January 2011 LLC Member Spotlight on Diane Johnson-McCarthy

We are very pleased to feature Diane Johnson-McCarthy as our January 2011 Member Spotlight. Diane has been an avid supporter of the Leadership Learning Community and someone who invariably answers our call to the community. In addition to serving on the LLC Board Nominations Committee in 2009, Diane was an integral member of the Creating Space IX Design team. In late 2008, when an email was sent out to the entire community inviting all who were interested to join the Creating Space IX Design Team, Diane was one of the first to respond. Not only did she generously volunteer her time as a Design Team member, contributing to all aspects of the design; but she stepped into the role of co-facilitator for the convening itself.  At our first Design Team meeting, Diane shared that as a member of the team her hopes for Creating Space IX (Creating Space IX: Seize this Moment: Igniting and Sustaining Leadership for Social Justice) were grounded in connection, collaboration, creation of dialogue and movement building – all of which she brought with her as both a participant and co-facilitator. Those words describe her well – connection, collaboration, dialogue and movement building.

Diane Johnson-McCarthy, Ph.D. considers herself a pract-academic --- those folks who integrate practice and theory.  “I was lucky enough to pursue my passion academically by researching cross-sector collaborations while doing my doctorate at Tufts. That was an amazing experience that allowed me to combine my organizational development experience of more than ten years with my desire to deeply explore and develop concepts and frameworks around what creates effective, sustainable partnerships.”  As President and founder of Mmapeu Management Consulting based in Oakland, CA, Diane has worked with a diverse range of local, national and international clients over her twenty years of social change, leadership development and change management.  “My most interesting work is always situated at the intersection of personal introspection, organizational systems change and community capacity building.”  She is currently working with the University Community Partnerships Program at UCSF as a program evaluator, and has recently completed conducting strategic planning for the Greater Philadelphia Sustainable Business Network and The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco.

A dynamic new transition for Dr. Johnson has been receiving a Presidential Fellowship at The Pacific School of Religion where she is pursuing her Masters in Divinity. “I think some of the most powerful social and cultural transformation work going on is at the nexus of spirituality, social change, community building and leadership development. “   “I consider myself a progressive person who for most of my life has been spiritual and not religious.  And I’m really ready to take all these amazing skills of working with social sector, business and government organizations and applying all that learning and compassion to a setting that demands new insights.”  Diane is most excited about working with networks of faith-based organizations and religious leaders committed to visioning a progressive future and conducting scholarly research into the spiritual side of social transformation.