Mary is the CEO and a founding partner of MRG, overseeing the entire practice and providing high-level leadership over every project. She is highly skilled at Executive Coaching, Workplace Investigation, and Conflict Resolution and often uses those skills, along with her considerable experience, when advising her clients regarding employment-related risk mitigation, strategic planning, and interest-based problem resolution. Mary’s specialties are facilitating performance evaluations and organizational analysis as well as coaching employers to address deficiencies and maximize their impact. She is a certified professional executive coach and uses these skills to help clients increase their level of performance and identify potential limiting blind spots. She also advises clients regarding investigations, employment-related risk mitigation, strategic planning, and interest-based problem resolution.

Mary is adept at the facilitation of staff retreats, team-based problem-solving, and labor management committees, works with elected boards to define the performance expectations of their key managers, and serves as a neutral factfinder in the resolution of employer/employee issues.

As a Private Investigator and Qualified Manager licensed by the State of California, Mary has handled hundreds of workplace investigations for both private sector and public employers on all types of employment matters over the last several years, including claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, substance abuse, threats of violence, assault, theft, fraud, violations of company policies, wage and hour violations, and other forms of alleged misconduct. Mary is experienced in testifying during administrative and judicial proceedings regarding completed investigations and provides expert testimony on the adequacy of workplace investigations, human resource practices, and public sector employment standards and expectations. She is also qualified as an expert in State Court on the adequacy of investigations. She is a founding member of the Association of Workplace Investigators (“AWI”) and spent four years developing the AWI’s published standards for workplace investigations and serving as a faculty member at the Workplace Investigation Institute.

Prior to MRG, Mary held key positions with both the City of Sacramento and the City of San Jose, where she was the Employee Relations Officer and Chief Negotiator. While with Shannon Associates, Mary managed recruitments for high-level appointed executives, as well as complex HR assessments for large and complex clients. She continued her consulting services with high-profile clients after starting her own firm in 2001 and maintains long-term relationships with cities and counties in California. Mary is a recognized expert in municipal government interest arbitration.