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Isaac MacDonald

Senior Advisor, Director of Planning & Impact
Isaac

Isaac is the Director of Planning & Impact and a Senior Advisor at Trepwise, where he leads the firm’s approach to strategic planning and systems transformation.

In his decade at Trepwise, Isaac has consulted with over a hundred purpose-driven organizations and initiatives, including the New Orleans Youth Master Plan, a 10-year plan to transform the systems that serve youth and families across the city. Isaac has completed plans for the Center for Planning Excellence, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, StudioBe, the Alliance for Affordable Energy, and United Way of Southeast Louisiana. For the last few years Isaac has been focusing on initiatives to elevate arts and culture in Houston, including a long-term strategy for the Houston Cultural Districts and the launch of a brand new advocacy effort called HouArts in Action. 

Isaac has a degree in Urban Studies at Brown University, where he founded the Urban Journal. Isaac is a 2015 Venture for America Fellow, a 2021 New Leaders Council Fellow, and founding member of the New Orleans hub of the Sunrise Movement. He has an Integrative Design certification from Stanford’s d.School and attended the 2025 Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change. 

Isaac splits his time between Brooklyn and New Orleans, where he can typically be found  playing accordion, collecting miniatures, or tossing a frisbee.

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