Culture isn’t shaped by your systems. It’s shaped by how people feel within them.
You can have the best strategies, the strongest systems, the most compelling values on the wall… but if people are, disconnected, or silently struggling, the culture you intend isn’t the culture they experience. Culture isn’t a comms plan. It’s a nervous system — a felt, living pulse that either fosters belonging or breeds burnout. It’s in the tone of a meeting. The pause before someone speaks. The silence after something should have been said.
If something feels off, it is.
And if your people are feeling it, your performance, retention, and reputation will too.
I help organisations stop managing culture from the top down and start leading it from the inside out. Through truth-telling, pattern recognition, and practical recalibration, we close the gap between what your organisation says it stands for and how it’s actually experience. Because thriving cultures don’t emerge from more initiatives.
They emerge when leaders choose clarity over comfort, alignment over assumption, and courage over convenience.
Introducing my signature AAA Framework. A powerful, practical approach to cultural recalibration.
Awareness
This is where truth emerges and the real work begins.
I help you surface the lived experiences within your system. We explore the gap between what’s said and what’s felt, what’s intended and what’s experienced. Through listening, observation, and honest dialogue, we reveal cultural disconnects, power dynamics, and invisible norms that are quietly shaping — or stifling — your organisation.
You can’t shift what you won’t name.
This is the work of seeing clearly, not to shame, but to understand.
Action
Conscious movement, not performative change.
Once the truth is visible, once we’ve named what feels wrong, we take intentional steps rooted in solution, clarity, and choice. This isn’t about copy-paste strategies. It’s about intentionally closing the gap between the culture you say you want and the culture you’re currently experiencing.
The work here is bespoke, thoughtfully tailored to your people, your context, your ambitions. Whether it’s co-creating new rituals, reshaping decision-making practices, reworking leadership behaviours, or reconfiguring team dynamics, we design micro-movements that ripple across your system, the kind that reshape culture from within.
Accountability
Because real change isn’t a moment, it’s a practice.
We embed rhythms of reflection, feedback, and responsibility that make the culture feel real, not just aspirational. Because culture change isn’t a tick-box exercise, it’s a living system that must be sustained.
Accountability isn’t about control, it’s about coherence. This is how alignment becomes lasting.
Why Partner with Me?
Because when your people thrive, your organisation thrives.
And I’m on a mission to make work work again — for everyone.
Whether you're a school shaping futures, a business chasing market growth, or a sports organisation striving for high performance, one truth holds: culture is your competitive edge.
I work with brave leaders who care deeply about performance and people. Leaders who know something feels off and are ready to find out what that is and do the work to realign.
This work calls for presence, precision, and partnership. That’s exactly what I bring.
With over 30 years’ experience in academia and consultancy, I bring a grounded understanding of complex systems, and a deep respect for the humans within them. My approach is bespoke, high-touch, and relational. I listen. I observe. I attune to what’s really going on beneath the surface. And I help you shape a way forward that’s strategic, sustainable, and yours.
Because culture isn’t a concept. It’s a felt experience. And when you get that right, everything else starts to fall into place.
Dana Craciun (she/her) | HR Business Partner | Optiver
“Donna helped us turn a collection of well-intentioned initiatives into a clear, cohesive programme that’s now fully embedded in how we work. She brought strategic clarity, met each team where they were, and built trust across the organisation. Her practical, focused approach helped us make meaningful, measurable progress and created a foundation for lasting, sustainable change.”
Let’s connect…
If something here has spoken to you, maybe a sentence, a feeling, or simply a sense that this work matters, let’s talk.
This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a space to connect.
Whether you're curious about collaborating, working together, or just want to share what’s stirring in you, I’d love to meet you.
Book a free 30-minute call below.
Come as you are. Bring whatever’s real.
