the United States, one of the most frequently read books on my childhood bookshelf. All of these individuals are held up as iconic women in U.S. history, though I never knew were part of the LGBTQIA+ community until my adulthood.
Museum Monday: Brontë Parsonage Museum
In June 2024, the Museum shared a series of posts exploring LGBTQIA+ history contemporary and local to the Brontës, how the sisters interacted with gender in their personal lives and fictional works, and how the Museum continues to foster inclusive culture.
Featured Speaking Engagements
