Novak Consulting Group

Catherine Tuck Parrish, Associate

Catherine has 20 years of management experience working with local governments, non-profit organizations, and associations.

Her work as a consultant includes executive recruitment, project management, and consulting on projects including process improvement, departmental assessments, development review, policy review, and fee studies. She has analyzed human resources, inspections, planning and development, communications, public works, recreation, and park functions. She has conducted executive searches for the positions of top manager, department head, and other key staff. She has also facilitated governing body workshops and strategic planning sessions.

Catherine’s most recent local government experience was as Deputy City Manager in Rockville, Maryland, where she oversaw parks and recreation, human resources, information technology, finance, communications, customer service, and intergovernmental functions. She also served as acting city manager for 11 months and Assistant City Manager. In Fairfax County, Virginia, she served as Assistant to the County Executive and worked on change management issues, including a new pay system, employee surveys and implementation plans, and internal communication improvements. She served as Ethics Advisor at ICMA and counseled elected officials and citizen groups regarding employment agreements, form of government issues, and recruitment. Additionally, Catherine served in the City Manager’s Offices in Denton and University Park, Texas. Experience for these cities included securing the first state and federal transit grants, initiating a citizen newsletter, and liaison work with neighborhood, civic, and university groups.

She served on the executive board of the Urban Management Assistants of North Texas. She was the chair of ICMA’s Acting Manager Task Force which produced a handbook for interim managers. She served as secretary, vice president, and president of Metropolitan Association of Local Government Assistants (MALGA) in the Washington, DC metro area. She led the Maryland City/County Management Association (MCCMA) as vice president and president.

Catherine has spoken at national and state conferences on ethics, forms of government, various human resource topics, long-term financial planning and budget strategies, high performance organizations, and leadership.

She has a bachelor’s degree in personnel administration and communication studies from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas.