WHY WE EXIST
Most organizations aren’t broken. They are simply operating inside systems that were never designed for the people expected to carry them.
We’ve seen what happens when leaders are told to be resilient without being empowered, when culture is treated as a perk instead of infrastructure, and when change is rushed without regard for the human cost. The result isn’t progress— it’s burnout, distrust, and work that looks functional on paper but feels unbearable in practice.
Catalyst by Design exists to challenge and disrupt that pattern.
By recognizing that leadership is a practice (not a personality trait), we help leaders and organizations to understand that people-first cultures are not accidental. They are designed through intentional choices.
The work sits in complexity and often amidst chaos. It requires slowing down where others rush, listening where others jump to optimize, and sharing truths about what is working & the hard truths about what isn’t working. It honors meaningful outcomes and the people responsible for delivering them.
Better leaders and better outcomes do not happen by accident.
They happen by design.
Amanda Apling, PMP, PMI-ACP is a human-centered leader who believes empathy, authenticity, humility, and psychological safety are essential to unlocking great work and building healthy cultures. She helps people and teams make sense of complexity and uncertainty—together—so they can align around shared goals to solve hard problems in ways that actually stick. With more than a decade in management and technology consulting, she has partnered with private, public, government, and nonprofit organizations on large-scale transformation efforts. She bridges strategy, execution, and change adoption with ease. Known for bringing clarity and structure to what initially feels like chaos, her work is grounded in the belief that people and purpose drive lasting, meaningful change. Process and technology matter—but they work best when designed intentionally for the humans responsible for doing the impactful work.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
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