principal partners
Melanie Roberts
Queen of Getting Things Done
What she does: Business consulting and quality assurance services to help leaders and teams succeed; delivering detailed analysis and assessments while not losing sight of the big picture.
Happy Place: Making a difference for our clients by finding solutions to problems facing leaders every day through listening, strategic thinking, collaboration, and hard work.
Superpower: Partnering with others to make things happen!
Stellar Role: Co-founder, Principal
April Potts
Captain of Connections,
Ideation & System Thinking
What she does: Adds value to teams and individuals, helps identify root causes and solutions, supports incremental improvements,
embraces data-driven decisions, and facilitates fun.
Happy Place: Working with groups to solve problems in a meaningful and engaging way that produces results.
Superpowers: Valuing emotional intelligence and its place in the workplace, and ability to flex to meet the needs of the workgroup.
Stellar Role: Principal
Wendy Carney
People & Change Maestro
What she does: Full-scale change/transformation and oversight, marrying business objectives with people and process for positive, sustainable success.
Happy Place: Playing outside of the lines. Where people and business thrive, together. Partnering with business leaders to elevate trust, problem solving, and teaming. Providing the secret sauce between harnessing creative energy, relationships, and business objectives. When rich discovery leads to new possibilities and changed thinking, actions, or behaviors.
Superpower: Building deep relationships and igniting other’s superpowers!
Stellar Role: Principal
associate principals
Martin Casey
What gets me up in the morning:
I enjoy seeking creative solutions to complex challenges, and collaborating on smart, actionable strategies. As a former state and local government leader, I can relate to the demands placed on the public sector. I’m excited to help facilitate greater trust, effectiveness, efficiency, and innovation.
Why I chose Stellar:
I’ve known of Stellar, and its forerunner, Sterling, for two decades. Years ago, they helped our agency with planning and organizational development. Now, I’m grateful to join an alliance of diverse professionals with such a strong reputation for integrity, care, and insight.
Noemi LACHAPELLE
What gets me up in the morning:
I have a strong background in project management, process improvement (Lean), change management, and strategic planning. One of my deep loves is building Continuous Improvement capacity in others. I have over 15 years public service experience, 7 years in retail, 2 years in healthcare. I have been a consultant and coach for over 11 years.
Why I chose Stellar:
As a small business owner I love being a Stellar Associate. It allows me the opportunity to work in a team and the freedom to take on some small personal projects. They are the most supportive team ever!
In my free time you’ll find me deep in a book, loving on my family and researching my next long weekend adventure!
Our stellar Alliance
Karen Sampson
What gets me up in the morning:
I want people that are trying to do good in the world to have the tools they need to be effective. I focus on the quantitative side of management – using data to inform decisions, track progress, continuously improve implementation, and show value to stakeholders.
Why I chose Stellar:
A good team makes each member better, and I love working with Stellar Associates because our strengths combine to be greater than the efforts of any individual.
Sampson Analytics Inc
Steven Ketelsen
What gets me up in the morning:
I’ve done my best work helping teams to build and integrate working, functional systems, and creating tools and processes to support the ability of enterprise to leverage that work. I’m here to assure my clients get that same satisfaction and can carry out their mission better because of the solutions they develop together.
Why I chose Stellar:
I chose to join the #WeAreStellar Alliance because they have a proven record of an expanding client service portfolio. I wanted not only to bring my knowledge to the team but to learn from each of the Alliance members as much as possible to hone my craft and expand my base of knowledge. Stellar has built a strong library of practices and artifacts that will improve my own practice. I feel deep alignment with the vision and mission of Stellar.
Beth Elder
What gets me up in the morning:
My ultimate goal each day is to support the people around me to do the best they can in the most efficient way possible. I thrive when, I get to tackle problems and implement creative solutions; collaborate and facilitate constructive conversations; build relationships and break down barriers; and most of all when I get to celebrate progress with the people I'm working with.
Why I chose Stellar:
women owned, women run, small but mighty, business with a "stellar" reputation. The work the team has done and is doing with the state of Washington, applying creative problem solving to help the success of the state, is something that I wanted to be a part of. From my first conversation with the team, I felt heard and recognized. Like my skill set mattered! Stellar immediately felt like the supportive environment that I wanted to be part of as I started my consulting journey.