About Sherri
A career shaped by executive partnership, Board effectiveness, and the preparation behind important decisions.
For more than 18 years, I served in four progressively responsible roles within the office of a president and CEO at a complex national organization. I partnered closely with that president and CEO and worked alongside executive leaders, Board Chairs, Board members, legal counsel, Human Resources colleagues, and external advisers.
My responsibilities expanded from executive support into broader responsibility for Board governance processes, executive decision support, leadership transitions, and selected initiatives requiring coordination across multiple areas of the organization. The common thread was helping leaders and Board members understand what mattered, prepare for important decisions, and carry those decisions into action.
That experience taught me to look across a complex situation, recognize how the pieces connect, and create a clear, practical path forward. It also taught me that good work depends on more than getting things done. It depends on clear authority, useful context, trusted relationships, and thoughtful preparation.
A Career That Expanded in Scope
My career did not follow a straight line toward Board effectiveness or executive decision support. Earlier roles in legal and executive support taught me to listen carefully, document accurately, protect sensitive information, and understand the people behind formal processes.
At Concordia Plan Services, those foundations grew through increasingly complex assignments in the president and CEO’s office. Over time, I was asked to take on work involving Board and committee practices, executive transitions, decision materials, governance documentation, Board member onboarding, and initiatives that required coordination across multiple areas of the organization.
Working close to executive leadership and the Board gave me a practical view of what must happen before a meeting, during a transition, and after a decision. I learned where ambiguity creates risk, what context is easily lost, and how clearer roles and preparation can improve the way people work together.
Experience in Practice
- Led development of the governance and operating framework that guided the Board through its first CEO succession in nearly two decades, including recruiter coordination, Board and search-committee materials, interview tools, decision support, and required approvals, while documenting a repeatable process for future CEO searches.
- Supported approximately 10 vice president leadership transitions, with responsibilities spanning search and recruitment coordination, transition planning, and onboarding.
- Onboarded more than 20 Board members and redesigned Board orientation to include a structured mentorship component.
- Mentored more than 15 executive support professionals.
- Redesigned how agenda items were introduced to Board members by creating a concise Executive Summary format for executive leaders to use — providing context for each item, clarifying what Board members needed to understand, and identifying whether it was presented for Report, Review, Action, or Recommendation.
- Helped strengthen Board recruitment and Board leadership succession processes; reviewed and revised committee charters; and developed Board assessment, mentorship, and education practices.
- Helped move Board information and documentation from paper-based processes into more consistent portals, calendars, handbooks, and workflows.
- Prepared initial drafts of more than 300 resolutions and reviewed and strengthened hundreds of Board and committee materials.
The value of this work was not simply the volume of materials or processes completed. It was the ability to help people understand what mattered, how responsibilities fit together, and what needed to happen next.
What the Work Taught Me
Better decisions begin before the meeting.
They begin with clarifying the question before the group, who needs to be involved, what authority applies, what context will be useful, and what risks should be visible.
I also learned that governance and organizational effectiveness are experienced through people. Policies, charters, and frameworks matter, but they work only when roles are understood, relationships are trusted, and people know how to use them together.
The strongest processes respect both structure and humanity. They create consistency without ignoring judgment, relationships, history, or the realities of change.
How I Work
I do my best work when the mandate is clear and the challenge requires judgment, perspective, and structure — not simply more activity.
My approach is to:
- Look across a complex situation before narrowing too quickly to a solution.
- Clarify the decision, authority, responsibilities, and who needs to be involved.
- Translate complex information into clear written materials people can use.
- Protect sensitive information and exercise care in leadership and Board matters.
- Create practical structure without adding process for its own sake.
My experience has taught me the importance of preserving valuable context without allowing the past to constrain new leadership or new ways of working.
It has also taught me that important work should be easier to understand, easier for others to carry forward, and less dependent on any one person holding all the history.
The Next Chapter
My next chapter may take more than one form. I am open to senior leadership roles centered on executive partnership, governance, Board effectiveness, or organizational effectiveness, as well as selective advisory or project-based work where my experience can be genuinely useful. Over time, I also hope to contribute through mission-aligned Board service.
Across those possibilities, the strongest fit is work with a defined mandate involving executive partnership, Board effectiveness, executive decision support, organizational effectiveness, governance process design, or leadership transitions.
Across those paths, I am drawn to significant work that benefits from clearer roles, better preparation, useful information, and a practical connection between decisions and execution.