 laurie@psg.us
Laurie Ohmann is Co-Owner of The Public Strategies Group (PSG). Laurie started her career with PSG in 1991 and was elevated to the CEO position in 2008. Her experience as a strategist, teacher, facilitator, project planner or coach spans federal, state, county, city and school district lines as well as many content areas.
She currently leads PSG’s work with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD). With OMRDD executives, Laurie is supporting the strategic management of their $8 billion enterprise while building employee engagement around the agency’s mission, vision, results, and key change strategies. Her past experience includes guiding the New York State Dept. of Transportation's executive team in an organization-wide transformation; leading executive team building and strategy development for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing; creating a leadership framework for statewide early childhood care and learning; supporting numerous counties in their use of priority-based budgeting; and, most recently, coaching New York City’s Department of Finance agency-wide effort to become a data-driven, performance-based organization. Her reflections on PSG’s work when hired to be the superintendent of Minnesota’s (then) largest K-12 school district, Minneapolis Public Schools 1993-97), Teaching a School System How to Learn, were published in Education Week (May 8, 1996).
Laurie previously served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Crime Victim Services. The $43 million state agency, which provides victim restitution and grants to local victim service providers, had been reorganized for the second time in 18 months when Ohmann took the helm. Laurie's leadership brought a vision for service that resulted in a culture oriented to performance. Prior to coming to PSG, she managed a homeless shelter and worked in inner city single-family housing development.
Laurie lived in Budapest, Hungary for a year and studied there at the International Preparatory Institute following her undergraduate work in Political Science. She earned a Master of Planning degree from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. She serves on the board of National Day One, a non-profit organization committed to preventing violence and supporting victims of domestic abuse. |
