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Healthcare & Biotech Executives
Opening facilities, recruiting physicians, entering unfamiliar service areas, and building the community trust that determines welcome.
Strategic Counsel · San Mateo County
Trusted counsel for leaders navigating decisions that shape organizations and communities.
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Advising healthcare, biotech, civic, and academic leaders across Northern California for three decades.
Trusted across
Who Mary Helps
The kinds of leaders who arrive at Mary's door.
Selective · Long-term · By introduction
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Regional Chief Executives
Leaders expanding into new markets, opening headquarters, recruiting senior talent, or deepening their role in the region.
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Cities, Counties & Economic Development
Public leaders attracting employers, retaining anchors, and translating strategy into local support.
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Universities & Institutions
Colleges, foundations, and nonprofits whose ambitions require partnerships no single office can build alone.
Track Record
Judgment formed over three decades in the rooms where decisions get made.
Three executive chapters across fair housing, legal aid, and regional commerce — each one still shaping how Mary advises today.
- 30+
- Years advising
- 8
- Sectors
- 500/yr
- Cases led (HELP)
- 14+
- Institutions served
Selected Work
Three examples, out of many, that shaped a region.
Housing
Nearly 500 cases a year, quietly, for a decade.
Founded and led the Housing Equality Law Project — protecting families while the public systems around it were rarely quiet.
Regional Convening
A room that hadn't previously been held.
Brought Genentech, BioMed Realty, and downtown South San Francisco into a single civic conversation from the Chamber's chair.
Community Integration
Companies as neighbors, not tenants.
Helped innovation companies become part of the communities they operate in — a distinction most regional strategies never name.
"Public systems are navigated, not solved — and navigating them well requires knowing everyone in the room by name."
Affiliations & Convenings
A network built across the Peninsula.
Board seats and advisory roles up top. The wider network — the organizations Mary convenes and collaborates with — is tucked below for anyone who wants to look.
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Governance & Advisory
5 rolesUS Fiji Chamber of Commerce
Board Member
Advises on cross-border commerce and diaspora business development between the US and Fiji.
SSF Conference Center Authority
Board Governance
Governance body overseeing the city's civic conference and events infrastructure.
Skyline College
Advisory
Advises on industry alignment for workforce and biotech education programs.
Skyline College President's Council
Council Member
Executive council supporting the college president on strategy and community partnerships.
Leadership Council of San Mateo County
Council Member
Cross-sector leadership body shaping regional policy across housing, transit, and economic development.
Governance and executive roles reflect direct service. Organizations under "Convened & Collaborated" and "Regional Ecosystem" reflect public collaborations and convenings, not consulting engagements.
How to Engage
Three ways to bring Mary's judgment into the work.
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Executive Intensive
90-minute session
A single focused engagement for a leader facing a decision that requires local context and experienced judgment.
- —One 90-minute concentrated session
- —Pre-session brief & preparation
- —Written summary of counsel
From $1,500
SCHEDULEII
Partnership Strategy
Multi-month engagement
For organizations entering a region, launching an initiative, or building relationships across sectors.
- —Stakeholder mapping & sequencing
- —Introductions where they matter
- —Ongoing counsel through the arc
Custom scope
DISCUSSIII
Ongoing Advisor
Long-term relationship
A standing advisory relationship for leaders who value ongoing judgment more than one-time advice.
- —Monthly strategic conversations
- —Priority access when moments arise
- —Introductions when timing is right
By application
ApplyPrivate engagements
Mary works with a small number of leaders each year.
Introductions arrive through trusted colleagues, boards, and prior clients. If the fit is right, the first conversation is quiet, unbilled, and off the record.
Access
By personal introduction
Based
San Mateo County, California
Cadence
Selective, long-term