A Little Love
From Our Clients

Catherine Mattice-Zundel
Rebecca Del Secco
Toni
Toni Herndon
Janet Anderson
Kathy Kaya
Connie Thornton-Reed
Connie Thornton-Reed
Stephanie Lott
Jennifer Areola
Crissy Hinoguin
Em Rose Apple Bacas

“I have worked with Catherine for several years to move the needle on the culture at the Water District. We have partnered to teach anti-bullying, including bystander intervention; she has conducted coaching for several of our leaders; and conducted multiple workplace culture surveys. The most impactful work was Catherine leading us through the process to create an Action Plan to address feedback in the survey. The results of this effort was a dramatic improvement in our follow up survey. The work Catherine has done for us has helped us truly become a place where our culture brings out the best in our people every day.
-Karleen Harp, HR Manager, Rainbow Municipal Water District

“This was the second time Catherine Mattice and Civility Partners provided professional development training at the University of Florida. Collaboratively, we designed a half-day session for business administrators to learn and practice ways to identify and respond (both in the moment and afterward) to bullying behaviors in the workplace. We were extremely impressed with Catherine’s flexibility and openness to adding activities and content that tailored the workshop to our specific needs. In our experience with Catherine, she possesses such a comprehensive mastery of this topic that she could apply her expertise to seemingly any culture or workplace. The end result of our collaboration was hugely successful. Not only was the content spot on, but Catherine’s ability to engage our audience with humor and passion for the topic was first-rate.”
– Barb Mitola, Director for Gator Business Administrator Services, University of Florida

“Catherine customized and provided training for our Senior and Executive Managers on the topic of How to create a work environment that incorporate Civility, Respect, and Accountability. She was a pleasure to work with. Her facilitation skills are excellent and made the training engaging and memorable for our Managers. She incorporated our County’s I.D.E.A.L. values into her presentation which made the training even more relevant for our Managers. Some of the comments from the evaluations were “The training was very good. I appreciate the take home activities and information. We were not just given information but also given the how too.”, “Very helpful topic, thank you for the suggestions and real life practical applications for the workplace.”, “Civility is a great investment of time. Learned great techniques to improve the work environment.”, and “Very important topic. Catherine did an excellent job.”
– Frances M. Stokes, Organizational Development and Training Officer, Solano County

“We wanted to create a training program for our employees that focused on developing their soft skills. Managers and supervisors, in helping their employees increase their skills, would use the training program as an opportunity to establish professional development plans with their employees. A catalog of courses was therefore needed. I’ve worked with Catherine in the past, so immediately thought of her to work with us to develop and customize curriculum to meet our diverse needs. Catherine designed the curriculum and materials, which included a train-the-trainer script. She provided the training for us several times as the internal training team learned the material, and we are now conducting the training. When she facilitated the training I received a lot of very positive feedback about her style and delivery; people enjoyed the interactive content and really felt they’d learned something from her. Now that we are running the trainings using our internal trainers, the curriculum she provided continues to be a useful resource! Catherine is reliable, easy to work with, and works hard to ensure her clients’ needs are met.”
– Melissa M. Esten, Director of Workforce Development, Goodwill Industries of San Diego County

“After handling several internal complaints about the work environment in one of our departments, we decided to locate an expert who could provide training to our staff about professional conduct and communication. Catherine worked with our management team and explained that training was the first step in solving issues in the department. It really comes down to good communication. She not only worked with the management team of that department but provided the tools to staff during their training to set the stage for creating a positive work environment. This training was so well received we decided to offer the program to another department. We are pleased with the progress in both departments and attribute this to the training and tools provided by Civility Partners.”
– Julie Hatcher, Vice President of Human Resources, O’Connor Hospital

“I was really happy with how the training went, and have gotten nothing but positive feedback from the workshop attendees. Catherine did a great job – she spent a lot of time ensuring the material was pertinent to our needs, and she really got people to interact with her and with each other during the training. She also provided several great ideas to implement with the staff so that we can keep the conversation around a positive workplace going long after she is gone. I will definitely be using her ideas in future meetings and talking with managers about using them within individual departments.”
– Shaney McCoy, CMHC, Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Chair of Student Affairs Staff Development Committee, Weber State University

“Inland Regional Center was experiencing a very hostile and volatile work environment to the point that employees, good friends who had shared an office for over three years, were no longer able to work side by side. Behavior that would be seen on the playground with young teenagers was being replayed for some staff. Civility Partners was recruited to spend the day with IRC Managers and Directors. This training gave the managers the tools to create change; moving from negative behavior to more positive attitudes towards each other in the work units. Some of the negative walls came down and allowed the positive to creep in and at the same time a way to build trust among one another. Because the discussion was done in a safe environment with Catherine Mattice it allowed for our minds to open to ideas and methods to allow ourselves to get beyond the negativity of the past; to move toward new ways to create the needed path for change. Today, people are smiling and looking at one another. Laughter is heard in the halls. People are able to problem solve and reach a good resolution. It has taken over a year and IRC is becoming, once again, a good place to work.”
– Carol Fitzgibbons, Executive Director, Inland Regional Center

“I have had the pleasure of participating in three seminars where Catherine Mattice presented to various audiences. She is a dynamic speaker in which she makes the subject matter very relevant to the daily work environment. Her guidance assists management on how they should work through the problems that arise with workplace bullying. I would recommend employers to take advantage of the various programs offered by Civility Partners.”
– Ray Kewley, Director of Human Resources, iHerb.com

“I worked with Catherine to address bullying in our workplace. It was a mandatory training and you know what happens when employees come to a mandatory training. The eyes roll, attitude is happening as they walk in the door. The interesting thing was when Catherine started facilitating the training most of the employees took notice. She delivered this training in a way that made it personal and allowed the employees to recognize their behavior was bullying. They just thought it was fun and funny. Catherine went to all of our sites across the country. The employees learned how their behavior was detrimental to everyone. Thank you, Catherine. The shift in behavior was immediate and they also started to look out for each other. I so appreciate how you brought this training to the team.” – Michele Weston, Human Resources Manager, Embraer Air

“Catherine is an expert facilitator. A program participant recently described her workshop as “incredibly helpful, concise…providing concrete tools for applying material back at work.” No surprise. In the six years that Catherine has been part of the Nonprofit Management Solutions team, she has garnered the praise of students and colleagues alike for her knowledge, insight, and dynamic facilitation style.”
– Stephanie McCullers, Training Manager, Nonprofit Management Solutions

“Catherine has written several courses for our online training programs, and we are huge fans of her work. She is a professional – always providing clean work that is on time and easy for the editor to work with. And with her special knowledge in the area of positive workplaces and civil communication, she brings a valuable perspective to the courses she writes. We look forward to a long-lasting relationship with Civility Partners and are happy to have them on our roster of subject matter experts.”
– Brian Taylor, CEO & Steve Holland, Editorial Director; Scenario Learning

“The information presented clarified the ways (bullying) behavior can affect an individual and the negative impact it has for the workplace. The training will be an invaluable resource to employees as they perform their daily duties and enable them to assist any individual that may be experiencing such a problem. They will also be more aware in the way they communicate with their co-workers.”
– Guy Chambers, Captain, Lemon Grove Station, San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept

“I had the pleasure of working with Catherine and her workshop was thorough, informative, and entertaining. Catherine was a professional to work with and a confident, compassionate, and dynamic presenter. She was very well-received by her audience and was given excellent remarks on our evaluation forms. In fact, we liked her so much we are planning on a Part II!”
– Katie O’Leary, Professional Development Academy, Cuyamaca College

“Just a really great session! Easy to listen to and provided valuable info, examples, solutions with a pleasant style”… “Very good practical information that I can take back to the office and start using tomorrow”… “Lots of clarity in dealing with bullying”… “This was the best presentation in the whole conference. Presented well, applies for real life work problems. Thank you Catherine!”… “It is obvious that Ms. Mattice is very knowledgeable on this topic. Her audience was very engaged and it was obvious quite a number of HR professionals are experiencing bullying”… “Amazingly helpful! Best class!”… “The best session I went to. Lots of tangible recommendations.”… “Best session of the conference”… “Rich, experienced instructor”… “This was the best session I attended… lots of information and takeaways. I want her to present on other topics!”… “Best presentation of the conference. I learned a lot.”
– Attendee Evaluations, Annual Conference of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)

“I have been working with Catherine Mattice and Civility Partners for more than a year. During this time she has presented several webinars relating to workplace bullying for HRWebAdvisor. We all agree that the issue of bullying in the workplace needs to be addressed directly and practical solutions found to minimize this problem. Catherine has impressed me with both her knowledge and presentation skills as well as with her desire to find practical answers to this complex issue. I look forward to continuing to work with Catherine again in the near future.”
– Philip Gabel, DKG Media LP, dba HRWebAdvisor

“I have to say, over my career as an EAP I’ve seen similar presentations, and honestly have never been impressed by them. Yours was excellent. Powerpoints weren’t a wall of words, you included available research with citations, you cover the topic from various viewpoints and spoke to your EAP audience very appropriately, your perspective was not limited to the US. Nice job.”
– Jan Price, Manager, Professional Learning Resources, Employee Assistance Professional’s Association (EAPA)

“Very informative talk… you succinctly explained the issues in a framework that I could understand and share with my staff, and others who can benefit from the primer on bullying.”
– Gary Barnes, Clinical Manager, Reliant Behavioral Health

“What a great presentation! On behalf of ACR Workplace Section, thank you so much! Very informative presentation and well organized. You certainly represent a wealth of information and generated many questions that provided clarity to a complex subject. Thanks again for your contributions to the field of dispute resolution!”
– Debra Dupree, MFT, Association of Conflict Resolution Workplace Section, Past Tri-Chair/Advisory Board, Past-President ADR San Diego

“Catherine presented our first SHRM Maine State Council webinar and was truly a pleasure to work with, she responded to all our request in a very timely and professional manner. Her passion for “Understanding Bullying in the Workplace” came across very clear in her presentation and provided our listeners with valuable information on this topic.”
– SHRM Maine State Council Webinar Committee

“Catherine’s presentation with Paycor Summit was truly wonderful! I find myself in complete agreement with other attendees who labeled it as the BEST presentation of the Summit. In fact, I’d go a step further and say it’s one of the BEST presentations I’ve been part of in years! Catherine’s content and the delivery thereof were exceptional. Her ability to speak, share, advise, and capture attention is truly remarkable. It’s evident that she possesses a unique talent for making a significant impact through her presentations. Kudos to Catherine and the entire team for such an outstanding contribution to the Summit!” – Sherri Hayn, Office Manager, Vapor Systems Technologies, Inc.  

“Catherine is truly magnificent! Her work makes a tremendous difference for BIPOC people like myself. Thank you for your commitment to share your knowledge and expertise. I attended a webinar she did for the Paycor platform on the topic Emotional Intelligence (EQ). It changed my life in the most profound way! And the resources that she shared are so magnificent and actionable! Tremendous thanks and I will continue to share Catherine’s content and recommend her without hesitation!”
– Michelle Selman-Fischer, Phlebotomist, GMHC   

“After twenty three wonderful years with a government agency in a job I loved and a outstanding work performance record, my career was turned upside down by the most awful, verbally abusive supervisor I have ever encountered. As a result of her egregious behavior I became physically, mentally, and emotionally ill to the point that my doctor recommended that I retire or suffer more severe medical complications. With my health in immediate danger I chose to retire five years earlier than anticipated.

As I went through the workers compensation process, every agency employee and doctor I encountered told me that I would never, ever succeed because work stress cases in CA are almost impossible to win. Even my attorney had his doubts that we would succeed at trial. Just when things appeared hopeless, my husband read an article in the newspaper about Catherine Mattice of Civility Partners, an expert in workplace bullying, and he decided to contact her on my behalf and the results were amazing!

Before Catherine got involved in the case workers comp denied my claim and absolutely refused to negotiate. After reviewing all of my documentation and medical records Catherine put together a detailed, expert witness report that completely changed the course of my case. Several weeks later I had a large settlement check in my hands and a feeling of personal and professional vindication.

If you are being harassed, threatened or verbally abused at work and don’t know where to go for help, contact Catherine Mattice at Civility Partners. You will be glad you did!”
– Cindy Taylor