Case Study
PATH, a global nonprofit working to accelerate health equity in over 70 countries, needed to modernize their project management infrastructure to better coordinate their international health initiatives. With a large distributed workforce managing complex healthcare projects, their existing tools couldn’t provide the centralized visibility and collaboration needed.
Business Situation
PATH, a global nonprofit dedicated to advancing health equity, faced a range of project management challenges that hindered its ability to coordinate initiatives effectively across countries and time zones. Communication was fragmented, with critical information scattered across disparate systems, leading to silos that complicated collaboration and delayed decision-making. Leadership lacked a unified view of the organization’s project portfolio, making it difficult to prioritize efforts and allocate resources strategically. In the absence of standardized workflows, teams managed similar projects using different approaches, resulting in inefficiencies and inconsistent outcomes. Reporting processes were largely manual—producing updates on status, risks, and issues required significant effort, diverting time and energy away from mission-critical work. Additionally, the tools in use were poorly integrated, often requiring duplicate data entry and causing version control issues. Given their nonprofit status and commitment to maximizing impact with limited resources, PATH needed a cost-effective, low-maintenance solution that would unify systems, increase visibility, and promote consistency across their global programs.
Solutions Delivered
To address PATH’s project management challenges, Advisicon implemented a centralized Microsoft 365 Planner solution that brought clarity and cohesion to global operations. Using Microsoft Teams and Planner Premium, Advisicon created a unified project hub for communications, tasks, and documentation. Project Accelerator was deployed to streamline intake and provide leadership with real-time portfolio oversight. Custom Power BI dashboards were also introduced, giving stakeholders critical visibility into project health, resource allocation, and key metrics.
To align project work with strategic goals, Viva Goals was integrated, ensuring every initiative supported PATH’s broader mission. Advisicon delivered two tailored Vision & Value workshops, equipping key team members with practical skills in Planner, Teams, and Power BI. A comprehensive pilot-to-production roadmap provided a clear path for full organizational rollout, including configuration guidance, training, and scalable workflow improvements.
Benefits Realized
The M365 Planner implementation transformed PATH’s project management capabilities:
- Teams now work from a single source of truth, with all project information accessible through integrated Microsoft tools, significantly reducing communication barriers.
- Standardized project management templates and methodologies now ensure consistent practices across teams and geographies.
- Leadership gained immediate access to customized dashboards showing project health, resource utilization, and progress toward organizational goals.
- Automated reporting and centralized document management decreased time spent on administrative tasks by approximately 30%.
- Projects are now directly connected to organizational objectives through Viva Goals, ensuring resources are allocated to highest-impact activities.
- The nonprofit-focused implementation leveraged PATH’s existing Microsoft licenses while minimizing customization costs, delivering an estimated 25% cost savings compared to alternative solutions.
PATH Today
Today, PATH continues to advance its mission of accelerating health equity worldwide, now powered by a modern project management infrastructure. The organization has expanded the M365 Planner solution beyond the initial pilot group to support project teams across multiple continents.
The standardized approach to project management has improved knowledge sharing between global offices, allowing successful health interventions to be more easily replicated in new regions. Leadership now has unprecedented visibility into project portfolios, enabling more agile resource allocation and strategic planning.
PATH’s technology transformation serves as a model for other nonprofits seeking to maximize their impact through improved operational efficiency. By investing in this foundational capability, PATH has positioned itself to scale its life-saving health initiatives more effectively, ultimately helping more communities thrive worldwide.
