Laurie Anderson (Elle) Finnegan, MSPOD

Laurie Anderson Finnegan, also known to many as “Elle Finnegan,” is a seasoned professional in the fields of healthcare, education, fundraising management, and broadcasting.  Elle earned a master’s degree in Positive Organization Development and Change from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and received a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in broadcast journalism from Castleton University. Her love of learning, staff and leader development, business coaching, organization development, and relationship building are at the heart of her diverse career. 

As a former television and radio reporter, producer, anchor, host, and educator, Elle knows the power of inquiry and has been practicing it since beginning her career as a general assignment news reporter for a local CBS affiliate. Elle spent two decades working in broadcast and cable TV in the disciplines of medical, health and wellness, parenting, and business reporting.  Her greatest professional joy is working as a thought-partner with her colleagues and clients, alike. 

She is a pursuer of meaningful, impactful work that creates the highest levels of professional growth and leadership development. Her expertise in organization development draws on individual, team, and whole-system strengths to create successful, influential, and ultimately profitable programs.  Elle specializes in positive organization development and change, strategic fundraising, and leadership, performance, and career-transition coaching.

Elle is an alumna of Hudson Institute of Coaching; is certified in Appreciative Inquiry’s 5-D cycle; compassionate coaching, Conversations Worth Having; SOAR’s strategic conversations, MBTI Types I and II assessments; and holds a certificate in Fundraising Management from the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Elle is professionally trained and experienced as an on-air television and radio presenter, writer, producer, and is an accomplished facilitator, non-profit fundraising expert who excels in strategic planning and has raised tens of millions of dollars in charitable gifts. Her approach to positive and sustainable change management is grounded in the power of Conversations Worth Having, as well as the theory and practice of Intentional Change and Resonant Leadership, and she is ever striving to embody the principles and practices of CWH and Appreciative Inquiry. She earned her Conversations Worth Having Train-the-Trainer certification in 2019 at the David Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry at Champlain College in Burlington, VT.  She is an active member of the CWH Institute and is currently writing a Quick Start Guide on Self Resiliency in collaboration with the authors and founders of Conversations Worth Having, Jackie Stavros, DM, and Cheri Torres, PhD, and CWH Certified trainers, Deb Connors, Sylvette Wake, and Jane Woods.