Testimonials
What Our Clients Are Saying
"I first met Joanne in a peer situation, but quickly embraced her as so much more. When I was looking for a thought partner to aid me in my next career evolution, she proved to be the perfect coach. She inspired me to think bigger, be clearer, and push harder. I ended up in the perfect place for me - and she was a major factor in helping me to get there. She's just fantastic."
- Christina Luconi
Chief People Officer, Rapid7
"I would recommend Joanne Derr to any leader or organization seeking coaching, leadership development, or leadership team building . Joanne is a highly skilled coach and team facilitator. She utilizes a wonderful combination of powerful tools, strong personal coaching and facilitation skills, and very practical advice and encouragement."
- Jerry Rubin
Former President and CEO, JVS Boston
"When I started looking into leadership positions, I realized that successfully navigating the interviews and beyond would require learning a distinct set of skills and language. Joanne was an outstanding coach throughout the process. She helped me to sharpen my communication skills and taught me about executive presence. With her help, I received offers from competitive institutions. Being an effective leader also requires significant introspection and diplomacy, and she has helped me tremendously as I begin my new role. I give Joanne my highest recommendation". - Michael Lim, M.D.
Chair of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine
"Joanne is an exceptional coach. During our time working together she provided me, and my team, with real world tools and tactics to improve our performance and help us all become more effective leaders at Toast. I'd highly recommend Joanne to anyone looking to improve leader performance in a fast paced environment."
- Kevin Hamilton
Chief Marketing Officer, Toast
"Joanne was a great asset and help as I onboarded to a new organization. She is collaborative, easy to work with, and brought valuable context and problem framing that maximized my ability to get established and begin making progress as quickly as possible. I found her approach to be flexible and pragmatic as she supplemented her technical knowledge with interest in situational details that helped me to identify the best approach to take on a variety of issues. I would definitely recommend Joanne to others as an excellent, experienced coach and a newfound friend".
-Matt Anderson, MD, MHA
SVP, Enterprise Senior Medical Director, Atrium Health
"I was lucky to work with Joanne when she served as my Executive Coach. I found her to be a breath of fresh air: direct and yet still encouraging, honest and warm. She used tools that gave me a data-driven view of my strengths and growth areas and taught me how to work toward my personal development goals methodically and with purpose. I would highly recommend her to any new executives or those in need of a little tune up. I’m grateful for my time with her and a better leader because if it".
-Andrea Perera
Former VP of Public Engagement, Oxfam America
"Joanne has been an amazing colleague, coach and friend. I was able to experience Joanne’s coaching expertise first-hand when I hired her as an executive coach during my onboarding with a new company. She quickly builds rapport, provides a safe space for open and honest conversation, and offers an unbiased perspective. She also provided the right amount of structure and tools to ensure that my session objectives were met. She truly listens to understand and serves her clients. Joanne is well respected and networked within the Boston business community and is an active member of HRLF, SHRN and The Boston Club. She is viewed as a trusted advisor and a top executive coach. I highly recommend Joanne and I am very proud to have her as a colleague in my network".
-Bonnie Bystrek
Chief People Officer, Virtual, Inc