Executive Coaching 

River Heights Solutions empowers higher education leaders to bring their vision into focus and navigate complexity with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

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Lead with Confidence, Clarity, and Purpose.

River Heights Solutions’ Clients Include:

CFOs, Vice Presidents for Finance and Administration, and other leaders who feel weighed down by competing demands and constant pressure.

Emerging leaders preparing for the next step in their careers, who are looking to develop their influence skills and cultivate executive presence.

Faculty, staff, and administrators in transition following institutional layoffs or closures, as well as those contemplating career changes, who seek clarity on what’s next.

Professionals seeking to explore new directions for their career, strengthen leadership skills, or align their work with their values through personalized coaching.

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Have You Lost Focus?

Your days are filled with budget pressures, staffing challenges, and instability. The board wants answers, faculty need resources, and your team looks to you for direction. You’re on a fast track to burnout.

You deserve a supportive, confidential thought-partner so you can: 

  • Gain perspective on your priorities 

  • Calm the chaos and focus on what matters

  • Trust your team and delegate effectively

  • Feel fulfilled and effective, rather than exhausted and stuck

Maura Donahue, Ph.D., Certified Executive Coach

Maura Donahue is the founder of River Heights Solutions, LLC. With more than 25 years in higher education, including serving as Vice President for Finance and Administration at a private institution, she understands the challenges you’re facing. Having experienced the pressures of the role, Maura brings authenticity and credibility to every coaching relationship.

With certifications in both executive and career coaching, Maura combines financial expertise, senior leadership experience, and genuine care for her clients. Using solutions-focused coaching, she provides confidential space for higher education leaders to regain clarity, build confidence, and flourish personally and professionally.

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Services

Coaching for Higher Education Leaders

One-on-one coaching for leaders experiencing challenges and roadblocks on the path to success. Gain confidence. Lead with clarity. Flourish in your role.

  • River Heights Solutions provides one-on-one coaching for finance leaders navigating challenges along their path. Through one-on-one coaching sessions tailored to your goals, coaching provides a supportive and confidential space for you to reflect on your current situation, focus on what you want in the future, and create your own roadmap to success.  

    Through coaching, busy VPFAs and CFOs have replaced overwhelm with boundaries, improved their delegation skills, and reclaimed their time to focus on strategic priorities.  Other clients, who sought coaching to support them as they transitioned into leadership roles, found that coaching helped them focus their vision, amplify their voice, and exercise more influence as they stepped into their unique leadership identity.  

    Coaching can help with: communicating more effectively, reframing beliefs that hold you back, building relationships across your organization, leading change, “managing up,” and enhancing your executive presence.  

    We also offer coaching programs to foster your success in a new role, as well as developing and leading your team. 

  • River Heights Solutions offers personalized coaching for professionals navigating career changes, whether pursuing career advancement or exploring and discerning new directions after organizational disruption. Through focused sessions, we support you in clarifying your core values, deciding what you want (and what you don’t!) in your next chapter, refining your message about the value you bring, and ensuring your materials communicate that value so you can move forward with confidence. Our approach ensures your transition is purposeful, grounded in your values and vision, and aligned with your personal and professional goals.

  • River Heights Solutions advises boards and executive teams in aligning financial strategy and operational priorities with institutional mission, especially in moments of transition or growth. Our experience and curiosity surfaces the right questions, clarifies decision pathways, and creates transformative conversations that catalyze vision into action. Clients come to me when they need a thought partner who understands the institutional perspective and has experience with operational details, thereby allowing for translation between the two, helping leaders act with confidence.


    In addition to financial and strategic consulting, River Heights Solutions helps institutions explore Energy as a Service (EaaS). This model allows colleges and universities to upgrade their energy infrastructure (even transition to solar, wind, or geothermal), while avoiding up-front capital costs, thereby reducing strain on capital budgets.  Newer energy infrastructure, provided without impact to the balance sheet, can reduce utility expenses, improve energy reliability, support sustainability goals, and transfer facility maintenance risk to a trusted third party. EaaS allows your institution to focus on its key mission, and get out from under the risk of aging and obsolete energy infrastructure. If you’re dealing with the ticking time-bombs of a century old steamline, contact RHS to learn more. 

  • River Heights Solutions facilitates strategic planning sessions that deeply engage the voices of your stakeholders and move beyond the traditional SWOT analysis. We help organizations leverage strengths to capitalize on opportunities, mitigate risks, and bolster weaknesses against external challenges. As part of our strategic planning process, RHS facilitates resource allocation conversations to evaluate the financial, organizational, operational, and cultural adjustments necessary for successful execution of your strategies before finalizing them. In this way, we ensure your plan is practical, actionable, and ready for implementation, not relegated to a shelf.

  • River Heights Solutions delivers keynote addresses, conference sessions, and transformational workshops that inspire higher education audiences and beyond. Maura’s workshop title, “Plug in to Your Power to Rewire Your Circuitry, Amplify Your Voice, and Supercharge Your Impact” helps participants regain control of their time, analyze their powerbase to build their influence, and learn how their physiology can affect their cognitive state. Perfect for participants at any level, from staff accountants to CFOs, workshop attendees leave with actionable strategies they can implement immediately to enhance their effectiveness and impact.

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What Clients Say

  • “Maura jumped in, ready to go. She was able to not only help manage some difficult situations but also bring solutions and creative ideas to the table. She is a joy to work with.”

    – R.K., Vice President for University Advancement

  • “Maura provided structured and informed support during a time of great tension and uncertainty. Her deep compassion and empathy shine bright.”

    – K.F., Executive Assistant

  • “Maura was amazingly calming, kind, empathetic, and solution-based in a very difficult time period. I felt listened to and cared for when working with Maura.”

    – B.Y., University Provost

  •  "Working with Maura has been truly transformative."

    “She asks the tough, thought-provoking questions that challenge me to think deeper and grow as a leader. Her approach keeps me accountable while always providing support and encouragement along the way. I appreciate how Maura balances compassion with candor—pushing me to stretch beyond my comfort zone while ensuring I feel guided and supported. Thanks to her coaching, I’ve gained greater clarity, confidence, and direction in both my professional and personal goals."     

    - A. H., Chief Human Resources Officer, Minnesota

  • “Before coaching with Maura I was experiencing a lot of interpersonal and organizational challenges."

    “I was feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and helpless.  Having a non-judgmental coach was extremely helpful and valuable to me, as Maura helped me recognize my own power.  Coaching is like having another tool in the tool box!”  

    - A.S. Project Executive, Construction

  • “The unique benefit of coaching is that my coach really has no agenda other than helping me process what I want to do.  My staff, board, partners, and consultants all have various agendas.  Coaching time is one of the only relationships that's simply about discerning what I want to do.”

    - Rob B., National Director, Marianist Lay Community of North America

  • “Maura’s calm approach has been a help to me during these very difficult months. Her emphasis on celebrating the wins no matter how small was very important.”

    —J.S. VP Business Affairs & CFO

  • “Maura is one of the few people who deeply listen and understand what I'm saying. " 

    “I typically get very well-meaning people cutting me off and trying to smooth over whatever wrinkle I'm talking about, or getting very enthusiastic and wanting to tell me how they see it.  Having a space with someone who is genuinely interested in understanding my perspective is rare and highly beneficial.”

    - Rob B., National Director, Marianist Lay Community of North America

  • “Maura is empathetic, compassionate, and understanding."

    “She listened and was extremely respectful in her engagement with me.  Her calm demeanor, positive energy, and overall personality make her an extremely effective coach!”

    – A. S., Project Executive, Construction

  • “Before I started working with Maura, I was balancing many hats. I feel that I am now tackling the issues I face more proactively, and less reactively, now that I have intentionally spent time coaching with Maura to work out the best course of action for me.”

    - Rob B., National Director, Marianist Lay Community of North America

  • “I was new to working in higher ed and new to being a senior leader. "

    “I was feeling overwhelmed due to the unique set of circumstances my institution was facing.  [Through coaching] I allowed myself to set some time boundaries. I have prioritized my workday, and learned to enforce it so I keep control of my day. My overall self-awareness of how I am reacting/responding to a situation and how I influence others has been powerful.” 

    -J.S. VP Business Affairs & CFO  

  • “Being the top executive can often feel isolating, but working with Maura, I feel less alone and less like my issues are unusual or ones that can't be solved. Coaching has helped me identify several specific strategies, including ways to delegate responsibilities, which has made my life easier.” 

    - Rob B., National Director, Marianist Lay Community of North America

How To Get Started

Three easy steps: 

Step 1 | Schedule a Complimentary Consultation

We’ll discuss your current challenges and goals.  

Step 2 | Choose Your Engagement 

I’ll recommend a path that fits your needs.

Step 3 | Achieve Your Outcomes

Together, we’ll create the space for you to flourish.

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Executive Coaching: Frequently Asked Questions

What is coaching?

A coaching relationship is a thought-provoking, creative partnership that inspires leaders to clarify priorities and elevate their influence, bringing focus and momentum to their work.

How do I know if coaching is right for me?

Coaching could be right for you if: 

  • You’re frequently being pulled into details and rarely have space to think strategically.

  • You’re losing energy, sleep, or focus under the weight of competing demands.

  • You want to elevate your leadership presence and influence across your institution.

  • You’re ready to get out of survival mode and find your flow in leadership. 

Who do you work with?

River Heights Solutions specializes in coaching higher education financial leaders, including CFOs, VPFAs, Controllers, AVPs, and rising professionals preparing for senior roles. Maura also coaches leaders in academic affairs areas, as well as leaders at other not-for-profit organizations and for-profit corporations. 

How much does coaching cost?

Pricing depends on the depth and duration of the engagement. We’ll talk about investment and fit during the complimentary consultation.

Why work with River Heights Solutions?

With more than 25 years of higher education experience as a faculty member, administrator, and Vice President for Finance and Administration, Maura knows what it’s like to navigate the challenges you’re facing. Her coaching combines industry expertise, compassion, and creativity to empower you to flourish in all areas of your life.

It’s Time To Find Your Flow 

When you regain clarity, you lead with confidence, make thoughtful decisions, and reconnect with the purpose that brought you here. Leadership can feel calm, focused, and deeply fulfilling again.

You deserve to be in alignment with your mission.  It starts with one conversation.

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