ICCO - About Us

You will be invited to leading-edge learning events where you will be able to build an invaluable network.

Facilitated conversation and dialogue
Exchange of ideas on new and current topics
Innovative concepts
Sharing of knowledge and expertise
Multi-stakeholder environment
Generative dialogue

We create conversations that don’t happen anywhere else. These events cross the typical silos between users, practitioners and educators. In no other profession do the users and practitioners partner and make decisions about the profession’s future. We serve seasoned, experienced professionals with rich, generative dialogue in a marketing-free zone.

ICCO is a uniquely broad community of managers of coaching programs in organizations, executive coaches, internal coaches, coaching educators, researchers and coaching firms. Our distinct multiple stakeholder composition and our client-centric emphasis provide an approach to advancing the profession of coaching that actively involves all the critical players, especially the organizations that use coaching in order to succeed.

We envision a “United Nations of Coaching”, a body of divergent opinions and perspectives, alert to the ideas of others, collaborative, inclusive, respectful of differences and transparently apolitical.

We create settings where all audiences touched by organizational coaching can come together in intimate, senior conversations for the advancement of the field.

We learn with a broadly diverse convocation of people. We shape, advance, and promote organizational coaching by providing a forum where our members engage in global knowledge-sharing, dialogue, and networking.

We expand perspectives. We survey and recruit thought leaders in each of our stakeholder groups. We co-sponsor research projects and international think tanks.

We have access to the latest research. We create products (e.g., The ROI of Coaching CD), events, (Symposia and TeleForums) and books that embody our purpose and serve our stakeholders.

We host leading-edge learning events where we build an invaluable network.

Member Benefits:

First Access to Symposia and Teleforums
Dialogs with all stakeholders of coaching
Topic and sector-centric, generative conversations from a 360 perspective from all stakeholders’ perspective
Access to online virtual community (via ICCO’s LinkedIn)
Complimentary access to CoachLeader Update
Complimentary access to Teleforums for virtual dialog
Senior level conversations with all critical players to advance the profession of coaching
The opportunity to get involved in ICCO specific committees within your area of interest and expertise (Membership, Marketing, Governance & Ethics Committee, Research, Teleforums, CoachLeader Update, ICCO Website/Technology) – for more information, please email us at leaders@coachingconsortium.org.
Member organizations receive a one-year complimentary subscription to IJCO (International Journal of Coaching in Organizations)
All other members receive a 10% discount to the IJCO

ICCO is a not-for- profit association with IRC 501(c)(6) status.

Quick links:

Current Board Members of ICCO
Founding Board Members of ICCO
Past Board Members of ICCO

Meet our New Board
Executive Committee

Vicki Foley, President

Vicki Foley, as Senior Vice President for Lee Hecht Harrison, is responsible for leadership consulting and talent solution services in the New Jersey and Great Delaware Valley region for Lee Hecht Harrison. These services range from organization alignment, group capability building to individual leadership development. Vicki is a certified executive coach with over nine years of coaching experience. She is the Program Manager for Lee Hecht Harrison’s strategic alliance partnership with The Wharton School.

Vicki has designed and delivered leadership consulting and human capital solutions programs for global pharmaceutical companies, technology firms, financial services and health care organizations. She has presented on the subjects of leadership theories, trends, engagement metrics and organization change models to senior level audiences at industry conferences, company meetings and universities.

Vicki’s earlier experience at Lee Hecht Harrison includes the positions as Regional Leadership Specialist for the Leadership Consulting Practice and Director for the Lee Hecht Harrison Princeton, NJ office, where she managed the consulting practice. Vicki joined Lee Hecht Harrison in 1993 as a Senior Consultant. Prior to joining Lee Hecht Harrison, Vicki held executive Human Resource positions at Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), a global power and automation technologies firm. There, she managed the HR function for the power simulation and controls group of ABB as well as the expatriate and repatriation programs for the UK, China, Taiwan, and the former Soviet Union.

Vicki holds a B.S in Business Administration and Organization Management and is currently studying International Management in a Master’s Program at the University of Maryland. In addition, Vicki is a member of the Board of Directors of The International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations (ICCO) and a member of the Peer Review Committee of the Organizational Development Institute. Vicki is the recipient of five LHH President’s Award—four for exceptional team performance and one for exceptional individual contribution to the leadership consulting practice.

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Donna Karlin, Vice President

Donna Karlin CEC, founder of A Better Perspective™ has pioneered the specialized practice of Shadow Coaching™ with global political, business and senior organizational leaders in the public and private sectors.

By entering the client’s environment, she works with them in translating awareness into practice, essentially fostering the emergence of the Shadow Coach™ in the clients themselves. Donna uses an adaptable and comprehensive approach in working with her clients; she uses a unique structure that enables her to understand individuals and their worlds sufficiently to design coaching that shifts their developmental level. Her coaching attends to the individual, social, relational and environmental aspects of her client's ‘world’. It is an integral approach that results in the client developing a deeper, more comprehensive sense of themselves and their place in their organization and the world as a whole. Through her unique approach, Donna works with clients to achieve individual and organizational excellence.

Principal of A Better Perspective™, Ms. Karlin has worked for over 25 years as a coach and trainer with clients in Canada, the US and abroad in the business/corporate sector, political Federal Ministries, government departments and agencies and the medical community.

Donna is an author, lectures internationally, is a key player in 6 international think tanks and research and development teams, including the Microsoft™ UCG ‘Vision Team’; a small team of independent visionaries / experts who provide valuable, contextual insight into technology, business and workplace issues and trends. In response to widely expressed interest to her highly successful and innovative approach to coaching, she established the School of Shadow Coaching™ to enable others to learn the practice.

She is involved in numerous professional organizations including Vice President of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations (ICCO), a member of the Board of Directors of The Coach Initiative, a member in good standing of the International Coach Federation, Canadian Society for Training and Development, is a founding member of CoachVille, founding member of the International Association of Coaching (IAC), is a member of Faith Popcorn's TalentBank, and is an Executive and Political Leadership Expert for SelfGrowth.com.

Donna’s work has been written up in Fast Company Magazine, The National Post (Financial Post), The Globe and Mail, The New York Times Business Section, The Boston Globe, Personal Success Magazine, as well as in numerous online articles including BusinessListening.com, The Training Report, and SelfGrowth.com. She has written two eBooks, ‘The Power to Decide: An Executive’s Guide to Conquering a Chaotic Day’ and ‘Climbing Out of the Meeting Pit: Smart Meetings for Smart Leaders’ and has recently co-authored the best selling book ‘101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life’ and is currently working on a book on ‘Human Based Leadership’.

Her blog Perspectives™ is subscribed to by readers from 137 countries and territories. Donna writes a column for Fast Company called “Jumping Into the Deep End of Leadership”, is a contributing author for The Coaching Commons, is an expert author for Evan Carmichael: Motivation and Strategies for Entrepreneurs, and is a columnist for Canadian Government Executive Magazine.

She has a proven track record in developing leadership and managing change.

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Michael Sanson, Treasurer

Michael Sanson
Michael has coached corporate and executive clients from around Europe and the US. He has been a visiting coach and consultant at IMD, the leading business school in Lausanne, Switzerland, working on more than 20 leadership development programs since 2000. Michael also works with the Copenhagen Business School and the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. In addition he serves a range of corporate clients on a variety of coaching and consulting assignments, and maintains a private practice in which he coaches individuals both in person and by telephone. Prior to becoming a coach Michael’s own business career included spells with Goldman Sachs, Arthur Andersen and Motorola.

Michael was the Founding President of the International Coach Federation (ICF) in Switzerland, and has also been a member of the ICF’s European leadership team. He is an editorial board member for the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations and a board member of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations.

Michael’s credentials include a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen, an MA from Oxford University and professional qualifications in Chartered Accountancy and Corporate Treasury. His doctoral research focuses on the supply and organization of executive coaching services and was published in June 2006.

Michael is married to a Mexican career diplomat and they have four young sons.

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Margaret Turner, Secretary

Margaret Turner has 20 year of experience in helping organizations and individuals achieve success. Her experience as an Organizational Consultant has successfully assisted organizations to increase profits by helping employees link their actions to business imperatives. Since her passion is in non-profit healthcare, she serves as an internal consultant in the Organizational Effectiveness Department at Kaiser Permanente Colorado. In her current role, Margaret works with the Senior Executives in Colorado to set the leadership development/talent management strategy and to deliver against it. Margaret has completed the Coaches Training Institutes Core Co-Active Coaching curriculum, is certified in MBT, FiroB, EQI, EQI 360, Career Architect and the Hay 360 assessment tools.

When Margaret is not working she is volunteering her time teaching wilderness courses for the Colorado Mountain Club, and spending as much time in the mountains climbing, hiking, ice climbing, snow camping, and backpacking.

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Board Members

Kevin Cuthbert

As Chief Operating Officer of Karlin Sloan & Company, Kevin Cuthbert brings more than two decades of experience as an executive to our growing consultancy. Kevin has served as an executive coach and consultant to scores of individuals and organizations, including many from the Fortune 100, across a variety of industries, in most major business centers around the globe. Former roles include VP and Senior Consultant with the Gallup Organization, VP of Global Human Resources for Swissotel, Director of Research with the Hay Group, and COO of a local Chicago consulting firm. Kevin has also served as a Board member for two for-profit corporations in the US and Switzerland.

Kevin takes a practical, strengths-based approach to his executive leadership development practice. Practical in that it focuses on the key behaviors required for improved performance. Strengths-based in that the focus is on what is currently working in the executives leadership style that can be leveraged for improved performance and satisfaction. Mr. Cuthbert has extensive experience designing and using multi-rater (360) feedback processes to help his clients gain improved performance and satisfaction from their work and their lives. Kevin is an expert in both executive and organizational assessments.

Kevin’s client list includes Anheuser-Busch, Bally, Citibank, Caterpillar, United Airlines, The Limited Brands, Yahoo!, Leo Burnett, GM Planworks, Macy’s, Hyatt Hotels, Wrigley, Disney, United Stationers, BP-Amoco, Pfizer, Kraft, Merck, Chase, and CapitalSource.

Prior Professional Experience
• Chief Operating Officer, HR Solutions, Inc.
• Vice President and Senior Consultant, The Gallup Organization
• Vice President Global Human Resources, Swissotel Management Corporation
• Visiting Lecturer, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
• Director of Research, The Hay Group
Education, Memberships, Publications
• University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Adjunct Faculty
• University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, MBA
• University of Illinois, BS Marketing
• Board Member: Seven Generations Ahead
• Contributor to “First Break all the Rules”

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Sonja Iversen

Mai Sonja Wesche Iversen

Sonja Iversen Ex manager of Human Resources and Competence Development in TINE
Training Consultant in the Higher Education Department of the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Oslo Training Manager in the City of Oslo Aker Hospital
Vice President of the Corporate Training Department of Hafslund Nycomed

• Teacher Training College in trade and office subjects
• Personnel administration and competence development at the Norwegian School of Management
• Studies in adult educational science at the University of Oslo
• Psychodrama Director
• ACPC (Adler Certified Professional coach)

AWARDS AND GRANTS
• SPO prize 1997 and 2006 (Centre for Personnel and Organisational Development)

OFFICIAL POSTS
• Board member in the Centre for Personnel and Organisational Development for one period, and member of the professional council for three periods
• Member of the grant committee of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry for three periods
• Leader of the professional council of the NKS Group for Distance Education, and member of the control committee for a total of six years
• Board member of the main board of NFKL (a Norwegian association involved in quality and leadership)
• Chairperson of the board for Norsk Institutt for Psykodrama for two years

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Ramiro Ponce

Ramiro Pounce Ramiro is a fully bilingual, english-spanish Consultant and Executive Coach, specialized in Trust/Team Building, Leadership Development and Change Management, passionate about delivering top quality work and great results. In the last 20 years he has developed regional/global LatAm leaders for Fortune 500 organizations in the financial services/high tech/pharmaceutical/consumer products industries.

His consulting strengths lie in the sharp focus skills he uses to identify the issues blocking problem solving or personal/ team/organizational development, linking process-people-culture in defining what the organizational real problem is, and in his coaching/facilitation/empathy skills with clients.

This combination drives leaders and their teams to discover fresh perspectives, enables them to solve key issues and strengthens their leadership effectiveness. He has developed/coached/mobilized top leaders and their teams in Microsoft , Banco Santander, Novartis, Citigroup, Nissan and Bayer and facilitated Change Management in Telefónica, CARE, Exxon Mobil, in Latin America. He has taught at different LatAm Universities, published in specialized coaching and HR magazines, and spoken at International HR/Coaching Conferences.

Since 2001, he's been an Associate/Faculty for Oliver Wyman "Delta and Organization Executive Learning Center LLC", has been trained in state of the art Leadership Frameworks and Energy Patterns in New York City, and coached top Lat-Am regional Executives. He's an elected member of the 2,008-09 I.C.C.O. Board, and represents it in Latin America. (ICCO is "The International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations"). He has organized/ lead ICCO's México (2007) and Guatemala (2008) Coaching Symposia and is leading now the Costa Rican one (2,009) where "Coaching for Human Change in Hard Times" will be pivotal theme.

Ramiro is an Electrical Engineer and a Psychologist, with post graduate studies in Applied Mathematics at Stanford University, and Redecision Psychotherapy at the Western Institute for Group and Family Therapy. He's C.E.O. of Ponce & Associates.

Specialties:
Developing leaders in the face of cultural resistance, Executive Coaching requiring whole picture systemic perspective and acute personal insights, Change/Culture Management Consulting/Workshops and Team Integration in the face of hidden, postponed or passive-resistance driven group conflict.

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Lee Salmon

G. Lee Salmon, Practice Leader for Executive Coaching, Mentoring, and Leadership Development, Federal Consulting Group, U.S. Department of Treasury

Lee is an executive consultant, certified coach, and has more than 30 years experience in the public and private sectors. As a former executive, manager, and scientist, he brings a wealth of experience in coaching, change management, leadership development, diversity, and organizational development to his work. His background as a health physicist and change leader has helped him achieve outstanding results in support of government executives in scientific and engineering organizations faced with complex organizational change. He is experienced in the design and delivery of workshops, executive retreats and other events leading to the creation of high performing organizations. Lee is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation and is on the Board of Directors for the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations (ICCO).

Prior to joining FCG, Lee led a change management team at the Environmental Protection Agency responsible for helping 350 employees merge into a newly created EPA Office of Environmental Information, and understand and deal with the resistance and stress of organizational change. He, along with others, received EPA's Silver Medal Award for their contribution to the design and implementation of the office's organizational structure.

At EPA, Lee also helped design and co-coordinate the first Senior Executive Service Mentoring Program that included 55 SES mentors and 75 GS-15 managers from across the Agency. He has designed and developed leadership programs for several government agencies.

Lee manages a national network of more than 100 executive coaches. He and his coaching teams have worked with leaders and managers in agencies such as EPA, USDA, HHS- CDC, CMS, FDA, OGC, SBA, ED, OPM, State Department, DoD, NSA, CIA, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. He has published several articles on coaching for emotional intelligence and coaching in the Federal government.

Lee graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles and earned an MS in Physics from the California State University, Northridge. He is also a graduate of Johns Hopkins Fellows in the Management of Change Program, numerous coaching programs, and holds a black belt in the martial art of Aikido

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Dorothy Siminovitch

Dorothy E. Siminovitch, PhS, MCC, is an ICF Master Certified Coach, chair of the International Gestalt Coaching Program (IGCP), offered through the Gestalt Center for Organization & Systems Development and faculty of the Gestalt OSD Center’s Group Intensive Training Program. Dorothy coaches individuals, teams, and executives. Her work focuses on assisting clients to identify, evaluate, and implement goals and strategies that fit work and personal needs and improve organization, team, and/or individual effectiveness; she delivers workshops and coaching services in the United States, Canada, Istanbul, and Israel. Dorothy earned an MA in clinical psychology from Cleveland State University, and received her PhD in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University. She holds certifications in working with emotional intelligence instruments through the Hay Group and coaching competencies through Lore International.

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Brenda Smith

Brenda Smith Brenda Smith MBA, CPEC, is a veteran, executive coach with a strategic, results-based approach. Individuals are more confident, masterful and fulfilled; organizations are more profitable and productive. A former Wall Street Executive, Brenda had P&L accountability for multi-million dollar operating budgets and over $3 billion in assets. She capitalizes on this experience using the “softer” skills of emotional intelligence, to achieve hard results. With a strong business acumen and results focus, she transforms individuals from an old, working strategy to a winning strategy as her clients master the ambiguity of relationships, change and transition. “It’s more than the numbers; relationships often influence the rules in business,” she is quoted.

Brenda works with CEO’s and executives --- people who "have skin in the game" and need to "stop doing what they've always done to get different results." Having become a trusted confidante over the years, clients demand called for an expanded the scope of coaching, allowing her to create Peoplesmith Global, Inc to team with coaches for large-scale coaching strategies in organizations. Today, with carefully selected, seasoned coaches on five continents, Peoplesmith is poised to impact engagement, retention and build leadership brand using proprietary Systemic Coaching™ and the Leadership Multiplier™

Brenda champions excellence for coaching in organizations as a member of the board of the International Consortium of Coaching in Organizations (ICCO), and collaborates with Corporate Leaders as co-chair of ICCO’s Advisory Board. Recognized in Who's Who for international leadership, Brenda has served as , a vice president for Chemical Bank Mortgage, PNC Bank Brokerage and Northeast District Manager for Merrill Lynch where she managed over 200 sales executives in business development, and sales management. She also initiated executive coaching at the world renowned, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper Business School, Executive Education program where she also teaches graduate students tools for employee engagement and talent management in her "Professional Intelligence for the Enterprise Leader" Course. Formerly a coach facilitator for the Council for Excellence in Government, she has also served as a trainer for The Dale Carnegie Institute for Leadership and Human Development. Believing in the ethics, guidelines and superior results of the [coaching industry, she launched the Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Coach Federation in 1999.

Brenda is a nine year veteran coach, and in 2009 will become one of 1500 coaches worldwide to achieve Master Certified Coach designation. Also certified in Emotional Intelligence from the Institute of Health & Human Potential, Toronto, these soft skills are framed in strategic thinking gained from her Human Capital Strategist designation from the Human Capital Institute. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication from Boston University, her MBA from New York University, and has earned her certificate in positive psychology from Harvard Medical School.

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Meet our Symposia Deans

Dr. William Bergquist

An international coach and consultant, professor in the fields of psychology, management and public administration, author of more than 35 books, and president of a graduate school of psychology. Dr. Bergquist consults on and writes about personal, group, organizational and societal transitions and transformations. His written work ranges from the personal transitions of men and women in their 50s and the struggles of men and women in recovering from strokes to the experiences of freedom among the men and women of Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

His book, The Postmodern Organization, has been identified as one of the 50 classics in organizational theory and has been translated into both Italian and Mandarin, while In Our Fifties (with Klaum and Greenberg) was featured on Good Morning America and in several metropolitan newspapers. The Vitality of Senior Faculty (with Carole Bland) received the annual research award in 1998 from the American Educational Research Association. The Four Cultures of the Academy, Designing Undergraduate Education (with Gould and Greenberg), and A Handbook for Faculty Development (three volumes) (with Steven Phillips) have been widely acknowledged and cited as seminal publications in the field of higher education.

In recent years, Bergquist has focused on the processes of executive and performance coaching and on the reunification of psychology, philosophy, spirituality and religion. His graduate school (The Professional School of Psychology: PSP) is located in Sacramento California. It offers Masters and Doctoral degrees in both clinical and organizational psychology to mature, accomplished adults. PSP also serves as parent organization to The Coaching Alliance—a multi-program initiative that provides training, coaching, consulting, and research services throughout the world, as well as publishing Executive Coaching: An Appreciative Approach and Organizational Coaching: Resource Book 2005. Dr. Bergquist is also co-founder and co-executive editor of a quarterly monograph, the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, and co-founder and Executive Committee member of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations.

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Agnes Mura

Agnes Mura, M.A., is an international Master Certified Coach to executives, business owners and service professionals. She is a founding director of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association [www.pcmaonline.com] and prominent in the coaching community as an expert practitioner and advocate of the profession.

Agnes is first an experienced globally minded leadership coach – a partner to leaders who deal with the complexities, uncertainties and turbulences of today’s business world, while having to deliver ever-more demanding results. She understands organizational (and national) cultures and how high achievers navigate them. Her profound humanity is coupled with a keen strategic eye for what’s really going on, and a business sense she brings from her own years as banking executive. Her capacity to elicit authenticity in her clients helps leaders and key contributors to accomplish the personal and professional shifts that are required to win... and to bring their teams along for the victory lap.

Her masterful team facilitation skills allow her to develop trustful teams who engage in productive, creative debates and committed execution. She also leads and facilitates efficient and creative strategic planning retreats (including scenario planning) for her client companies.

Agnes Mura is certified in a number of assessment and training tools. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral and Values Analyst. She has taught Coaching and Assessments to global executives in the Advanced Executive Program at the Anderson School of Business (UCLA) and to new coaches in the Cal State University Long Beach professional coach training program. She served for seven years on the faculty of Corporate Coach University; and is a regular and frequent guest lecturer in Pepperdine University’s doctoral program in Organizational Leadership.

In 2000, her accomplishments were honored with the Woman of Achievement Award by Century City-Los Angeles. In 2002, she earned the Builders’ Award of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association. In 2003 she became a founding member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations [www.IJCO.info]. She is a long-time Assessor of coach training programs for the global Accreditations Committee of the International Coach Federation. In 2004 she became the first President of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations [www.CoachingConsortium.org] a worldwide organization of companies, academics, practitioners and associations dedicated to the success of executive coaching interventions in organizations. Her book, co-authored with William Bergquist, “Ten Themes and Variations for Postmodern Leaders and Their Coaches,” was published by Pacific Soundings Press in 2005. She was a contributing author in the 2008 Pfeiffer Annual: Leadership Development.

Clients

Agnes inspires and develops Fortune 500 global corporate executives from Europe to Latin America. In six languages, Agnes Mura has also mediated among diverse people and cultures. Clients have included: Avon, Banco Santander, The Coca Cola Company, ConAgra, CEMEX, Citigroup, Coors, Deloitte, East West Bank, Habitat for Humanity, KPMG, MGM, Mattel, Medtronic, Novartis, Raytheon, SAFECO, Sony Pictures, Sony Electronics, UBS, Warner Bros., and many “fast” small and mid-size firms in the US and abroad.

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Association Administrator

Alexia Longacre

(coming soon)

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Governance & Ethics Committee

John Lazar

John Lazar, MA, MCC has been a performance consultant and coach for over 20 years, including more than a decade as an executive coach. He has a Master’s degree in clinical psychology and has been certified as a Master Coach by the International Coach Federation since 1999. His company, John B. Lazar & Associates, Inc. (www.lazarconsulting.com), is celebrating its fourteenth year of operation.

He works with individual leaders (for example, business owners, partners, CEOs, Presidents, C-level executives, Vice Presidents and Directors) and their work teams, altering their perspective, motivation and performance to produce emotionally intelligent leadership, breakthrough results and business success. Though he works with entrepreneurial ventures and closely held small to mid-sized businesses, he also works with Fortune 1000 companies (including Amdocs, Alcan Packaging, Boeing, Computer Sciences Corporation, Creata, Deloitte, National Starch, Rogers Wireless, Stericycle, Suncor, and Wilson Sporting Goods). In addition to his business coaching, he consults to companies on issues of leadership, management, communications, evaluation, executive team alignment, culture-strategy fit, organizational change, and performance improvement.

John is a founding member and former Acting Executive Director of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations (ICCO, www.coachingconsortium.org); he is currently co-chair of its Governance and Ethics Committee. He is co-founder and Co-Executive Editor of the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations (IJCO, www.ijco.info), in its sixth year of quarterly publication. He has made presentations to local, national and international audiences in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England, Belgium, Spain, and Australia on topics including human capital management, leadership and sustainable leadership, management skills, coaching, emotional intelligence, communications, and work-life integration.

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Ed Maier

Ed Maier Ed believes in the value and potential of people and has a passion for helping them develop it. His approach is simple and straightforward as he was taught many years ago to “Think Straight. Talk Straight.”

Ed has provided services to C-level and senior executives for over twenty-five years as a leadership coach, business advisor and partner in a global professional services firm. He has served start-up entrepreneurial businesses, middle market companies and multi-billion dollar global corporations—in both the public and private sectors. He has coached and mentored numerous executives, partners and managers at various levels in the following industries: professional services, health care, retail, manufacturing, food processing, financial services, real estate and technology. He has also facilitated meetings for his clients on a variety of topics.

In addition to his extensive personal and professional development at Arthur Andersen, he has completed programs at The Aspen Institute, The Center for Creative Leadership, The Covey Leadership Center and The Association for Psychological Type. He’s been certified in the coaching processes of two recognized companies that provide such services.

Prior to entering the field of leadership coaching and development, Ed held several leadership roles in a global professional services firm. He led a regional practice that generated annual revenues in excess of $360 million and had over 1,300 professionals and 80 partners. In this role, he implemented and managed strategy, sales, marketing, human resource and process improvement programs.

Ed bundles formal development and business experience into a straightforward package that will help you grow your leadership performance.

Ed has been a speaker at seminars, conferences and training programs for The International Coach Federation, The Institute of Internal Auditors, Financial Executives International and others. He has taught as an adjunct professor in the DePaul University management program and has lectured on ethics at the University of Iowa. His professional affiliations include Menttium, the International Coach Federation and the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations. He graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce.

The combination of Ed’s people skills and business background are a great resource to any organization that wants to promote the value and potential of its people.

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Meet our ICCO Advisory Board

Chairs: Brenda Smith, Margaret Turner

John Bennett

John Bennett, PhD, PCC, CMC, is president of Lawton Associates, and helps individuals and organizations achieve desired results through strategic and tactical approaches to coping with, and improving from change. For more than 25 years, he has been helping individuals and organizations prepare for, excel through, and improve from change.

As a professional speaker, John has educated, while entertaining audiences on topics related to building resilience and leading change. As a consultant, he has worked with leading biomedical, human service, professional associations, and educational enterprises in developing capacities for successful adaptation and transition. As a master trainer, he has helped thousands of people increase their ability and willingness to engage in change. As an author, he has written numerous articles related to leading change, innovative team-based management, building resilience, and communication. He is author of the book, Leading the Edge of Change: Building Individual and Organizational Capacity for the Evolving Nature of Change and The Essential Network: Success Through Personal Connections. Also, as a coach, he has helped individuals define and realize their goals and improve performance while building personal satisfaction.

Prior to forming Lawton Associates, John was CEO of an American Red Cross biomedical services division. He has led pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution operations as well as the development and delivery of essential human services. In addition, John has led mergers and turnarounds as well as new product development/marketing and computer system designs/installations. He was host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show focusing on personal and organizational transformation as well as serving as an adjunct faculty member in the graduate school of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and the University of Phoenix Online. Currently, he is assistant professor and chair of the communication department at Queens University of Charlotte where he teaches organizational communication course including coaching, consulting, organization development, group dynamics, corporate culture, and ethics. Download his Curriculum Vitae (CV) here.

John is a member of the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, the Institute for Management Consultants, the International Coach Federation, and the OD Network. He is a past president of the International Coach Federation–Charlotte Chapter. He is also a certified practitioner of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Inventory (HBDI). In addition, he is qualified to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and numerous other instruments including DISC.

John earned a PhD in human and organizational systems from Fielding Graduate University and a masters degree in public administration (MPA) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is also a graduate of the Corporate Coach U (CCU) corporate business coach program. John earned the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation from the Institute of Management Consultants. Less than one percent of all consultants have achieved this level of performance. And, he earned the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coach Federation.

He is involved in numerous professional and community service projects. John is a member of the Board of Directors of the Diversity Council of the Carolinas, International Coach Federation’s Research and Education Committee, and Research Advisory Panel for The Foundation of Coaching. He is a founding board member and past-president of the Charlotte Area Chapter of the International Coach Federation and a founder of the ICF’s annual Coaching Research Symposium.

He lives on Lake Norman in North Carolina and travels extensively speaking, training and consulting with domestic and multinational clients.

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Kay Cannon

Kay Cannon learned the hard way that leaders have a sacred obligation to look beyond the bottom line. Kay’s wake up call arrived without warning and changed her life forever.

A rising corporate star at the age of 24, Kay Cannon successfully led the financial turnaround of her company’s flagship contract and simultaneously generated record profits. In return for Kay’s leadership, her employees wrote a letter to the company president saying Kay was a cold, heartless b#@$% and demanded she be fired. Shocked and humiliated, Kay began a painful search to discover the secrets of outstanding leadership.

Fast forward fifteen years.

On Kay’s last day as a corporate executive, an employee abruptly stopped her. “I can’t let you leave,” she said. “When you walk out the door the heart and soul of this company walks out the door and it will never be the same.”

From cold, heartless b#@$% to the heart and soul of the company. What was different? Just one thing – who Kay Cannon had learned to be as a leader.

As the Leadership Whisperer, Kay Cannon helps other leaders find wisdom, strength and tools to unleash the human spirit and create a better world. Now, more than ever before in the history of humanity, the world needs wise leaders. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the world is only as strong as its weakest leaders.

Kay’s clients include leaders from Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial ventures, governmental agencies and non-profit international associations. Her work includes leadership coaching and team development for NASA. She also serves as a leadership expert for the International Spa Association and its worldwide membership. Kay frequently speaks and writes on the transformative power of inspirational leadership.

Kay Cannon’s personal dedication to advancing world leadership is reflected in her role as the 2007 President of the International Coach Federation, an organization of 11,000 members from 80 countries. She holds the ICF Master Certified Coach credential, and has a B.S. from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. from the University of Kentucky.

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Susana Isaacson

Susana Isaacson is a professional coach and leadership development consultant with twenty five years of experience mostly in the government sector. Prior to retirement in 2007 she served as director of leadership development, organizational learning and professional coaching the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Ms. Isaacson developed programs for the personal and professional development of managers at the mid an upper levels of responsibility.

She initiated one of the largest professional coaching programs in the federal sector over ten years ago. The program now provides work for about twenty internal and external coaches and serves a population of hundreds of clients.
She created a vibrant and self sustaining leadership development program for employees with the unusual feature of using managers and leaders as instructors in courses ranging in length from one week to one year.
She developed a personal development program—aimed at creating better balance between the personal and professional life of organization employees.

Ms. Isaacson is founder and co president of COPIA Coaching and Consulting, an organization with two goals: helping Baby Boomer couples develop lifelong relationships in retirement, and coaching Second World women to reach positions of impact for their organizations and countries.

She is a frequent speaker and active participant at local and national conferences. She serves on the Advisory Board of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations (ICCO)

In 2007 the National Clandestine Service created an annual award named the “Susana Isaacson Award for Leadership Development” to be given to the leader who is most dedicated to educating and developing future leaders in the organization.

Ms. Isaacson holds a MS in Organization Development from Johns Hopkins University; has worked as a mentor coach with the Newfield Network and is a Master Certified Coach who served on the credentialing committee of the International Coach Federation. She is certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Benchmarks, Bar On EQi Emotional Intelligence, Profilor and other 360 and personal development feedback instruments. Having started her professional life as a linguist, in addition to English she is fluent in Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian and French.

Ms. Isaacson holds a Top Secret clearance.

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Bill Lindberg

William H. (Bill) Lindberg currently serves as President of the Ash Grove Group, based in Santa Barbara, California. The Ash Grove Group offers services in the areas of personal, professional, and organizational consulting and coaching, serving clients throughout North America. His primary emphasis is working with lawyers, executives, and other professionals in career development and exploring transitions. Much of his current work is in the area of sustaining renewal and resilience for individuals, small groups, and larger organizations.

Previously, Mr. Lindberg had served in many capacities for over twenty years with West Publishing Company and West Group. At West, Lindberg’s responsibilities included relations with national markets, managing educational services for the WESTLAW program, and developing West’s Academic program. He has written and spoken extensively in various professional settings, such as the National Association for Law Placement, the American Society for Information Science, the American Association of Law Libraries and the Special Libraries Association. He is also a co-founder of the Information Innovator’s Institute.

He received his B.A from St. Olaf College (magna cum laude) and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota. He received his certification as a professional coach from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, California, where he is currently on the faculty. He is also an adjunct faculty member at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, where he has taught Executive Coaching and The Fielding Graduate University. He has served as the Executive Director of ACTO (The Association of Coach Training Organizations) and the Board of the Deer Lake Association and currently serves on the Board of the Rotary Club of Montecito.

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Agnes Mura

Clients

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Suzi Pomerantz

Suzi Pomerantz Suzi Pomerantz, MT, MCC is an award-winning master executive coach, speaker, facilitator, and author with over 15 years of coaching and teaching experience working with leaders and teams in over 125 organizations internationally, including seven companies on the Fortune 100 list. A coaching veteran in the legal industry, Suzi has coached leaders in seven corporate law departments and a dozen law firms. Other industry experience includes: consulting, financial services, manufacturing, hospitality, entrepreneurial enterprises, federal and state government, educational institutions, membership-based service entities, and executive MBA programs. Suzi's strength lies in helping leaders and organizations find clarity within chaos.

Suzi helps executives, teams and high performing, high-potential future leaders to clarify their vision and exceed prior performance. She provides executive coaching, team coaching, and emerging leader coaching in organizations to assist executives and their teams with setting strategic direction, managing talent, and developing leadership bench strength. She also develops leaders in teambuilding, sales, planning and conducting effective meetings, and facilitating change. She helps organizations develop and retain leadership capacity by coaching leaders in executive presence, presentation skills, personal power, communication, and vision work.

A recognized leader passionate about excellence, integrity, legacy, impact, and leadership in organizations and stewardship of the profession of coaching, Suzi serves in a number of international Board of Director positions and volunteer leadership roles, donating time and resources to organizations that are leading the future of the coaching profession. Suzi was the Chairman of the first ICCO Symposium in Washington, DC on The Global Implications of Organizational Coaching. Suzi has been guest faculty and a featured speaker to industry leaders in more than a dozen coaching schools and communities worldwide including: Association of Coach Training Organizations, Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, Gestalt Center for Organization and Systems Development International Gestalt Coaching Program, Adler School of Professional Studies/ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto Leadership Coaching Certificate Program.

Suzi has presented as well as participated for seven years at the International Executive Coaching Summit, an invitation-only annual gathering of worldwide senior executive development experts. Suzi presented at the 11th Annual International Coach Federation Conference, and taught executive coaches as faculty at the Executive Coach Academy and the College of Executive Coaching and was named Resource Faculty Member at Advantara Global Coach Training Institute. She has also delivered guest lectures at George Washington University, Loyola University, and the University of Virginia and has coached executives in the MBA for Executives Program at Darden.

Suzi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia and a Master's degree from the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. Her honors include Kappa Delta Pi International Education Honor Society, Dean's List, and Lawn Resident (Thomas Jefferson's Academic Village). In addition to her academic achievements, Suzi is credited with 20 publications about coaching, ethics, and business development, including her book Seal the Deal. Suzi received the 2007 Woman of Achievement Award from the Business and Professional Women (BPW/USA).

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John Thomas

Based in McLean, John A. Thomas is a Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton who specializes in delivery of large-scale systems engineering and integration services. He assists in growing the firm’s systems portfolio among U.S. Intelligence and Homeland Security clients

Mr. Thomas’ key areas of expertise include:

Systems engineering and integration
System analysis
Solutions delivery

A combination of government and industry assignments has provided Mr. Thomas with more than three decades of comprehensive systems engineering and integration experience within the DoD, Intelligence, and Homeland Security communities. He is recognized for his domain and systems knowledge within the Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) environments. He has also helped frame new techniques for the integration of systems engineering with business analysis and program support services.

Today, he works with Booz Allen cost estimation and program planning support experts to improve both the quality of planning and implementing large scale systems. He also works with the firm’s organizational development and change management experts to align systems engineering with business process analysis and organization transformation activities to ensure clients’ business objectives are supported—not driven—by system development.

Mr. Thomas joined the firm in 1991, after leaving active duty Air Force in 1985 and retiring as a major from the Air Force Reserves in 1998. During his Air Force career, he led a tour of duty with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). His prior industry experience includes systems engineering and program management roles at E-Systems.

A frequent speaker at conference and symposiums, Mr. Thomas is a member of and has held leadership positions in the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE); National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA); Program Management Institute (PMI); and Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).

He holds an M.S. degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a B.S. from Michigan State University, both in electrical engineering, and graduated cum laude from both institutions.

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Founding Members of ICCO Board

ICCO Board - December, 2005: Front row , left to right: Marilyn Taylor, Christina Marshall, Agnes Mura (Pres.), Suzi Pomerantz; Second row: Bob Johnson, Bill Bergquist, Syd Snyder

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Past Board Members

Current Board Members

ICCO Past Board Members
Front row, left to right, Vicki Foley, Donna Karlin, Suzi Pomerantz, Agnes Mura, Judy Roseth-Burrell.
Back row, left to right, Lee Salmon, Merry Marcus, Linda Page, Michael Sanson.
Not pictured Brenda Smith and Margaret Turner