About the Firm
The firm behind the fieldwork.
ATLAS Empowered was built by two founders on a simple conviction: nonprofit growth deserves the same discipline a serious enterprise brings to its own — and the field is where that discipline shows.
The story
Why ATLAS exists.
ATLAS was built by two people who learned this work the way every ATLAS fundraiser will: in person, one conversation at a time.
The field taught them what a report cannot: a stranger's trust is earned in minutes and spent in seconds, and the most valuable thing a fundraiser carries is a mission's name. So they built ATLAS to practice the craft at the standard it deserves — training before the field, accountability with names on it.
Nashville is home. The ambition is national — carried at the pace the standard allows, one mission and one market at a time.
The founders
Two names on the door.
Vision
Xichen Mao
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
Xichen Mao sets the firm's direction: which missions ATLAS serves, what a partnership should feel like, and where the firm goes next.
She keeps the firm pointed at missions ATLAS can serve well — and holds every partnership to a simple bar: deliberate, mutual, honest.
Operations
Zach Pyron
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer
Zach Pyron runs the machine: hiring, training, field standards, and the operating cadence that keeps every campaign accountable.
His measure of good work is simple — a donor treated with dignity, a partner kept informed, a team proud of how it works.
Values in practice
What the standard looks like.
Dignity in the ask
Every conversation is voluntary, informed, and worth the donor's time — whether it ends in a yes or a no.
Accountability with a name on it
Programs run on named ownership: someone specific answers for training, for standards, and for how the field day went.
Measured ambition
Growth follows readiness. New markets and new missions come when the team can carry them with pride, not before.
How the firm operates
Quietly systematic.
Properly employed
Fundraisers are W2 employees of ATLAS — recruited deliberately, trained before they represent anyone, and coached in the field.
Trained on the mission
Before a team speaks for a cause, it learns the cause: the work, the language, the answers a thoughtful donor deserves.
Steady reporting
Partners hear from us on a set cadence — what is working, what changed, and what we recommend next.
A few missions at a time
The firm serves a few missions at a time, chosen with care — every partner gets the best of ATLAS.
Bring your mission to the table.
Partnership starts with a short email. Every inquiry is read by a founder. You hear back either way.