MEET THE TEAM
Nancy Dorrier
Nancy Dorrier co-founded Dorrier Underwood with Judith Underwood in 1986.
Nancy is the visionary and creative force behind Dorrier Underwood’s growth while personally coaching CEOs and leaders around the world to invent and implement bold visions. In leading transformational programs for more than 30 years, she earned a reputation for having love and joy make a dramatic impact on people’s lives.
Nancy has a B.A. in psychology from Queens University of Charlotte and a Masters in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before establishing her consulting firm, she had a thriving family counseling practice. Over the years, she has received public awards for being a successful business owner and a community and world leader. She received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from Queens University in recognition for her work with water development projects and women’s vocational training in East Africa.
Nancy is an author who uses expressive writing with executives to maximize their effectiveness as leaders. She is enthusiastic about having conversations that make a difference, collecting art, and learning amazing things from her grandchildren.
DOUG McVADON
Doug McVadon joined Dorrier Underwood in 1997 and was named president in 2016. He loves his job.
As a visionary leader, he brings humor, humility, and an appreciation of history and philosophy to all his engagements. He invites his clients to discover new capacities in themselves, both as leaders and human beings. They are often surprised by joy.
He wants individuals, teams, and organizations to be left with their own power and brilliance. He meets them where they are and inquires with them, as a partner, into what could fulfill what’s most important to them.
Throughout his career, he has worked with leaders in architecture, IT, manufacturing, health, banking, retail, and biotechnology.
Doug estimates he has been to thousands of concerts (the Bruce Springsteen count is nearly 20), and considers music an essential element of human nutrition. He has traveled to many countries and speaks enough French to stay out of trouble. As a serious fan of Major League Baseball, he has been part of a Fantasy Baseball League for 27 years. When he loves something, he is ALL IN.
He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Melinda, their daughter, Meredith, and their dog, Lacey, to whom they are completely devoted, as she is to them.
Doug holds a B.A. in psychology with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Jane Smith
Jane Smith is a senior consultant who has been with the firm since 1992. She is a member of the strategy team and accountable for the design and delivery of Dorrier Underwood’s large scale consulting initiatives.
She consistently makes a profound and lasting difference in organizations through her masterful coaching of executives and teams. Her consulting expertise consistently supports extraordinary leaders in achieving breakthrough levels of performance.
Jane’s dedication to people’s learning to express themselves fully has found expression throughout her career. Prior to joining Dorrier Underwood, she worked in the field of education, first as an award-winning high school English teacher and then as a supervisor and curriculum developer. She also led highly effective transformational seminars for more than 20 years.
A life-long resident of North Carolina, Jane lives in Raleigh with her husband, Phil. Her current passions include creative writing, interior decorating, collecting art, shopping of any sort at any time, and, after 60+ years of avoidance, cooking.
Ginny Brien
Ginny Brien joined Dorrier Underwood in 2005. As sales manager, she listens for possibilities within other people’s commitments and operates outside her comfort zone to make a difference with her family, her work team, the community and larger world.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in English and concentration in French translation, she worked as a freelance writer, specializing in grassroots fundraising and public relations for non-profits.
A life-long learner and gifted teacher, she has led workshops on subjects ranging from disaster relief to nutrition, spiritual gifts, homeopathy, pregnancy, and birth. She traces her experience of transformation back to 1976 as part of the Valle Crucis Summer Youth program in the mountains of North Carolina.
Ginny is a native Charlottean who loves gardening, singing, pickup trucks, and conversations that reach below the surface.
Gary Davis
It took Gary Davis nine years to earn a place on the Dorrier Underwood team, and now we wouldn’t dream of letting him go. He works tirelessly to have clients push beyond the predictable. His gift as a keynoter and for telling stories about his own mistakes gives people the freedom to be who they are, warts and all. People feel safe and included around him, and miracles start happening.
Since 2020, Gary’s morning exercise has been #nodaysoff, even through a mild bout of flu. He is also an Elvis impersonator (jeweled white-jumpsuit era), even though it scares the daylights out of him. Gary pushes past his limits to make something happen, and he brings that possibility to every client, whether it’s feeding the world or reducing dysfunctional projects to zero.
Gary loves Africa, Broadway shows, cigars, and live music. After seeing “Barbie,” he changed his LinkedIn page to say he’s “beach.” He’s a die-hard Carolina fan who started out teaching high school, then worked in sales and service with IBM and Cisco before joining Dorrier Underwood.
The family chef, chauffeur, and chaperone, Gary lives with his beautiful wife, Robin, in Fuquay-Varina along with their young-adult children, Eliza, Chance and Sterling.
Carol Orndorff
Carol Orndorff joined Dorrier Underwood in 2007 after 25 years of consulting and project management in higher education, healthcare, and the construction industries. She has developed teams in leadership, management, conflict resolution, and best business practices.
Known for her generous listening, Carol inspires unpredictable results in team performance through her expertise in collaboration and accountability practices.
She believes anything is possible through authentic and rigorous communication.
Carol holds a B.S. in education from the University of North Dakota, and completed graduate studies in special education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is also a Qualified Value Technician and a corporate member of the Atlanta World Affairs Council.
An outdoor enthusiast, Carol has hiked in the Pyrenees on four different occasions and is always looking for her next challenge. Besides her work, Carol loves traveling, gardening, visiting with family, archery and meditation. She lives in Atlanta with her partner, Liz.
Kevin Bullard
Kevin Bullard joined Dorrier Underwood in 2021 and quickly became a consultant, setting up “roundtable” conversations for leaders from different businesses to share and explore possible solutions to common challenges.
Always looking for what will make the biggest difference with his clients, Kevin chooses to go for his clients’ achieving breakthrough results rather than “getting a little better.” This holds true for his work inside corporations as well as city governments. For example, he took a course to become a police-academy graduate to more fully educate himself about one aspect of a city.
He has a deep commitment to having others live rich and fulfilling lives through his work at Dorrier Underwood and as an interim pastor at Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Garland, Texas. He knows people are the common denominator in all organizations.
A former drum major at North Carolina University, Kevin is asked, from time to time, to judge school band competitions. He also plays trumpet (in his house) during Carolina-Duke basketball games. He gets in 100 pushups a day.
He lives in Princeton, Texas, with his wife, Cetelia, and their three children, Max, Caitlin and Kuria Joy.
Kevin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to earn an Executive MBA and a Master’s in Leadership from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Nancy Chek
Nancy Chek brings experience as a writer, editor, and coach to her work with Dorrier Underwood. Since 2011, Nancy has written program materials for Dorrier Underwood and collaborated with other consultants to design engagements.
As a former coach for professionals working on global initiatives, she has explored the power of language to influence perception, encourage or discourage partnership, and turn vision into action.
Nancy earned a B.S. in Education (English and French) from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and has been trained in Results Coaching, based on studies in neuroscience. She was formerly on staff with the Rockport Institute, Walter Reed, and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she is known for both her chili and her praline pumpkin pie. She roots for the Washington Nationals and owns approximately 400 movies, from which she will quote with very little provocation.
Abe Carillo
A tireless contributor and master of follow-up, Abe Carillo consults with Dorrier Underwood part-time while serving as Director of Operations for the Crow Museum of Asian Art at the University of Dallas.
We love Abe’s willingness to be honest and vulnerable and his ability to integrate leadership distinctions into his life and work. We’re not the only ones who admire Abe. He has served on the Mayor’s Star Council for several years and chairs the Development Committee.
Having discovered he’s been living with ADHD, Abe now studies his short- and long-term goals several times a day. He brings a wise, non-anxious presence to the museum, clients and the Dorrier Underwood team. He’s our go-to person for wrapping up team conversations because of his gift for getting to the heart of the matter.
As the father of two girls (and a basset hound) he works out religiously inside a commitment to be physically active when his daughters reach high school and beyond. He loves to grill and smoke food, and enjoys watching professional boxing. Gary is teaching him how to smoke cigars on a porch.
Abe earned a Bachelors of Business Administration at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Alice-Lyle Hickson
Alice-Lyle Hickson is part of the consulting team that works behind the scenes to keep engagements running smoothly. A humble and generous leader, Alice-Lyle heads up Dorrier Underwood’s publishing initiative—keeping our blogs and podcast humming and inviting transformation through the use of free writing with clients and staff.
Her unassuming manner makes it easy for others to engage in profound conversations, born of her own journey through losing a child and creating joy in difficult circumstances. She has a passion for social justice and special needs communities and leads Dorrier Underwood’s ongoing inquiry into healing the divide.
Alice-Lyle is also the daughter of Nancy Dorrier and brings her mother’s directness and clarity to the Dorrier Underwood team. A devoted wife and mother, she loves spending time with family and friends and is a resounding yes to living fully in the present.
Our hiring process begins with a series of rich exploratory conversations. We are interested in working with people who are authentic, self-aware, and more committed to what’s possible than to one point of view. As transformational business management consultants, we grapple with our humanity every day. What works about me? What doesn’t? What new actions can I take to forward what I care about most?
Our staff has a commitment to caring for each other and caring for the world. Being in the world as an example of grace and hope. We fail at grace and hope almost every day, and we’re still committed to it. We also have a commitment to having life work all around us. It takes dealing with our own egos and the ever present assumption that we’re right, and choosing to be of service to others.
Working at Dorrier Underwood is demanding and fulfilling. Our recruitment process includes talking you out of it. As our yoga teacher says, simple but not easy.
