Dayna Sear specializes in public and private sector business start-up, turnaround, and change management. Dayna brings to her role over 30 years of experience creating businesses, advancing high-profile projects and programs, crafting fundraising and development strategy, and leading financial reorganizations and turnarounds. She has held executive positions as CEO, Executive Director, Program/Project Director, Business Manager, Strategist, and Board of Directors in the arts, entertainment, education, philanthropy, investment, insurance, legislative advocacy, and social service industries.
Throughout her career, Dayna has pioneered many innovative cutting-edge programs, events, and service delivery platforms to stimulate economic development, expand reach, increase competitiveness, and deepen mission impact. Within her many business start-up and turnaround roles, she has tailored forward-thinking strategies and developed cost-effective, solution-oriented implementation plans that inspire investment, mission advocates, stakeholder buy-in, media recognition, growth, and change. Working with organizations large and small, Dayna strives to turn around inefficient fiscal and business operations, streamline spending, manage costs, strategically maximize revenue, and implement donor relation systems that result in clean audits and a stronger financial position.
As a creative entrepreneur, Dayna has been engaged to develop several pioneering organizations such as WaterFire Sharon, in conjunction with the world-renowned artist Barnaby Evans and modeled after the acclaimed WaterFire Providence, and the Hope Center for Arts and Technology, a replication of McArthur Genius Award winner Bill Strickland’s National Center for Arts & Technology, a subsidiary company of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. In her work with Bill Strickland, Dayna was responsible for the initial implementation phases of the $12,000,000 start-up organization: organizing the feasibility study, developing initial capital, and cultivating government and community partners.
Having shepherded enterprise level change across many types of organizations large and small, Dayna is a Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner. As a transformational leader, she uses several different change models to build consensus around ideas, envision innovative projects that meet diverse constituent needs, and attract resources and enthusiasm to achieve objectives. She has been honored for her legislative advocacy skills being nominated twice for the Ed Stout U.S. Congressional Award for Outstanding Victim Advocacy.
Her research and experience in the area of workforce development has resulted in the publication of a book entitled, Educating in the Creative Age: Implementing Arts Learning & the Creative Design Process which examines the knowledge base and creative skill sets required by the rapidly changing dynamics of our Creative Age and how these changes are impacting the development of employees.
Dayna holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Allegheny College, Master of Business Administration from Clarion University, Master of Arts in Nonprofit Administration from Goucher College, Certificate in Mergers & Acquisition from Columbia University, and has also attended the Nonprofit Management Institute at Stanford University.
You may contact Danya by email at dayna@seargrowthsolutions.com and by phone at 814-221-9838.
