Laura Cinat

Laura is a proven, organizational change and business transformation leader, passionate about helping people and organizations get to where they want to be. From comprehensive analysis to strategic planning, to implementation, to sustainment and benefit realization, Laura works closely with leaders at all levels and across multiple functions, to ensure minimal business disruption and to spark creativity throughout the change journey.

Laura’s 25-year change/transformation career began with a 3-year stint in Ukraine with USAID that included developing the systems and processes that successfully positioned an entrepreneurial venture to grow from 4 to 200 people and establishing a US-Ukrainian scientific joint venture. She also completed an MBA internship in South Africa where she devised a repositioning strategy for a prestigious organization founded by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Laura has worked across numerous organizations and industries (retail, healthcare, education, agriculture, manufacturing) to deliver custom change processes and plans, oversee implementation, and provide thought leadership. Project areas include global organizational change, digital transformation, acquisition integration, systems implementation, and distributorship harmonization.

Prior to launching her practice, Laura was Vice President of Organization Change Management at CNA Insurance, where she led the transformation of company capability, process, and technology and built internal change management capability. Prior to that, Laura was Associate Director of Organization Change Management at Kraft Foods, where she led change management for critical technology and business initiatives, including the global transformation of the Finance function, from the initial development of cases for change through the realization of desired benefits. Earlier in her career, Laura held escalating positions in Management, Technology Consulting, and IT Services with projects spanning global business case/process design, start-up growth strategy and operational support, CRM alignment and governance, organizational assessment & benchmarking, vendor collaboration strategy, HR process re-engineering, new product systems & support, corporate restructuring (financial and organizational), and market research & analysis.

Laura has also served as a change and transformation thought leadership speaker and as a speech editor for notable international environmental leaders including Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States.

Laura is also a violinist and member of the Board of Trustees of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and has been actively involved in community volunteer initiatives including Feed My Starving Children and the Italian American Heritage Society of Chicago.

Certification

• PROSCI Change Management

Education

• Master of Business Administration, Business and Organizational Strategy, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
• Bachelor of Arts, Comparative Literature, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phi Beta Kappa

Practice Areas

• Business Consulting
• Benefits Realization
• Cases & Strategies for Change
• Change Impact Analysis
• Change Leadership
• Culture Change
• Communications Planning & Delivery
• Employee Engagement & Communication
• Learning Strategy & Training Development Oversight
• Organizational Restructuring
• Process Design & Optimization
• Sponsorship Development & Leadership Alignment
• Stakeholder Analysis & Engagement