Diane’s work with clients as a capacity builder and trainer stems from her experiences at both Management Consulting Services (MCS), where she was the Executive Director for seven years, and from her eleven-year history at the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (now known as NeighborWorks America).
At MCS, Diane created numerous programs that supported the growth of organizations on an individual basis and through collaborative learning. MCS facilitated hundreds of organizational assessments, building the capacity of agency leadership to uncover the symptoms and causes of organizational obstacles, and develop a tailored, practical plan for greater impact. By coordinating a network of management consultants and providing strategic grants to support organizational development, MCS built the capacity of nonprofits in a wide variety of fields, including youth development, housing, job training, arts and culture, environmental, health care, organizing and advocacy, immigrant, and human services.
Rooted in her training expertise, Diane led the design of several collaborative learning initiatives. Prominent among them was a multi-year partnership she built with the Rockefeller Foundation in support of a workforce development grantmaking and capacity building project. MCS organized the Boston program, one of three Rockefeller sponsored to strengthen nonprofits serving poor and excluded urban jobseekers. In other sectors, she led the design of new capacity building programs in response to the needs of community–based organizations, tripling the number of MCS sponsored programs. MCS built a superior reputation for quality services to individual organizations, Executive Directors, and clusters of nonprofits through innovative collaborative learning programs.
Before becoming the Executive Director of MCS in 1998, Diane was National Coordinator of Resident Leadership Initiatives for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. There she created and led a nationwide effort to strengthen resident participation and leadership in nonprofit community development organizations. She designed and directed Back to Basics, a project that funded, trained, and supported community organizers in cities across the country. Diane provided coaching and consulting services to the organizers, the Executive Directors, and the Boards of Directors as they engaged grassroots leaders in meaningful community revitalization efforts.
While at Neighborhood Reinvestment, Diane coordinated a national initiative to develop Mutual Housing Associations – nonprofits that own and manage cooperative-style affordable housing – in 15 cities across the country. Her consulting services included organizational and Boards of Directors development, staff hiring and training, and resident leadership development.
Diane led several local and national training programs for the NeighborWorks Network. She initiated the Community Leadership Institutes – training programs for emerging resident leaders and the Community Organizer Symposium – a networking and learning opportunity for community organizers nationwide. She is the author of a Training and Organizing Guide for Residents in Mutual Housing Associations, and facilitated hands-on training workshops on numerous topics across the country.