Faculty and Team
Dr. Maria Church
Dr. Maria Church, CEO of Dr. Maria Church International, including Government and Corporate divisions, specializes in organizational culture, change agility, and leadership development with over 25 years working for Fortune 500, local government, non-profit, and academia. Her organizational culture work has realized her clients over 300% ROI, intentionally shaping their cultures to support strategic objectives and be a differentiator in the marketplace. She holds a Doctor of Management degree in Organizational Leadership and has been teaching for several universities for the past 20 years winning numerous faculty awards. She is also part of the elite 17% worldwide that has earned a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation from the National Speakers Association.
Dr. Church, author of Love-Based Leadership, as well as the upcoming books, A Course in Leadership: 21 Spiritual Lessons on Power, Love, and Influence, 10th Anniversary Edition of Love-Based Leadership, and co-author of best-selling book, Answering the Call, has started a movement to revolutionize the workplace with a shift from fear to love.
She has been featured on radio shows, television interviews, and in magazines. Maria writes a weekly newspaper column on leadership and hosts an online leadership series, Dr. Maria TV. Splitting her time between Scottsdale and the canyons of Southern Arizona, Maria continues to work with high-performing local governments and is working on her next book about exemplary corporate and local government cultures. She is a classic rock and classic Motown junkie who hopes to learn drums from Keith Moon and Benny Benjamin in Rock-n-Roll Heaven.
Colleen Dorame, MPA
Colleen Dorame has been with Government Leadership Solutions for over one year, after a 30-year career in public service. She began her career at Maricopa County, the 4th largest county in the US, where she served 25 years in various departments. Her last 15 years at Maricopa County were in the Human Resources, Organizational and Employee Development management roles. She then served at the 5th largest city in the US, the City of Phoenix, as the Human Resources Supervisor for the Organizational Development Division. She oversaw the planning, developing, and implementing of comprehensive city-wide learning and organizational development programs. Her expertise is in change management, leadership development, and consulting; focusing on building positive relationships for improved results. When she is not spending time assisting her daughter in her 3rd grade classroom she spends time with her grandchildren and traveling.
Marie Gacke, MBA
Marie Gacke is our creative millennial force, keeping us on track and serving our clients as Concierge. She IS the client care extraordinaire, thanks to the United States Air Force, where (among other opportunities) she served as an executive officer supporting over 1,200 Air Force personnel and leadership by facilitating daily operations and strategic development at executive levels. Marie is also a registered nurse, who – for the last 15 years – worked with stateside and deployed downrange patients, coordinating and overseeing all aspects of patient care, and developed superior 5-Star teams in the process. SHE knows how to keep cool in explosive situations. Marie believes that there is always a creative solution to any problem. Marie is an expert in conducting research, crunching survey data, and geeks out on finding trends from history that will shape the future of leadership development. Her favorite place to be is in the mountains of Central Montana, puttering in her greenhouse, and learning to raise chickens.