Our Core Team
NoC is a network of professionals from a diverse range of expertise in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Our core team members and strategic partners share the belief that ethical leadership and effective communication are essential to the long-term success of leaders and their teams.
We have built, led, and supported numerous cross-functional, distributed, inter-agency, and international teams. Often this was done in austere environments under high-pressure conditions that allowed little room for error when managing numerous complex tasks to meet unforgiving deadlines.

Cliff W. Gilmore, PhD
Founder, CEO & Coach
Camas, WA

BJ Fitzpatrick, MPA
COO & Coach
Swansboro, NC

Jackie Schwabe, MBA
Coach and Chief of Education & Training
Milwaukee, WI

Drew Hendricks, MBA
Corporate Ethnography & Cultural Insight Consultant
Norman, OK

Nathan Knottingham, MBA
Creative Content Consultant
Washougal, WA

Rob Thompson, MBA
Business Frameworks Consultant
Denver, CO
Our Strategic Partners
NoC can form collaborative task-organized teams with our strategic partners on demand to tackle your organizational communication, public engagement, and leader development challenges.
They are also available to put their specialized capabilities to work for you directly. If one of our partners has a skill, experience, or knowledge set that appeals to you, we encourage you to reach out to them directly.

Matthew Armstrong
Independent Advisor
Thalwil, Switzerland

Molly Denham
CEO, TransitionExec
Fredericksburg, VA

Jeff Pool
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX

Chris Vacano
Principal, Lean In Creative
Portland, OR
Who We Serve
NoC serves public, private, and non-profit organizations that value people more than the bottom line, and individual leaders who are — or have the potential and desire to become — the kind of leaders we would want to follow.
What We Do
Our core team members and strategic partners are experienced professionals who serve as candid advisors to build ethical leaders, improve communication within teams of all sizes, and create the trust of key publics necessary to assure enduring success of public, private, and non-profit organizations.
We use a research grounded, field tested, Communication-Based Leadership framework to provide leaders and their organizations with guidance, support, education and training they need to reach their public engagement, organizational communication, and leader development objectives ethically and efficiently, and achieve their strategic goals.
Why We Do What We Do
Evolving technology allows people to communicate at and to the entire world at the speed of Send, but this can be distracting and confusing, if not outright overwhelming. We help teams improve their organizational communication and public engagement capabilities by getting back to the basics of human interaction — because we know communicating with people creates the trust relationships necessary to achieve enduring success.
Being a leader is exhilerating and rewarding, but we know firsthand it can also be lonely, uncertain, and stressful. We help leaders articulate their philosophy and and values, refine their style and skills, and improve their prioitization and decision-making abilitilites — because born leaders are few and far between, and even the best benefit from the experience of a trusted mentor.
Where We Do What We Do
Our services are available on demand, anywhere, any time.
Our public engagement, organizational communication, and leader development consulting and coaching services can be provided remotely or on location based on the needs of your organization.
To learn more about each of NoC’s services and our Communication-Based Leadership approach to public engagement, organizational communication, and leader development, follow the Hard NoCs Blog and check out our Services and Method pages.
How We Do What We Do
Our public engagement, organizational communication, and leader development services are available through adaptive task-organized consulting teams, personalized one-on-one coaching, and a growing range of resources including our NoCTalk podcast, webinars and videos, and tailored on-location seminars and workshops.
To learn more about our services and the CBL framework, visit our Services and Method pages. We also invite you to follow the Hard NoCs Blog. There you can join discussions and ask questions about how CBL applies to issues and challenges leaders and organizations face every day.
Ready to talk with NoC?
Fill out our brief questionnaire and we will schedule a free 30-minute session to discuss your challenges and explore how North of Center may be able to help you.
No pressure. No obligation. No SPAM. Just good conversation with a member of NoC's team.