New faculty spotlight: Diane Ratigan-Schmidt

Diane Ratigan-Schmidt is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Diane Ratigan-Schmidt
• UNMC title and department: Director of Workforce Strategy, instructor-special assignment, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences
• Hometown: Omaha, born and raised and lived in every corner of the city

Previous positions:

Since 2013, I have led my consulting company, Holisting Team Wellness Consulting, working in the areas of organizational workforce strategy, leadership development and strategic planning. I have extensive expertise in team collaboration, which will help me reinforce the science of team science for both the Great Plains IDeA-CTR and the broader UNMC research community. I’ll be partnering with the teams and leaders within the UNMC Department of Neurological Science, in partnership with Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, to strategize, align and optimize team collaboration through coaching and team facilitation.

I also am finishing my book, Healing Organizational Trauma, centered around well-being and translational organizational healing methodologies. I’m an immersive facilitator, keynote speaker and consultant, having worked with a wide range of organizations, including public and private institutions that include teams across the university system – including UNMC colleges and leadership teams, University of Nebraska at Omaha departments and NU Central Administration teams.

How I fell in love with helping employees, leaders, teams, and organizations thrive within the social and industrial constructs of our time:

My commitment to proactive healing in the workplace has evolved through years of experience as a people leader, human resources expert, organizational strategist, coach and consultant. While I do not hold a PhD or MD (as of yet), my expertise has been cultivated through firsthand experience, navigating the complexities of organizational performance alongside employees, leaders and teams including academia.

In today’s workplace, I help leaders identify and mitigate workforce risks related to talent, processes, behaviors or skill gaps. Often, I spend time coaching leaders and staff to help rebuild trust, establish a solid foundation and navigate sensitive conversations. 

While I’m inspired by the world of experiential learning applied to onboarding, leadership development and team collaboration for all levels, those things help me evolve the behavioral and cultural foundations within teams to ensure their success by moving teams from reactive, crisis-driven work toward proactive, strategic, purpose-driven focus, enabling them to prioritize and achieve their goals more effectively.

I love UNMC for many reasons and am thrilled to be contributing to this great place once again.

Research interests:

My research interests focus on the intersection of organizational trauma, psychological safety and whole-brain thinking, exploring how these elements impact leadership effectiveness, team dynamics and overall workplace well-being. While I am not clinically trained, my work aligns with medical and psychological disciplines by examining the physiological and cognitive effects of workplace stress and trauma, as well as evidence-based strategies for fostering resilience and sustainable organizational health. My areas of research interest include workforce strategy, team science, well-being of humans and healing methods.

Education:

• Masters of Science in organizational performance, Bellevue University
• Bachelors of Science in education, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Memberships:

• Society for Human Resources Professional – Senior Consulting Practioner
• Association for Clinical and Translational Science
• NeuroLeadership Institute
• Center for Creative Leadership
• Omaha Organizational Development Network
• Board Member, Wild Roots People’s Clinic
• Herrmann Brain Dominance
• Hogan Personality Inventory
• Agility Health

Three things people might not know about me:

• I am a mom to four incredible kids, including one UNMC med/peds doctor now in residency in Peoria, Illinois.
• I am absolutely obsessed with the beautiful hills on the UNMC campus and walking them as often as possible (running them when I’m in better shape).
• I love educational podcasts, rock concerts and gardening.