Diane Gordon Consulting – Capacity Building for Non-Profits

Experienced Leadership, Great Results

Diane Gordon provides strategic consulting services to nonprofit organizations, intermediaries, and foundations, building capacity to reach ambitious goals and create resilient organizations.

Diane has more than 40 years of experience in nonprofit executive management, leadership, and consulting. She specializes in organizational assessment and strategic planning, evaluation and outcome measurement, and leadership development. She works with a broad range of organizations, bringing the unique perspective of manager, consultant, and funder. With roots in community and tenants’ rights organizing, Diane has experience in diverse community-based settings. Having led two nonprofits, Diane has a practical approach to her work, combining a deep understanding of the practices and principles of management with the day-to-day reality of running a nonprofit.

What Clients Say

Katie Provencher

“Diane has worked with Urban Edge on a number of projects including the creation of a logic model and a five year strategic plan. Diane always exudes professionalism, thoroughness, and impeccable follow through. She meets her client where he/she is at and offers a broad wealth of knowledge and experience in the community development field.”

Katie Provencher, Deputy Director

Urban Edge

Andrea Pereira

We have worked with Diane on several different projects and she has exceeded expectations on every one. She is generous in sharing her vast knowledge and experience of community development and community building. She listens carefully, communicates clearly, builds trust and helps the whole project team to deliver outstanding results. She is a committed professional and a joy to work with!

Andrea Pereira, Executive Director

Hartford & Connecticut Statewide LISC

Fawn Phelps

Diane’s organizational development work is thoughtful, relevant, and strategic.

Fawn A. Phelps, Director of Policy

Health Care for All

Bill Henning

“Diane is a seriously attentive listener who can synthesize disparate concerns into a coordinated plan of action that improves organizational dynamics and, most important, outcomes.”

Bill Henning, Executive Director

Boston Center for Independent Living

Elisa Hurley

I don’t know how I would have managed my first year as executive director without Diane’s wise counsel and guidance as my coach. She was warm, patient, supportive, and always attentive and responsive to what I needed at any particular time. Being at the top can be lonely, but with Diane, I felt like I had a trusted partner. Because of the work we did together and the systems she helped me put in place, I am immeasurably more confident in my leadership and decision-making than I was just two and a half years ago when I took the job.

Elisa Hurley, Executive Director

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research

Betsy Crum

As a new Executive Director, I had a lot of “big picture” ideas about where I wanted to take the organization, but didn’t know how to turn that into action and get true buy-in from the board and staff. Diane immediately understood the path we needed to take and charted a course that has taken us quickly from “conceptual” to “concrete”. All along the way she has made sure that everyone involved feels valued and heard, and has kept us on the sometimes-difficult path to our goals and outcomes. We now have a plan that is both aspirational and operational, and is the roadmap for everything we do. Diane’s calm focus provided the foundation for us to become a real team, and her strong vision is helping us to grow and thrive together.

Betsy Crum, Executive Director

Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development

Gail Randall

“Diane Gordon is an ‘on-the-ground’ consultant whose insight, skill, and conscientiousness have proved invaluable. For several years she has worked with selected Greater Worcester Community Foundation grantees to develop and carry out business plans as part of a pilot project. Foundation staff is gaining knowledge from the opportunity to work with her and grantees are demonstrating the increased impact we sought. In the success we’re achieving, Diane plays a key role.”

Gail T. Randall, Special Projects Officer

Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Fawn A. Phelps

Diane’s project evaluations are used by top national funders as a model for providing tangible feedback on lessons learned and best practices to be shared. Her quiet savvy and sharp intellect make her an excellent partner in project evaluations.

Fawn A. Phelps, Director of Policy

Health Care For All

Bill Gabovitch

“As a volunteer chair of a strategic planning committee who does not utilize planning skills in my ‘day job,’ I needed a consultant that could not only teach me but also influence the organization to look at itself critically as well as think broadly, responsibly, and strategically as it considered its future vision and work. Diane Gordon did all of this and more. She quickly learned our complicated organization. Diane assessed where we were and helped us as a team with her put together a plan for future growth and strength. I have been thoroughly impressed with her work.”

Bill Gabovitch, Vice President

Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston

Emily Rosenbaum

Diane helped the Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA) through a difficult Executive Director transition. She was hired to help lead a strategic planning process – which she did artfully – and within several months became an invaluable advisor to me and the team who guided the organization to be able to fulfill its promise.”

Emily Rosenbaum, Executive Director

Coalition for a Better Acre

Ben Sigel

Thank you so much for leading both of your workshops at Community Leadership Institute on Sunday. The feedback has already been great. For a few of the people I spoke with, your workshops were the highlights of their day. Thank you for helping make the young adult community in Boston and really the entire community that must stronger. I am so glad and honored to have been able to work with you over the last year and look forward to continuing that partnership going forward.

Ben Sigel, Chair

Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Community Leadership Institute