About Elite Executive Operations
Experience that anticipates what comes next.
Elite Executive Operations was created to provide senior leaders with the experienced, thoughtful support that allows them to stay focused on the priorities only they can lead.
Behind that support is more than 27 years of experience working alongside executives and leadership teams in complex, fast-moving organizations where discretion, judgment, organization, and follow-through matter.
Meet the Founder
Darlene Gaven
Founder, Elite Executive Operations
Darlene brings more than 27 years of executive and administrative support experience across biotech, healthcare, nonprofit, and public-sector organizations.
Throughout her career, she has supported senior leaders in environments where priorities move quickly, information can be sensitive, and the ability to anticipate what comes next is essential.
Her experience includes complex executive calendar management, domestic and international travel, leadership and board support, stakeholder coordination, high-stakes meetings and events, budget and expense administration, onboarding, and operational support.
Her approach goes beyond managing tasks. She focuses on understanding how each executive works, identifying what needs attention before it becomes urgent, creating organization around competing priorities, and providing dependable follow-through.
Elite Executive Operations was created to bring that level of experienced, personalized support to executives and organizations that need senior-level assistance without necessarily adding a traditional full-time executive assistant role.
Experience Across Complex Organizations
Darlene’s professional background spans organizations where precision, confidentiality, adaptability, and executive-level coordination are essential.
Organizations listed reflect prior professional experience. No current affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is implied.
Executive Support Is About More Than the Task List
Exceptional executive support requires understanding context, priorities, relationships, communication preferences, and working style — not simply completing assigned tasks.
Anticipate
Identify needs, conflicts, deadlines, and potential issues before they become urgent.
Prioritize
Keep attention focused on what matters most when schedules and demands compete.
Coordinate
Create alignment across calendars, communications, stakeholders, meetings, travel, and operational details.
Follow Through
Ensure commitments, decisions, and important details do not get lost once the meeting ends.
High-Touch Support, Built on Trust
The strongest executive support relationships are built over time through trust, communication, consistency, and an understanding of how a leader operates.
Elite Executive Operations takes a personalized approach to each engagement, adapting support to the executive’s working style, communication preferences, priorities, and organizational environment.
Whether support is focused on a specific operational need or spans multiple areas of an executive’s workload, the goal remains the same: create greater clarity, capacity, and confidence behind the scenes.
Discretion Is Fundamental
Executive support often involves access to sensitive schedules, communications, organizational priorities, and business information. Professional judgment, discretion, and respect for confidentiality are fundamental to every engagement.