WHY PAPERWEIGHT?

  • Assortment of colorful round glass paperweights on a wood desk.

    BEAUTY + HEFT

    Paperweights carry not only the heft to protect a stack of papers from a breeze coming through the window, but also hold the heft of history we have both shaped and weathered. And they do their jobs with joyful, often exuberant beauty. They aren’t there to blend in or hide, and they keep important ideas from blowing away.  

  • Assortment of colorful round glass paperweights on a wood desk.

    CLARITY + ORDER

    While many paperweights feature clear glass, the clarity invoked here comes from taking the exciting mess of life – ideas, possibilities, credentials, values – and organizing them in a realistic way. Many of us want to have every move perfectly filed, labeled, collated, and filtered. What we often need instead is to get our data, ideas, and decisions sufficiently under control to move forward. 

  • Assortment of colorful round glass paperweights on a wood desk.

    CHOICE + ACTION

    While paperweights are inanimate objects (and we love them for their steadfastness), our interactions with them are not. We choose which ones to collect, where to put them, what to put under which ones, and how they fit alongside the rest of the collection. This is analogous to so much of what we aim to do in our practice: support people in deciding what and how they will change, grow, and pursue what’s next.

OUR COACHES AND CONSULTANTS

Diane Knoepke
Lead Coach and Consultant
diane@paperweight-advising.com

I help people drive change - for themselves, their teams, their organizations, and their communities.

Photo by Ngoc Nguyen.

As a coach and advisor, Diane (she/her) works with leaders at all levels to figure out what they want, see themselves clearly, and present their capabilities confidently. Together, we figure out what problems folks want to solve next, then find the holes in organizations or markets that they are most interested in filling.

For more than two decades, Diane has focused on transforming organizations through my roles as a strategy consultant, team leader, and change manager. She has worked with teams from over 100 organizational clients across social, public, and private sectors. She has also coached hundreds of mid- to senior-level professionals along their career and leadership journeys.

Diane serves on faculty in Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, co-teaching graduate-level courses including Developing for Career Advancement; Developing for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice; and Leading Global Change. She was named a 2025 Notable Leader in Philanthropy by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Credentials

  • Coaching Certificate, Executive Learning + Organizational Change, Northwestern University

  • MS, Learning and Organizational Change, Northwestern University

  • Certificate in Fundraising Management, DePaul University

  • BA, English, Northwestern University


Leadership and Affiliations

  • Board of Directors, Board Co-Chair, Chicago Women in Philanthropy

  • Board of Directors, Development Committee Chair, Springboard to Success

  • Member, Learning Advisory Group, Association Forum

  • Member, Founding DEI Committee Co-Chair, Northwestern University Council of One Hundred

  • Member, South Side Giving Circle of the Chicago Foundation for Women

  • Member, Consultants for Good (C4G)

Ariana Klitzner
Consultant

I help teams find order and clarity, and I help organizations measure hard things.

Photo by Dan Lewis.

Ariana (she/her) helps organizations drive impact and loves collaborating to figure out how to measure hard things. After starting her career as a health educator and community organizer at a Federally Qualified Health Center, she has spent over a decade and a half working to solve clients’ strategy, measurement, and operational design challenges. Ariana has done strategic planning for foundations and non-profits across sectors including health care, civic engagement, and policy change.

Ariana’s past professional roles include Vice President of Provider Solutions for AVIA Health Innovation, where she helped lead the Medicaid Transformation Project evaluating where evidence-based care models intersect with digital solutions. She has also held strategic consulting roles at both Mission Measurement and Bain & Company, working with clients across public, private, and social sectors.

Credentials

  • MBA, Harvard Business School

  • BA, Latin American Studies, Pomona College

Leadership and Affiliations

  • Board Member, Friends of Carl Von Linne School

  • Member, Avondale Mutual Aid

  • Member, Consultants for Good (C4G)

Mo Gurnani
Coach and Consultant

I help people do their best work.

Photo by Jennifer Pasek.


Mo’s (he/him) work is centered on helping people and teams do their best work by aligning purpose, culture, and systems. Today, his practice sits at the intersection of leadership development, organizational design, and narrative supporting mission-driven leaders as they navigate complexity and translate intention into execution. He brings an execution-driven mindset with a creative spirit, shaped by building and running ventures as well as advising leadership teams. Mo is closely connected to teaching and learning as part of the teaching team for Selling Yourself and Your Ideas at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he helps leaders develop clarity, presence, and influence.

Over the past decade, Mo has partnered with 10–15 nonprofit and mission-driven organizations supporting leadership development, strategic alignment, coaching, and facilitation. He has worked with more than 10 founders to design leadership models and decision-making frameworks that helped scale impact to over 2 million stakeholders, and has coached 15+ high-performing executives navigating growth and transition. Earlier in his journey, Mo served as a Teach For India Fellow, an experience that grounded his belief in education and leadership as levers for systemic change. He later completed a Master of Science in Learning and Organizational Change at Northwestern University, where his master’s thesis explored cultural intelligence in multinational organizations and how managers can be better supported to lead across cultural differences. Looking ahead, Mo continues to explore the role of psychodynamics in team effectiveness, with a growing focus on how unspoken dynamics shape collaboration, leadership, and collective performance.

Credentials

  • Certificate, Organizational and Leadership Coaching, Northwestern University

  • M.S. in Learning & Organizational Change, Northwestern University

  • BS, Engineering, Symbiosis International University

Kelly Ross
Coach and Consultant

I help organizations keep their rockstars.

Kelly (she/her) is a leadership coach, learning and talent strategist, and facilitator. She works with individuals in one-on-one coaching engagements, with teams to clarify goals and increase effectiveness, and with organizations to build and implement learning strategies. Kelly brings experience working in more than 25 countries, with individuals and organizations across industries and sectors, and nearly a decade of experience at McKinsey & Company. She is co-author of Fearless Feedback: A Guide to Coaching Leaders to See Themselves More Clearly and Galvanize Growth.

Kelly currently teaches Leaders as Change Agents through Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies Leadership Certificate. She is a leadership coach supporting new graduate students in Northwestern’s MS Learning and Organizational Change (MSLOC) program. In the past she designed and previously taught Northwestern’s MSLOC Leadership Coaching Fieldwork class; a series of leadership, working effectively as a team and change management classes for Northwestern MS Biotechnology; and leadership coaching and leadership workshops for Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management Executive MBA students.

Credentials

  • MS, Learning and Organizational Change, Northwestern University

  • BS, Management and International Studies, Indiana University

  • Coaching Certificate & Master Coach Certificate, Hudson Institute of Coaching

  • Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation, International Coach Federation

  • Diploma in Coaching Supervision, Coaching Supervision Academy

  • Assessment Certifications including: Leadership Circle Profile 360, Hogan Assessments, Change Style Indicator, Emotional Intelligence EQ-i 2.0, Integrative Enneagram IEQ9, Working Genius, Creatrix, Conflict Dynamics Profile, VOICES 360, PDI Profilor 360, Team Coaching International’s Team Diagnostic

Leadership and Affiliations

  • Volunteer Coach and Coach Supervisor, Humanitarian Coach Network

  • Volunteer Coach, Stand Beside Them

“After building a career as an ecologist with the Department of the Interior, I found myself unable to adapt to shifting administrative priorities and needed to make a difficult career transition last spring. Diane graciously guided me through this challenging period, helping me remain competitive in an exceptionally limited job market while striking the perfect balance between career guidance and practical assistance with application materials.

She met me exactly where I was, providing unwavering support and constructive feedback that made each conversation valuable and productive. She was also highly adaptable and even scheduled impromptu meetings for time-sensitive decisions. Thanks to Diane's guidance, I have found my footing again and am able to continue pursuing my passion for conservation and ecology.”

Agency of Natural Resources Lands Planner
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation