William F. Claggett, Former Director of CEDA for the City of Oakland

As the new Executive director of the community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) for the City of Oakland, I inherited a great many civil service dis-empowered systems, and a culture of “entitlement”.  The agency embraced diverse functions with a large staff of nearly 400 people operating in 15 “silos”.  My direct reports were not used to having cross functional responsibilities or collaborative problem-solving as a team  We developed a team-building process supported by Diane and her Associates who coached key leaders in the five major CEDA Departments.  Her skilled and sensitive work directly supported improved performance management, increased cross-organization collaboration, and substantially improved business processes.  Diane supports leaders in difficult times and enhances their ability to work in high performing teams.