Project Self-Sufficiency

Project Self-Sufficiency, whose goal is to help single parents realize their dream of financial independence, has been serving Larimer County for over thirty years. Every day, they partner with single moms and dads living in poverty to accomplish their goals of earning a degree and a well paying job because when families are able to support themselves, the community is stronger.

Project Self-Sufficiency faced a challenge in 2014 when their well-respected Executive Director of 25+ years shared her plan to leave the organization and finish her career in the Social Work Department at Colorado State University.   The Board of Directors knew that a successful transition of leadership would be the most important thing they would be responsible for over the next 12 months, so they hired Diane Knight to work with the staff to process and plan for the widespread organizational and personal impact of the change. Diane worked with the staff through many elements of the change, including coaching and encouraging them to be open to all of the new possibilities the leadership change could bring.

The Board hired an experienced local Executive Director, Tracy Mead, whose background and passion were a complete match for the agency’s mission. Tracy was determined to make the transition a smooth one for both the staff and the participants of the program.   Tracy engaged Diane to help her lead the transition in a way that would build upon the strengths of each team member and help them learn how to work even more effectively together. Tracy utilized Diane’s coaching to help her develop change management understanding and skills, and build on her existing leadership skills so she could lead the transition in a way that both inspired and challenged staff and optimized agency outcomes. Eighteen months later, mission accomplished as the organization has not only survived the transition, but is thriving in new and exciting ways. Under Tracy’s leadership, the organization was awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics and is evolving toward an organization with larger impact and increased sustainability.

Testimonials:

“Without a doubt, Diane Knight “gets” change management and organizational transition. Her work with our team was targeted and strategic; she recognized the “soft underbellies” of our transition well before we did, and carefully and methodically brought in exercises, tools and the understanding we needed to navigate those challenges successfully. She helped us build the competencies we needed to ensure that our vulnerabilities did not derail us on our path toward a strong, cohesive and highly-functioning team. She continues to be my go-to person for a variety of topics, and I am not too shy to admit that one of my mantras is “WWDD – What would Diane do?”

Tracy Mead, Executive Director