I have held senior roles at the State Department, the UN World Food Programme and Asia Society, after an early career running operations in media. Now I coach and advise the people who lead mission-driven organizations.
The work reached well beyond these offices: the eight One UN pilot countries, among them Mozambique, Pakistan and Viet Nam; WFP operations around the world; leadership training for communities in Malawi and Liberia; Asia Society's 13 centers; and 250 campuses in Universities Fighting World Hunger.
Most plans I have seen were sound when the board approved them. They stalled in the months after, when no one owned the budget line or the deadline. I start by naming who owns each budget line and each deadline.
As COO of Asia Society I ran HR, IT, facilities and the systems behind 13 centers worldwide. A program depends on those systems as much as on its design, so I treat them as part of the strategy.
At the State Department I helped create an office for partnerships across government, business and nonprofits. Problems like hunger are larger than any one organization, and much of a leader's job is bringing those partners together.
Facing a decision like these? Book a free 20-minute call.
Most clients come to me with a single decision to make. Some engagements stay that size; others become a plan we work through together over several months.
For leaders new to the top job or stepping into a larger one. We work on the decisions you face this month, with the perspective of someone who has served as chief of staff and chief operating officer.
Plans with owners, budgets and dates attached. I help leadership teams decide what to stop doing, where a partnership will reach further than a new program, and how to report progress a board will trust.
I have run headquarters operations at Asia Society and Discovery Communications. I help organizations whose structure no longer fits the work they now do.
Tell me what you are working on and we will decide together whether I am the right person to help. If you already know what you need, book a paid session directly.
A short conversation about your organization, the decision in front of you, and whether working together makes sense.
Choose a timeOne-on-one time on a leadership question you are facing now, booked once or as a series.
Book and payA focused session with you or your leadership team on a plan, a reorganization or a partnership.
Book and payFor work that runs over weeks or months, I quote a project fee or a monthly retainer once we have agreed on scope.
Paid sessions are paid when you book. Quotes for projects and retainers follow a free introductory call.
Want this experience on your problem? Book a free 20-minute call.
Essays on running mission-driven organizations, published on Substack and sent by email.
Why approved plans stall, and how budgets, calendars and handoffs keep them moving.
What I learned at Asia Society about supporting offices you cannot see every day.
Universities, governments and the UN each hold part of the answer. Someone has to convene them.
Preview only: sample essays. This section stays hidden on the live site until her first Substack post, then shows her latest three.
I'm Paula Gray Hunker. For most of my career I have been the person who turns a leader's priorities into budgets, staffing and deadlines, as a chief of staff, a director of executive strategy and a chief operating officer.
That work showed me how decisions move through large, complicated organizations, and why good strategy so often stalls between the board meeting and the staff meeting. I coach and advise leaders on closing that gap, from my base in New York and with clients in the U.S. and abroad.
A 20-minute call is the easiest way to begin.