Meet Denise DeVaan.
Denise DeVaan offers inspiration, partnership and practical ideas for leaders to move from purpose to creating impact. Call 612-202-0115 for a free consult.
Service offerings:
Executive, Leadership Coach
Partner with mission-driven leaders to increase personal influence and impact in your respective fields. Certified by the International Coach Federation.
Transformational Trainer
Provide keynote presentations and interactive trainings on mindfulness, collaborative leadership, well-being and financial empowerment topics. Participants leave inspired to act.
Project Consultant
Facilitate board, senior leadership and team sessions to increase organization alignment and effectiveness. Offering ready-made financial empowerment solutions to organizations and communities.
Approach
Ask the Right Questions – The Key to Addressing Complex Issues and Leadership Challenges
Our goal is to help individuals and organizations create meaningful, sustainable change in the workplace and in communities. At our first meeting, we usually ask five key questions:
- What outcomes do you desire most?
- What is working now?
- What challenges are you experiencing?
- How do you want to move forward?
- What will success look like?
Once we have explored these questions and thoroughly understand your objectives, we work together to develop a clear strategy for action. When needed, we include strategic specialists and subject matter experts during the implementation phase of your project to ensure your goals and expectations are met.
Executive, Leadership Coach
Learn simple strategic methods to increase influence and create impact.
To become an Influential and collaborative leader, Denise offers a coaching process focused on developing a purposeful, mindful and emotionally intelligent presence as well as stronger collaborative leadership capabilities focused on results. Denise is certified by the International Coach Federation.
- Get clarity on purpose and goals
- Increase mindfulness and emotional intelligence
- Change perspectives
- Improve collaborative skills and capabilities
- Demystify the politics and processes
- Navigate the culture and systems
- Define success and move toward impact
Learn New, Innovative Negotiating Styles
Challenge: A senior economic development director was charged with launching a project that required the support of many division leaders who did not get along.
Solution: The coaching process helped the director reflect on why her negotiating style was not working. She developed a new approach focused on collaboration and gained agreement from key stakeholders. The process was new and took more time, but she secured the necessary support and ownership to successfully launch the project.
Create strategies for effective synergy.
Challenge: The CEO of a small tech consulting firm needed to expand a division in his business. Used to doing start-ups, he had a hard time letting go and pivoting from doing it all to working through others.
Solution: Coaching sessions helped him to identify his strengths and to hire others with different strengths. The CEO monitored his micromanaging habits. He was able to let go, become the outside leader while the operations and marketing leaders focused on internal execution. The business expanded.
Clarify Goals and Timeframes for Long-Term Success
Challenge: An emerging leader of a successful nonprofit was eager to integrate new housing, financial literacy, health, and wellness activities into an existing program and was confident this would lead to stronger client outcomes. Systems change was required to accomplish this; however, the supervisor was resistant to change.
Solution: Coaching sessions helped the leader clarify a stronger framework and key messaging points for the integration. She identified additional messengers and shifted from trying to complete the full integration at once to implementing smaller, strategic steps. This approach set the stage for deeper, sustainable change within the following year.
Transformational Trainer
Help Facilitate Influence and Impact with Motivational Keynote Presentations and Interactive Workshops
Training is often an essential step in creating meaningful impact. We design keynote presentations and training programs to support associations, networks, nonprofit organizations, private sector companies, faith-based groups, and women’s groups.
Keynote Presentations:
- Collaborative leadership, resilience, well-being, and entrepreneurship themes
Training Subject Matter:
- Collaborative leadership capabilities, mindfulness practices, and the “coach” approach
- Financial literacy, financial empowerment, and asset building
Facilitation:
- Board retreats, senior staff sessions, and team workshops
- Leadership learning cohorts and peer coaching sessions
Testimonials
“Best decision I ever made was to ask you to give that speech.”
– College President
“Best and most interactive training of a diverse group of adults ever experienced.”
– National Trade Association Executive
“Best financial empowerment trainer I have ever seen.”
– University Business Professor
“We brought her into our city to facilitate a contentious meeting of citizens, city officials, and community leaders. Her process helped each group be heard. We were able to calm the situation and determine clear action steps.”
– State Association Executive
“The best training we could have experienced. Our middle managers are now ready to make the necessary changes.”
– County Official
“This is a first. Your ability to train and involve so many in interactive ways is incredible. Our people ask for you all the time.”
– HUD Official
Project Consultant
Offering Deep Experience with Financial Empowerment Projects and Organizational Effectiveness
We facilitate board, senior leadership, and team sessions to increase organizational alignment, strengthen communication, and enhance conflict management capabilities.
We offer ready-made financial empowerment and asset-building solutions to organizations and communities.
“Your financial asset-building work in Minnesota was pioneering in the country.”
– U.S. Treasury Official
Alignment Strategies to Drive Your Mission
Organizational Effectiveness Challenge: Senior leaders of a small, fifteen-employee business needed support. There was a lack of alignment with the mission, and employees were in conflict. The operations manager did not know how to facilitate meetings that produced constructive outcomes. Revenue pressures and changes in technology further increased staff tension.
Solution: After conducting interviews to identify key issues, senior leaders developed a three-pronged strategy that led to stronger alignment and renewed commitment to the mission. New communication behaviors were reinforced. Staff meetings were facilitated by a skilled facilitator, allowing the operations manager to fully participate.
Workplace financial wellness initiatives.
Financial Empowerment Challenge: Employees from a mid-size company leave work to address financial counseling, credit, debt and student loan issues. In addition, human resource leaders find that lunch and learn presentations on budgeting and debt are filled.
Solution: The company agrees to create a workplace financial wellness initiative that includes financial literacy education and financial counseling. Employees, when needed, have access to support.
Financial empowerment and asset building initiatives.
Financial Asset Building Challenge: Human services leaders, charged with offering stable housing and entry level jobs will be more successful if they add a financial literacy and capability element such as making ends meet with cash flow, reducing consumer debt, establishing emergency savings, pulling and fixing a credit report.
Solution: A financial empowerment and asset building initiative starts. Financial education, savings and matched savings, free tax preparation and claiming tax credits, getting banked, and getting referrals to credit and debt counselors, second chance bank accounts, legal services attorneys.
About/Bio
Denise DeVaan, MA, PCC – A Pioneer Who Brings an Entrepreneurial Spirit to Her Work
Denise DeVaan is an executive and leadership coach certified by the International Coach Federation. She is an expert speaker, trainer, facilitator, and strategic advisor known for her compassion, strength, humility, and focus. She is described as a pioneer who brings an entrepreneurial spirit to her work. In addition, she is a Kellogg National Fellow with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and co-founder of the international Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance.
National Leadership Credentials
Ms. DeVaan brings more than thirty years of leadership experience nationally and in Minnesota, working across sectors and ideologies to reduce poverty and strengthen families and communities both financially and economically. She and her collaborators launched the first matched savings initiatives in Minnesota, a pioneering effort that was later replicated across the United States.
This work was conducted in partnership with financial institutions, Tribal Nations, and economic development, housing, and human services agencies. She later became a strategic advisor, coach, facilitator, trainer, and coordinator with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, leading national teams focused on asset building, wealth creation, and financial empowerment.
Her national work built upon nearly twenty years of experience at the Minnesota Legislature and the United States Congress, where she worked on matched savings and economic development initiatives, as well as issues related to homelessness and housing, childcare and dental care access, conservation, and job creation.
Progressive, globally focused.
Her deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement influences her coaching and leadership training, education and project work. Her studies in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Costa Rica, Northern Ireland, the European Union and her personal time with Dorothy Day, Paulo Freire, Peter Drucker and Peter Senge offer lessons in collaborative leadership that she applies in her work. Ms. DeVaan works best with mission driven leaders, who seek to exercise more influence in creating impact in their respective fields.
Social entrepreneur always seeking the pathway to change.
Denise DeVaan sees the world differently, with a keen eye on helping clients strengthen their leadership effectiveness. In her work, she collaborates with clients to invent, mobilize, harness, change and create results in the workplace and communities, always focused on finding the pathway to change. Described by national leaders as a pioneer, DeVaan is a social entrepreneur, who facilitates cross sector partnerships to tackle difficult social and economic challenges.
- Kellogg National Fellow with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Co-Founder of the international Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance.
- 30 years experience working with government, nonprofits, academics, financial institutions, policymaking processes to her work.
- Executive and leadership coach, mentor, facilitator, trainer, project director, systems change expert to get results.
- Comfortable working with both senior leaders and emerging leaders.
Recognized for Distinguished Service
Ms. DeVaan has received numerous awards recognizing her body of work in financial empowerment, asset building, and wealth creation. Through her leadership, families have moved from poverty toward financial well-being, while communities have been strengthened through stable housing and job creation. This work reflects extensive experience in state and congressional policymaking related to matched savings, economic development, job creation, food assistance, housing, childcare, workforce development, and energy conservation.
Awards:
- Social Entrepreneur of the Year, St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict
- Distinguished Alumna of the Year, College of St. Benedict
- Contractor of the Year, Federal Department of Health and Human Services
Education:
- BA, Theology, College of St. Benedict
- MA, Human Development, St. Mary’s University – Minnesota
Certifications:
- Senior Executives in State and Local Government, Harvard University
- Executive Coaching, University of St. Thomas
- Mini-Master in Business Administration, University of St. Thomas
- Leadership Development, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
- Mediation, Minnesota Bar Association
International Coach Federation:
- ACC Credential
Contact
A website cannot answer every question. Please call for a free consult.
Denise DeVaan, President/CEO
DeVaan& Associates, Inc
5508 Cumberland Road, Suite 1A
Minneapolis, MN 55410
O: 612.926.8116; M: 612.202.0115
Email: denise@devaanassociates.com
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