Rebuilding Culture from the Inside Out: Lessons from Norah Marsh

We sat down with Norah Marsh, Founder and CEO of Marsh & McMahon Consulting, to talk about what it felt like to collaborate with Ember and the moments that stood out most to her.

When Norah Marsh first worked with members of Ember, she was navigating the immense challenges of leading through the pandemic. At that time, she stepped into the role of CEO for a 14,000-person organization undergoing a major cultural transformation. She faced the monumental task of rebuilding trust in an environment where morale was low, change fatigue was high, and uncertainty related to pandemic management was paramount.  

“I’d been brought in to lead a turnaround in workplace culture,” she recalled. “And then the pandemic hit. I needed partners who could help me understand what was really happening beneath the surface. Not just through data, but through people’s stories.”  

From the beginning, Norah noticed something different about the team’s approach: they lived their values in real, practical ways. To them, it wasn’t just in theory, but in how they interacted with every person they met.  

Their way of working reflected care, generosity, openness to change, and a commitment to listening… the exact principles that sit at the heart of their values.  

“What really struck me was how staff responded to them,” she said. “People felt safe. They felt heard. They wanted to share their stories — and some of those stories were incredibly painful.”  

Ember’s team met each of those stories with compassion and trauma-informed care. They listened without judgment, created room for honesty, and moved at a pace that prioritized people’s wellbeing. “They became an extension of my leadership in that moment,” Norah said. “They approached every person with empathy, and that changed how people felt about the organization almost immediately.”  

When the depth of need became clear, their team didn’t hesitate to adjust course. “We quickly realized the original plan wasn’t going to meet people where they were,” Norah explained. “There were just so many people who needed to talk that we had to shift our focus. Ember adapted seamlessly. That willingness to learn and evolve showed how seriously they take their own value of It’s a Work in Progress. They always put people’s wellbeing first.”  

Behind the scenes, they helped her make sense of hundreds of stories. “They helped us identify patterns and themes,” she said. “That analysis became the foundation for how we rebuilt trust and repaired relationships.” This is where Norah saw the value of Creating Waves of Change come to life by changing the direction of the entire culture.  

But for Norah, Ember’s commitment to care wasn’t just something they offered to staff, it was something they modelled for her personally.  

“I was giving everything I had. Every hour and every ounce of energy was dedicated to supporting others,” she said. “And then one day, Jesse stopped and reflected back the impact I was having. He told me what people were noticing, what they were saying. But it wasn’t false flattery; it was grounded and real. I didn’t realize how much I needed that moment of acknowledgment until he said it.”  

That reflection echoed Ember’s belief that care must flow both ways; leaders included. “When you’re in a CEO role, especially in education or non-profit sectors, you’re so focused on giving. It’s not in the culture to take. That simple act of checking in on my wellbeing reminded me that taking care of others starts with taking care of yourself.”  

The work also deepened Norah’s understanding of inclusive care. During their engagement, she saw Ember actively reflect on privilege, identity, and representation. “Our staff were incredibly diverse, and Ember took real care to make sure that diversity was honoured in how the engagement unfolded,” she said.  

She watched Jesse and the team evolve their own practice by asking questions like, How do we listen without reinforcing systems of dominance? How do we design cultural assessments that reflect everyone’s voice? She also noticed the generosity in how the team made space for emotion, offering their time and energy so people felt seen and supported. Ember gave attention, space, and amplification to the people who needed it most. “They understood that taking care of each other means meeting people where they are and amplifying those who aren’t always heard,” she said. “That takes humility and courage.”  

When asked to describe what it’s like to work with Ember, Norah put it simply. “It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “They bring such positive energy, but also this incredible capacity for reflection. They think not just about the project, but about how they’re showing up, how they’re caring for the client, and how they’re holding space for emotion in the process. It’s a very human way of working.”  

Taken together, Norah’s experience was a mosaic of all four of Ember’s values in motion; Take Care of Yourself and Take Care of Others, Be Generous, It’s a Work in Progress, and Create Meaningful Change. “Ember showed us what values look like in practice.”