Carrie Hays

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire!”  That’s how Carrie Hays describes her unusual path to the field of organizational development. A graduate of Colgate University and The Culinary Institute of America, Carrie’s first real job was as a chef for a large hotel. In that role, Carrie learned two things: that she wasn’t that great of a cook, and that the real challenge of preparing food was managing a team. Realizing that management intrigued her more than cooking, she hopped out of the kitchen and into the field of organizational development. After fifteen years as a corporate manager in the hospitality industry, which included organizational change responsibilities, and after earning an M.A. in Management, Carrie started her own organizational development consulting practice, The Halle Group, based in Napa Valley, California.

Known for her expertise at leadership coaching, coaching and facilitating teams, strategic planning and team development retreats, and meetings designed to heighten organizational effectiveness, Carrie and her colleagues work with a variety of audiences ranging from small teams to groups of hundreds of participants. By helping individuals and teams fundamentally shift the way they think and communicate, Halle Group clients are able to create more effective organizations and teams that can successfully navigate change — in ways that are sustainable.

Carrie is a Senior Consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates (www.schwarzassociates.com) and uses The Mutual Learning Approach in her work and life. The approach is a complete, rigorous and compassionate method for individuals and leadership teams to resolve their toughest challenges and get good results.

Trained and experienced in Real Time Strategic Change, Future Search, and Appreciative Inquiry organizational change methodologies, Carrie has completed The Skilled Facilitator Intensive Workshop, Immunity to Change, The Facilitative Coach, and Facilitating Difficult Conversations workshops, Presence Based Coaching training, Stakeholder Centered Coaching training, Critical Components of Effective Governance, Advanced Nonprofit Board Governance, and is certified in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and MBTI Team Building. She holds a Masters of Arts in Management degree from John F. Kennedy University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Colgate University, and an Associate degree from the Culinary Institute of America.

Dan Whitehurst

Dan is an attorney and businessman who has extensive experience in local government and corporate board governance.

He was a city councilman in Fresno, California from 1975-77 and was mayor from 1977-85. He served on the board of directors of the National League of Cities and the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was President of the Mayors and Councilmembers Department of the League of California Cities. He was a resident fellow at the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics and executive director of the Maddy Institute for Public Affairs at CSU Fresno. He later served for 10 years on the board of directors of the Institute for Local Government in Sacramento, including two years as Chair.

Dan received a B.A. in Government from Saint Mary's College in Moraga, an M.A. in Urban Studies from Occidental College and a J.D. from UC Hastings. He is a member of the State Bar of California and is Vice Chair of AAA Northern California Nevada & Utah.

What's the logo about?

The logo…we get lots of questions about it! It’s an award-winning logo, designed to capture the essence of our work. If you look closely, you will notice 4 “H”s surrounding a square. The “H” stands for Halle, Carrie’s middle name. The square represents a table, and together, the logo symbolizes a team of people gathered around a table. We are inspired to create conversations where, like sitting around a campfire with attentive curiosity, people share, learn and explore ideas in ways that generate ideas, knowledge, competence, capacity and energy. That energy is represented by the flame. 

The Halle Group can help you get that energy and those results.