Diane Tompkins

I’m on a life-long journey to understand human beings, the stories we tell, and the impact of those stories on our ability to live authentic lives. 

A Masters in Literature (way back when), taught me about insight, empathy, and the power of understanding the world through others’ lived experience.

I spent 15 years spent in a handful of global ad agencies, refining my analytic, strategic and leadership skills, building brands for clients like H-P and American Express, and fostering healthy creative collaborations.

In 2001, I joined my friend Pam Scott at The Curious Company, an SF-based brand strategy and human-centered design firm, as Founding Partner. 

We spent our early years partnering with corporate clients like the Discovery Channel, Starbucks, kate spade, and MINI Cooper. In the last decade we’ve made the social sector our sole focus. At the heart of our work are women and girls, and making the world work better for them - challenging norms and redesigning systems to honor their strengths, aspirations and lived experiences. Clients have included the Maverick Collective, the Marin Community Foundation, Caring for Colorado Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Stanford’s Global Center for Gender Equality, The Skoll Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among many others. We are proud to have made meaningful contributions to our clients’ work advancing gender equality, feminist philanthropy, mental health, economic opportunity and reproductive justice.

I’m a graduate of the Authentic Leadership Program at Naropa University (2011), trained and was certified as a Co-Active Coach, through the Coaches Training Institute (2015), am a long-time student of the Diamond Approach and avid explorer of the work of adrienne maree brown, Frank Ostaseski and Resmaa Menakem. I’m also certified in the Leadership Circle Profile - an elegant and inspiring 360º assessment model.

“What’s wanted of us now? What is the future we are helping emerge?” Questions like these light me up. And my inquiry has deepened as I have explored dynamics around belonging, power and privilege. I have been changed by the lived-experiences of others - especially my colleagues and clients who are marginalized by dominant social norms and systems.

I bring love, my full presence, a passion for inquiry and the breadth of my lived experience to every coaching relationship.

My home is in Marin County, California on unceded Coast Miwok territory, where I live with three generations of my family, including two teenage children, my husband and an enormous dog who barks at jet streams in the sky.