Cathy Capriola – Vice President of Strategy

Cathy Capriola is an experienced local government consultant with 31 years of experience in the areas of general management, emergency management, organizational development, human resources, public information, community engagement, finance, information technology, and risk management.  Cathy’s key strengths are strategic planning, facilitation, team building, coaching, mentoring, and project management.  Cathy is a strategic thinker with extensive experience managing complicated, time sensitive and high stakes projects for departments and elected officials.

As a developer of people and organizations, Cathy enjoys delivering best practices, new systems, and innovation.  With a strategic entrepreneurial lens, Cathy has the ability to see enhanced levels of service delivery and to drive initiatives to reach the next level.  She has extensive experience managing human resource operations, classification, and compensation, and developing financial strategies and strategies for labor negotiations.   

Prior to affiliating with MRG, Cathy was the City Manager for the City of Sonoma and served as Emergency Services Director through numerous fires, floods, windstorms, and the COVID-19 pandemic while upgrading the City’s emergency preparedness, community response, and systems.  In recognition of these efforts, the City received Sonoma County’s “Louis Pete Peterka Emergency Management Award” for outstanding commitment to emergency management.  Cathy also led major improvements to the City’s financial systems and resources including three successful revenue measures. 

In other prior civic experience, Cathy oversaw large initiatives including:

• Dissolution of a Redevelopment Department
• Passage of two sales tax revenue measures
• Creation of in-house IT and Police Departments
• Fire consolidation studies
• Organization audits and redesign
• Cannabis policy development and implementation
• Environmental sustainability
• Affordable housing and local living minimum wage

Cathy earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Communication / Management from UC Davis in 1986 followed by a Master’s in Public and Private Management (MPPM) from Yale University in 1992.  She was also a Coro Foundation “Fellow in Public Affairs” in San Francisco.  Cathy is a graduate of the “New and Future City Managers Seminar” and the “UC Berkeley Executive Forum.” As a Certified Sparktype® Advisor, Cathy elevates her coaching clients’ leadership development.