BusinessWorks is led by team of experts whose combined experience totals over 45 years.

Paul DePalma, President and Founder
Prior to founding BusinessWorks in 1992, Paul had extensive business experience, as a manager in the health care industry with responsibilities at both the district and regional levels. He is an accomplished public speaker and presenter and is acknowledged for his insight and intuition in solving business challenges.

A graduate of Boston College with a degree in Economics, Paul received his masters degree in organization development from Bowling Green State university.

Community involvement has included serving on the Board of Governors of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, and he is a former Chairman of the Small Business Chamber’s Board of Directors. Paul was also a board member of the Historical Society of Central Florida, and has contributed his time to the Heart of Florida United Way, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, and Junior Achievement.

John Ward, Chief Operating Officer
Prior to merging his independent consulting practice with BusinessWorks, for 10 years John served as consultant, coach, and change facilitator to a broad spectrum of organizations. Industries served include: Associations; Municipalities; Communication; Entertainment; Energy; Manufacturing; Finance; Insurance; Banking; Professional Engineering; Architectural and Accounting Firms; Retail and Wholesale Distributors; Health and Service Organizations.

He entered the consulting industry with 25 years of hands-on leadership experience in the petroleum industry. Working with Fortune 500 companies as well as family owned enterprises, John has been responsible for successful start-ups, acquisitions and restructuring efforts. A skilled public speaker, he has provided keynote addresses to a wide variety of audiences. Actively involved in his community, he has served on the boards of several trade and service organizations including the local chapters of the American Cancer Society, Citizens Scholarship Foundations, School to work program, FARMEDIC, and others. He currently serves on the Orlando Small Business Chamber Board of Directors. John holds a degree in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Michael Pollard, Senior Consultant
After completing a successful 22 year career in the U. S. Navy, Michael received a B. S. in Business Management from the University of Phoenix in 2001. During his Navy career, Michael received numerous personal achievement awards for his work in personnel management and leadership development. He worked for over 5 years as the training director for a county government with over 5000 employees and developed, lead and executed an effective and comprehensive leadership development curriculum that significantly impacted the organizational culture. He is known for his unique, engaging and motivating style of facilitation that truly captures the essence of personal and organizational development. His focus is to help people move through awareness and insight to incorporating concepts into success habits that produce results in their professional and personal lives.

Diana Wong, Senior Research Consultant
Diana integrates business research with strategy and management consulting experiences in a number of different industry sectors. She earned her PhD in strategic management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. With an international background, her expertise focuses on creating strategies and organizational change. Diana supports leaders and management teams with strategic planning and facilitation, organization development, executive coaching, cross-cultural competency and organizational learning systems. Her consulting encompasses industries related to health care, automotive, management consulting, manufacturing, non-profit organizations, and faith-based organizations. She was the President of the ASTD, Ann Arbor chapter from 2005-06.

As a member of the BusinessWorks' team, Diana brings the full support of her organization, Sensei Change Associates, LLC for research and strategic developments. Visit them at www.senseichange.com.