Where Strategy
Meets Access

OIC Philadelphia — a 60-year-old workforce development organization founded by Reverend Dr. Leon Sullivan — had fallen into a deficit, lost its public presence, and seen a dramatic decline in program participation. Many in the city no longer knew it existed.

In partnership with CEO Sheila Ireland, a comprehensive rebrand and strategic plan was launched: new logo, new website, new collateral, new programming — all anchored in opportunity rather than poverty. SEPTA bus advertising brought OIC back into citywide consciousness. A Sullivan Champion alumni network was created. The first-ever Alumni Block Party drew 1,000+ attendees. OIC was launched as Comcast's flagship Lift Zone for the City of Philadelphia — a state-of-the-art digital skills and job training center anchored by a $1 million corporate commitment and positioned as the flagship among all Lift Zone locations nationally. The OIC 60th Anniversary Gala brought together 600+ civic, philanthropic, and corporate leaders — Mayor Cherelle Parker, Congressman Dwight Evans, Senator Sharif Street, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson among them.

Major funders across corporate, philanthropic, city, state, and federal sources supported the revitalization with investments ranging from $100,000 to $1,500,000 — reflecting broad institutional confidence in OIC Philadelphia's renewed mission and leadership.

Securing a $1 million commitment from Comcast — one of the world's largest media and technology companies and Philadelphia's most prominent corporate citizen — required more than a grant application. It required years of relationship cultivation, a compelling vision for digital equity, and the organizational credibility to be selected as Comcast's flagship Lift Zone location.

The Comcast Lift Zone at OIC Philadelphia, launched October 7, 2025, is a state-of-the-art digital skills and job training center designed to advance workforce readiness in North Philadelphia. The partnership brought together free high-speed internet, cutting-edge technology infrastructure, and digital skills programming — positioned as Comcast's flagship among all Lift Zone locations nationally. The launch was covered by Fox 29 and NBC 10 and marked a defining moment in OIC's transformation into a modern, nationally-recognized workforce institution.

Government funding is rarely won through applications alone. Across federal, state, and city levels, multi-million-dollar grants were secured by building durable relationships — serving on advisory councils, engaging offices consistently, and demonstrating clear community return on investment. The strategy: make elected officials partners in the mission before they are ever asked to fund it.

A federal earmark was secured through Congressmen Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle to bring modern workforce training to North Philadelphia. A grant from Mayor Cherelle Parker's Department of Commerce followed. And a multi-year state grant was secured through Lt. Governor Austin Davis via the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency — among the largest state investments in the organization's history.

At 17, Andrew delivered one speech to his entire high school — Saint Joseph's Prep in North Philadelphia. That single talk changed the trajectory of his life and, eventually, thousands of others.

He was recruited as a national spokesperson for Minding Your Mind, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Cameron Gallagher Foundation. What started as once a month grew to twice a month, then to over 250 engagements a year — middle schools, high schools, universities, conferences, and corporate wellness programs across all 50 states, all before the age of 23.

He founded "A Celebration of Life: Philadelphia," an annual event that raised over $500,000 for mental health causes over nine years. National media followed: CBS News, NBC 10, 6abc, Philadelphia Magazine, and a dozen other outlets. The work earned the inaugural Young Friends Lifesaver Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Selected as one of ten Eisenhower Fellows nationally and presented the fellowship by Secretary Robert Gates, Andrew traveled to Paris, the Netherlands, and across four Indian cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai — to study behavioral health workforce models. The trip was directly tied to a William Penn Foundation and Mayor's Office grant to build behavioral health job training programs in Philadelphia's lowest-income communities, where suicide rates are highest and mental health resources are fewest.

In Paris, he shook hands with President Emmanuel Macron and met with the Dutch Deputy Minister of Health — responsible for a €116 billion national healthcare budget. In the Netherlands, he met Prince Constantijn van Orange. In India, he visited the National Institute of Mental Health and connected with leaders from the Rockefeller Foundation, the United Nations, and India's most innovative community health organizations. The insights directly shaped OIC's behavioral health workforce programming back in Philadelphia.

Andrew's global engagement extends well beyond the fellowship. As a recognized leader in Philadelphia's international civic community, he was named a Global Philadelphia Leader — one of a select group of Philadelphians recognized for connecting the city's civic, philanthropic, and cultural life to the world. He has served as Young Professional Gala Co-Chair for Global Philadelphia, helping connect visiting international fellows with the city's most influential civic and philanthropic leaders.

From the age of 17, Andrew was professionally trained to deliver messages of any length — from one minute to one hour — and everything in between, including how to handle the toughest questions in the room. That training, combined with 500+ engagements across the country, shaped a direct philosophy on what separates a good ask from a transformational one.

The first mistake most nonprofit executives make: they don't have clear, tangible outcomes to offer. The person sitting across from you is an investor. The same way an investor studies a stock before committing capital, a donor wants to know exactly what their money will achieve. You must have a cogent, specific answer — before you ever walk in the room.

The second mistake: talking too much. Overselling your organization is the surest way to lose the room. Instead, ask questions. What drives this person? What is their intrinsic motivation for being philanthropic? Is it a tax benefit, or is there something they genuinely care about? You will never know unless you stop talking long enough to hear them.

The third: forgetting that every interaction is cultivation. People don't remember what you said — they remember how you made them feel. Every email, every hallway conversation, every event appearance is an opportunity to deepen a relationship. The ask is just one moment in a much longer story.

Appointed to serve on Mayor Cherelle Parker's Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs, Andrew represents the intersection of civic leadership, philanthropic access, and community advocacy at the highest level of Philadelphia city government.

The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs — established by mayoral executive order in 2008 and made permanent in the City's charter in 2015 — works to develop City policy on civil rights issues, coordinate across departments to improve LGBTQ+ access to services, and promote equity and safety citywide. Commission members serve as direct advisors to the Mayor and the office on policy, programs, and community needs.

This role places Bergman Advisory Group at the center of Philadelphia's civic decision-making — with direct access to city leadership, policy conversations, and the elected officials and institutional partners who shape the city's direction. For clients seeking civic positioning, government relationships, or community credibility in Philadelphia, this access is irreplaceable.

When COVID-19 shut down in-person events in March 2020, nearly a dozen Philadelphia-area nonprofits faced the sudden cancellation of their annual galas — events representing critical operating revenue. With weeks to pivot, a rapid-response virtual fundraising strategy was built from scratch.

The results spoke for themselves. Family Service Association of Bucks County launched a virtual campaign under the headline "There's no vaccine for homelessness. Your compassion is the cure." — running April 8–22, 2021. The goal was $250,000. They raised $373,372, surpassing their goal by $123,000.

Across organizations including the National Museum of American Jewish History, Support Center for Child Advocates, and Westbridge, the same model produced results that exceeded prior in-person events. Peer-to-peer crowdsourcing replaced host committees. 30-minute Zoom events replaced multi-hour galas. One client grew their donor base threefold. The lesson: the mission is the fundraiser — not the venue.