The New York City Bar retained Lisa to analyze diversity data submitted by the signatories of the City Bar's diversity principles and develop a report on her findings. The three benchmarking reports she has produced have been excellent. In each case, Lisa's strong analytic skills, knowledge of the diversity field and ability to synthesize the data in a meaningful way was invaluable. Upon completion of the reports Lisa presented the findings to representatives of signatory firms. Her presentation skills were of the same high quality as her analytic and writing skills. Lisa is a true pleasure to work with and a true professional.

1. Barbara Berger Opotowsky, Executive Director,
   New York City Bar Association
   

We first reached out to Lisa when the women’s network at DSI was in the process of relaunching itself. Lisa helped our women’s leadership group to think about how to cast a strong foundation for the network and how to be strategic in the choices we made. More recently, Lisa worked with the DSI Women’s Forum in our efforts to develop a mentoring approach at the company. Lisa designed, developed and facilitated a mentoring education program geared for a broad audience ranging from our executive leadership team to women and men early in their careers. Lisa really listened to what was important for our company and worked with us in developing a highly targeted and effective program. Her expertise and knowledge were evident in her remarks. It was clear that she was a seasoned public speaker; her approach was highly interactive while providing substantive content. Throughout the project negotiations Lisa was very flexible and we were able to develop a scope of work that fit our budget, provided great value, and met our needs.

1. De Scacchetti, Mentoring Co-Chair of the Women’s Forum,
   Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.
   

While working as a consultant with a major energy company, Catalyst was brought in to lend its expertise to a workplace flexibility project. Lisa so impressed the clients with her directness, mastery of the subject matter, and ability to parse out relevant information, they requested her specifically on two separate occasions during the course of the work. Lisa proved to be a very knowledgeable and credible resource, unafraid to tackle difficult and sensitive matters, and spot on in her analysis of the issues. I really enjoyed working with Lisa, and learned a great deal from her in the process.

1. Melissa Padden, Fortune 20 energy company
   

While President of the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), I retained Catalyst in 2007 to assist my organization with two major pieces of work – 1) helping to design and facilitate a half-day session for top executives in the food service industry and 2) providing expert guidance in the development of a diversity change model. Lisa played the lead role in the consulting work for WFF which spanned about 6 months. Lisa was very focused in her approach to our changing needs and was great at meeting the needs of multiple constituents within the organization. The project was very complex and took a lot of organizational and insight work from her to pull the data together in a way that could be easily presented to the foodservice industry executives that would drive behavior change. She was also responsible for the development of the presentation and management of a panel of experts. She came across as very knowledgeable and an expert in organizational issues in the development of diversity strategies. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Lisa again in the future.

1. Mary Bentley, former President of Women’s Foodservice Forum
   

In my role leading the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) for a major sector at J&J, I retained Catalyst in 2007 and 2008 to provide assistance in positioning the women’s network as a strategic force for change.  Lisa led the Catalyst effort and played an important advisory role in helping to reposition the direction of the WLI.  Lisa’s primary work with J&J was designing and leading a series of highly-customized strategic planning sessions.

Lisa was professional, proactive, and skilled at immersing herself in the J&J culture and history of the WLI.  She added great value to the group by sharing her extensive expertise consulting with leading organizations on diversity issues, facilitating discussion and decision making, and helping the group to stayed focused on how to have impact.  Lisa played an important role in helping the group to coalesce its strategic vision and plan of action.

The Women’s Leadership Initiative was at a turning point in its relationship with business leaders at J&J.   Catalyst’s work with my WLI leadership team has enabled the group to come to the table as business partners, with recommendations and solutions, and in so doing reposition itself within the company.  

1. Ingrid Clark Durfy, President, Strategic Commercial Group,
   Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems, Inc.
   

I worked with and supervised Lisa for two years, and have been a colleague for over 10 years. Lisa is a superb contributor at every level--from her excellent work ethic and efficient approach to work to her acute intelligence and analytic capability. She is an excellent communicator, perceptive consultant and productive team member. It is rare to find someone who has both the people skills, business acumen and quantitative skills that Lisa possesses. She adds value--and excellence--to everything she does.

1. Arlene Johnson, Work-Life and Women’s Advancement Thought Leader, held leadership roles at WFD Consulting, Catalyst, and the Families and Work Institute
   

Lisa is a dynamic, creative and analytic thinker with whom I have worked closely as a colleague in advising senior management on issues related to diversity and inclusion. Most recently I worked with Lisa in her capacity as a consultant to the Forté Foundation, on whose Board I sit. Her design work resulted in an excellent program for Forté members, who are major corporations and top business schools.

As colleagues at Catalyst, Lisa and I co-led several major strategy projects, often delivering tough messages regarding the state of diversity in a client organization. Lisa's credibility, built on rock-solid analysis, and her presence, based on being an excellent listener and responding with honesty, always made these presentations very productive. Lisa is both a trusted leader and a strong team member, willing to work with others to make sure the job gets done. She has deep content expertise in diversity and inclusion, including work-life effectiveness, and brings tremendous knowledge as well as creativity to her work.

1. Anne Weisberg, Director, Talent Deloitte Services LLP,
   Board Member Forte Foundation
   

I had the pleasure of working with Lisa for three years at Catalyst. During that time, Lisa played many different roles--colleague, mentor, supervisor, and thought-partner. Lisa has an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience. She has been consulting in the field of diversity and work-life for decades and has a deep understanding of how change works in an organization, how to handle difficult situations and what best practices should be followed. I have seen Lisa speak in front of large audiences and in one-on-one conversations with corporate executives and she knows her stuff.

As a colleague, Lisa was creative, collaborative and reliable. Despite her many years of experience and deep expertise, Lisa was always open to new ideas, fresh perspectives and innovation. I always felt she listened to and considered my opinions and ideas and she would not hesitate to change a project plan if she thought an idea was worth trying. I learned a lot from Lisa about what it means to be an effective supervisor. She is incredibly organized and is thoughtful about planning. She is also able to change plans when the unexpected happens and inspires her team to do their best, even under difficult situations.

Most importantly, I consider Lisa a mentor and a friend. She always has time to listen and provide advice. She understands how organizations, people and politics work and continues to give me helpful suggestions for how to go after what I want. She was also always willing to go to bat for me and use her influence to help me get the recognition and reward she felt I deserved

1. Marcee Harris Schwartz, Strategy Advisor BDO Seidman, LLP