Most consultants have advised local government. Jeff Morris has led it.
As a Trinity County Supervisor from 2005 to 2009, Jeff worked directly on the budget decisions, policy tradeoffs, and community pressures that define rural county governance. That experience — sitting on both sides of the dais — shapes everything about how Black Cow Advisors works with clients today.
Jeff didn’t get into this work because it was easy. He got into it because rural communities are too often told to make do with less — less funding, less staff, less attention from the people who write the rules. He’s spent two decades on the inside of that reality, and he’s seen what’s possible when an agency gets the right support at the right moment: a hospital that stays open, a district that earns back community trust, a board that learns to function instead of fracture. That’s the work. It’s personal, and it’s the reason Black Cow Advisors exists.
For the past seven years, Jeff has served as Senior Advisor at the Trinity County Office of Education, supporting countywide operations, governance, and interagency coordination. He advises the County Superintendent on policy, communications, and board relations; leads emergency preparedness and crisis response planning; and has managed more than $50 million in grant applications and public procurement. He also serves as Auditor/Controller and Board Member of the Northern California Schools Insurance Group (NCSIG) Joint Powers Authority.
Earlier in his career, Jeff directed the Sierra Club’s Redwood Chapter across nine Northern California counties, led an organizational turnaround for a rural chamber of commerce, and spent nearly a decade as a senior public affairs specialist supporting major federally funded restoration work in Trinity County.
Jeff is based in Weaverville, CA and works primarily with agencies across rural Northern California — counties, municipalities, school districts, JPAs, RCDs, and nonprofits within the region he knows best.
Jeff brings the same organizational instincts to his personal life. In his free time he manages and plays in Big Hoot, a seven-piece pop band — an experience that has taught him as much about coordination, trust, and keeping people aligned as anything he’s done professionally.
What’s with the name? It’s a valid question. Jeff is a longtime student of great thinkers, but the sarcastic philosophy running through Steely Dan’s songs reigns above all.
“Black Cow” is the lead-off track from their seminal album Aja and includes the line “Where Are You Tomorrow?”
It’s the perfect rallying cry for the work Jeff does with clients.