PARTNERS IN CHANGE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder of Stretch Strategic Leaders
- Partners With CEOs
In addition to Partners In Change, Darcy is the co-founder of Stretch Strategic Leaders, a business-growth consulting firm and has also partnered with the Dayton-based consulting firm, Aileron, since 2010, to support their strategic planning initiatives. Prior to that, she was the National Partnership Director of the National Speaking of Women's Health Foundation, where she developed new partner sales processes and created long-term partner strategies. With her expertise in strategic planning, continuous process improvement, and Total Quality Management, Darcy co-led the Strategic Eight Planning Process with the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce for five years. She facilitated over 100 companies in their public sessions.
Darcy holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her career started at Procter & Gamble, where she spent five years cultivating operational, team development, and risk management. During graduate school, she developed a marketing strategy for Converse, Inc., Action Sports Division, utilizing consumer behavior technology and ZMET, and created several business plans. As a business solutions consultant, she completed a process improvement sales initiative for Bayer Plastics and a supply chain management project for Johnson Wax Professional.
Recognized as one of Cincinnati's Forty under 40 and selected as an examiner for the Ohio Award for Excellence, Darcy enjoys volunteering in her spare time - having served as the HBS alumni Club President, PTA President, and Junior Achievement Instructor. When she's not volunteering at her children's school or running her three kids to an after-school activity, she's running the trails with her dogs (who are not bulldogs).
With concentrated expertise in strategic planning, continuous process improvement and performance management, Darcy customizes the strategic planning process to fit her client needs. She implements a strategic plan and implementation process to support leadership and team development efforts. She has led a CEO roundtable of current and past clients to ensure strategic execution and is currently facilitating a Quarterly Strategy in Motion Book Club and Learning Forums.
Her tools are aligned with Pat Lencioni's The Advantage, Gino Wickman's, Traction, Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy, Jim Collins Good to Great and Beyond Entrepreneurship, and Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard/Strategic Maps, to name a few. She has utilized the DiSC system and Pat Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team for team workshops.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director at Partners
Kathy is the managing director at Partners in Change LLC, and has over thirty years of experience in education, fund raising, public relations, marketing and not-for-profit management. She previously served as the first Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the National Speaking of Women's Health Foundation. Kathy has also served as the Executive Director of the Cincinnati Foundation for Biomedical Research and Education at the VA Medical Center.
Her credentials include serving as Executive Director of the Cincinnati Ballet where her accomplishments included conducting fund raising campaigns to build the Cincinnati Ballet Center and create new productions. She created staff and board development programs, provided leadership during labor negotiations and managed a total of 65 artists and staff.
Prior to moving to Cincinnati, Kathy developed national fund raising programs for the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society. She also directed community service and educational programs for both organizations.
Her career experience also includes work in advertising and radio sales. She has produced many successful marketing programs for a variety of clients.
Kathy began her professional career as a junior high school teacher after graduating from Western Illinois University.
She is very active in the Cincinnati community, and received the Leading Women of Cincinnati Award in 2000 for her efforts in healthcare education. Kathy currently serves as a volunteer for the ArtsWave Business on Board and Arts 101 programs and as a Chair of the Leadership Council for The Women's Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation. Kathy serves on the Boards of the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati and Arlington Memorial Gardens. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXXII and a member of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals.
Her clients include the Family Nurturing Center, Lighthouse Youth Services, Cincinnati Better Business Bureau, Jewish Family Service, Ronald McDonald House, Hoxworth Blood Center, Freestore Foodbank and Easter Seals Tri State.
Kathy also served as Project Director for Pulse: A Study on the Status of Women and Girls in Greater Cincinnati. In 2004, she served as Project Director for Art & Soul, a citywide showcase of visual and performing arts to celebrate the opening of the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Over 50 organizations produced 100 plus events as part of the marketing collaboration. In 2003, she directed a similar project, Festival of the New, during the opening of the new Contemporary Arts Center. The success of these two projects led, in part, to the formation of the Regional Tourism Network. Kathy also facilitated a strategic planning process for the Northern Kentucky School-Based Health Center Collaborative and was the project facilitator and business plan writer Growing Well Cincinnati a school health collaborative for the Cincinnati Public Schools Community Learning Centers. Since 2007, she has been the project facilitator for Agenda 360, a regional planning effort, sponsored by the Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce.
"Kathy masterfully executes her charge to help clients achieve meaningful results. From strategic planning to board engagement retreats to consulting with the leadership team, she has helped us maintain our focus, think through issues, and formulate new and creative strategies. The result is that we have been able to exceed our goals in every instance, and have become stronger, bolder and more effective as an organization. I'd call that a real win!"