Change agent. Transformation leader.
I’m an executive and consultant with 15+ years of experience in building great products and programs, teams and cultures. I help organizations evolve to be happy, healthy, and efficient — to focus on the right opportunities, deliver on big goals, and thrive as they scale.
My approach: Clarify the goal, simplify the solution, and amplify the impact.
A seasoned perspective
I’ve led strategy and operations, program management, and executive communications for world-class international organizations that numbered from tens to thousands of people, both distributed and remote. In addition to the technology, education, and publishing industries, I’ve supported political, nonprofit, and academic organizations. With more than 20 years of professional experience, I’m highly adept at developing and driving business transformation, change management, and professional evolution with teams of all scopes and sizes.
I can see a problem, generate and validate an idea on how to address it, build a cross-functional strategy and plan, and drive everything through precise communication and execution with grace, calm, and compassion. If you need help finding your next step, whether as an individual or as a collective, please get in touch to see how we can partner together to unblock your path.
Previous collaborations and affiliations include:
The New York Times
The Noun Project
Obama for America
University of Chicago
World Book, Inc.
XOXO Festival
Chief
City of Chicago
Google
The MacArthur Foundation
McGraw-Hill Education
The Mozilla Foundation
Notes of appreciation
Mari is an impressively talented coach and leader.
When I was considering a move from The New York Times to Meta, I sought Mari's perspective about the differences between working at a FAANG company and a media company, and how I might best position myself for success in a new environment. Based on her experiences at Google, Mari gave me actionable feedback that enabled me to hit the ground running and quickly become effective in a very different culture.
Further, Mari's experience as a woman with long-term leadership expertise gave me confidence that she might have insight about unique challenges I might face in the particular dynamic of Big Tech. I would recommend that other senior women considering their next professional move seek her counsel.
~Allison McHenry, CTO, Daily Kos
—Mari brought an operations focus which drove clarity and productivity – and was tapped to lead two sensitive, business-critical projects at the highest levels of the company. Her ability to bring structure to chaos is phenomenal – and I truly hope we’ll work together again in the future.
~Lisa Kamm, SVP of Product, The New York Times
—Mari is truly a wonderful mentor and coach. I had a coaching session with her while I was looking for a new senior level researcher role. It was one of the most productive meetings I've ever had. Our session helped me create clarity about what was most important to me for my next role and maintain focus on those things throughout my search.
She also provided some really useful frameworks for evaluating opportunities, and helped me create a set of questions to ask during interviews to make sure I was getting the information I needed. I credit her with one of the smoothest job hunts I've had despite a poor job market for my discipline, and I highly recommend working with her.
~Thomas Dunlap, Senior UX Researcher, Etsy