Home Contact Us 847.920.0190
Who We Are Our Team Our Services Our Clients Development Tools
Our Team
Find By Practice Area
Find By Region
Meet Our Principals
Kathy Green
Cassandra Mitchell
Kathy O'Doherty
Meet Our Coaches
Meet Our Staff
Meet Our Alliance Partners
We provide experienced business professionals who deliver a proven coaching process and methodology. Our highly skilled coaches and consultants are well versed in a wide variety of assessment tools and techniques to best meet your needs.
We know what it takes to build, lead and sustain strong results-driven organizations. Many of our coaches and consultants are former Fortune 500 executives with first hand knowledge of the challenges senior leaders and organizations face.
Because we’ve led people, processes and results inside large corporations, we know how to help our clients get the results they need. Your goals become our goals. We will help you meet current needs. And, we will partner with you to leave improved, sustainable skills and capabilities in individual leaders and in your organization.
Clients tell us that our Team’s expertise and practical partnership approach gain quick credibility and trust. We have a reputation in the industry for thought leadership, use of best practices and outstanding experienced coaches and consultants.
“We came away realizing our strengths and having clarity about who we were as an organization and our ability to work together.”
“This coaching process improved performance, focus and teamwork in our organization. ECC is a valuable business partner that clearly ‘gets it.’”

Meet Our Principals

Kathy Green

Kathy Green, an organization effectiveness consultant, is a founding partner and the president of Executive Coaching Connections, LLC. Having performed as an officer in Fortune 500 companies, Kathy is familiar with the challenges that executives face. She has more than 25 years of experience in leadership, team and organization effectiveness. She spent many of those years leading human resources and organization development efforts at Baxter, Kraft Foods and Ameritech where she worked both domestically and internationally. In 1995, Kathy established her own executive and organization consulting business.

While working toward individual, team and organizational effectiveness, Kathy is most widely known for her expertise in coaching senior executives and their teams. Kathy’s client list is comprised of leading companies across multiple industries including Baxter Healthcare Corporation; Discover Financial Services; Federal Signal; Follett Corporation; Forsythe Technology; Harris Bank/Bank of Montreal; Information Resources, Inc.; Kraft Foods, Inc.; PepsiCo and Sara Lee Corporation.

Certification:

Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®from the Center for Creative Leadership, PDI feedback questionnaires, HayGroup’s®Emotional Competence Inventory, Leadership Styles Inventory & Climate Survey, Lominger's VOICES®and Heartmath®.

Education:

BA: Psychology and Business Administration, University of Wisconsin; Studies in Cognitive Restructuring at the Harvard Mind/Body Institute; extensive experience in emotional management, mental modeling, voice dialogue, change management, and advanced facilitation.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Business Consulting, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning.

back to the top

Cassandra Mitchell

Cassandra Mitchell, executive coach and organizational consultant, develops great leaders and teams. She has more than twenty years of experience in helping clients achieve their business goals by delivering a range of services from one-to-one leadership coaching to large-scale organizational design.

Cassandra has provided coaching, needs assessment, leadership development, strategy creation, program design and development to large corporations, government agencies and educational institutions. Most recently, her coaching and development work has helped leaders and teams at Baxter International, Kraft Foods, Follett Corporation, Classic Residence by Hyatt, Office Max and Sara Lee Corporation.

Prior to consulting, Cassandra worked for Bank One, the sixth largest bank-holding company in the U.S. with over 75,000 employees. During her 14-year tenure at Bank One, she held a variety of positions including assignments in the Commercial Banking and Credit Card Divisions. As first vice president and national learning design manager, she oversaw a team of instructional and web-based designers responsible for management, leadership, and professional development curricula based on leadership competencies and organizational business goals. Prior to Bank One, Cassandra worked in training and organizational development at Loyola University and Medical Center, impacting employee and student development.

Certification:

Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®from the Center for Creative Leadership; PDI’s Profiler; Peer Empowerment Coaching Process from the Wright Institute; Lominger's VOICES®; Myers Briggs®Type Indicator®; Emotional Competence Inventory, Climate Improvement Accreditation, and Inventory of Leadership Styles from the HayGroup®.

Education:

MA, Curriculum and Instruction; Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illinois State University.

Affiliation:

Member of the Chicago Advisory Board to Youth About Business, which runs financial literacy camps for Chicagoland High Schools; Board Member for SHAREcircle, which provides aid to war-torn Angola.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Instructional/Program Design, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning.

back to the top

Kathy O'Doherty

Kathy O’Doherty has a solid track record of enhancing individual and team performance to support bottom-line business results. A founding partner of Executive Coaching Connections, Kathy is a highly respected coach of senior executives and leaders.

With more than 20 years of experience in human resources management within the financial services and retail industries, Kathy has held executive human resources management positions at First Chicago/Bank One and Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Kathy’s clients include Baxter Corporation, Classic Residence by Hyatt, Follett Corporation, HSBC, LaSalle Bank, Northern Trust Company, and Sara Lee Corporation.

Certification:

Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®from the Center for Creative Leadership; Leadership Effectiveness Analysis and Personal Directions from the Management Research Group®HayGroup’s®Emotional Competence Inventory, Leadership Styles Inventory and Climate Survey;  Lominger’s Voices®, PDI’s Profiler and the Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile®.Kathy earned a lifetime Senior Professional in Human Relations from the Society of Human Resources Professionals.

Education:

MBA: Benedictine University, BA, Education: Loyola University

Affiliation:

Served on Board of Directors of the Elgin, Illinois Chamber of Commerce; founding member of the Elgin Child Care Initiative; board member, president and chairperson of the United Way of Elgin; recipient of the Willis A. Reed Humanitarian award in recognition of her long-term commitment to the community and United Way; recipient of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award for her support of and commitment to diversity in the workplace.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation.

back to the top

Meet Our Coaches

Our coaches have a first-hand understanding of leaders, the cultures they work in, and the challenges they face. This diverse team features highly talented professionals from across the country, enabling us to serve both centralized and geographically dispersed organizations.

We invite you to meet our coaches...

Lani L. Beach

Lani L. Beach has business experience spanning three decades with industry-leading companies such as Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, H.J. Heinz, M.A. Hanna, and Western Electric. He held the senior human resources posts at H.J. Heinz, Kraft USA, Kraft Foods International, and the M.A. Hanna companies, as well as company leadership roles in management and organizational development and employee relations. He is very comfortable working with company CEOs, board members, and senior executives on path for general management responsibilities.

Lani’s clients include CEOs, board members, senior executives becoming general managers, country managers in an international setting, functional leaders in sales, marketing, finance, IT, business development, entrepreneurs. He has also facilitated projects that include change leadership initiatives, M&A activities, CEO succession, executive development design, and small company startup operations.

Certification:

Employee Relations Law and Benchmarks®from the Center for Creative Leadership. He also attended the Global Leadership Program at INSEAD University; Appreciative Inquiry at Case Western Reserve; Tools for Developing Successful Executives at the Center for Creative Leadership

Education:

MBA, BS in Economics and Advanced Organizational Development Program: Columbia University

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching and On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention and Leadership Development

back to the top

Janet E. Blum

Janet E. Blum, organization development and training consultant, specializes in personal coaching, change management and team processes. She places great importance on helping individuals and teams reach their business objectives by assisting them in identifying goals, and recognizing and addressing strengths and weaknesses and developing strong relationships and clear, smooth processes. She has a broad base of experience and serves clients who reflect her multi-industry knowledge.

Certification:

Carlson Learning Company’s Profile Learning instruments and Benchmarks®from Center for Creative Leadership

Education:

MBA with concentration in Behavioral Science: University of Chicago; concurrent MA with concentration in social policy and administration: University of Chicago. BA, Social Psychology: University of Michigan

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation

back to the top

Cynthia Cobb

Cynthia Cobb, SPHR, has over 20 years of human resources generalist and staffing experience, most of which was built at Baxter Healthcare Corporation. She has held both corporate and divisional assignments where she has led HR strategies and initiatives across multiple functions. She has a strong track record of bringing resources together to accomplish business goals. Cynthia excels at creating communication bridges; working collaboratively and effectively at all levels. Her partnering approach is a valuable asset to former employers and current clients.

As an external coach and consultant, Cynthia has coached employees and managers at all levels using various feedback tools and coaching methods. Other consulting engagements have been in recruiting, policy development, employee relations and training.

Certification:

Certified in PDI Profilor and qualified in MBTI.

Education:

MBA: Indiana University; BSE, Biomedical Engineering and Engineering Management: Purdue University

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Collaborative Change, Instructional/Program Design, Meeting/Program/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Debra J. Crawford

Debra J. Crawford has coached at all levels of organizations focusing on creating a partnership based on trust, openness, honest feedback and integrity. Her 25-year career has provided experience in sales, human resources and extensive training and development leadership accountability. She has received awards and recognition for personal and team performance. Her expertise includes a strong background in the retail and healthcare industries, including assisted living. Debra has worked in rapid growth environments including mergers and acquisitions as well as more stable and mature organizations. Most recently, she was vice president of corporate education and training for Alterra Healthcare Corporation.

Certification:

Benchmarks®from Center for Creative Leadership, Team Management Profile and PCCCA - Certified Christian Life Coach.

Education:

BA, Business Administration and psychology: Notre Dame College; graduate classes toward masters in adult education /instructional design: Alverno College.

Affiliation:

American Society for Training and Development, Marquette University College of Professional Studies, Advisory Council and two Milwaukee organizations for female and minority professionals and executives, Professional Dimensions and the Leaders Forum, Society for Human Resource Management, Human Resource Planning Society, Lutheran Living Services, Core member of Women in Ministry and Family Life and Ministry Instructor of Christ the King Church. She is also a member of Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Instructional/Program Design, Meeting/Program Facilitation.

back to the top

Pat Dahmen

Pat Dahmen is an experienced organizational effectiveness professional with a tenacity for helping managers define and develop the core competencies they need for accomplishing individual, team and organization goals. Beginning with an understanding of and full appreciation for the corporate culture in which his clients work, Pat builds relationships based on trust, openness, honest feedback and integrity. Having coached and facilitated feedback sessions and organizational development initiatives for a wide variety of corporations, Pat has proven effectiveness with senior and middle level management.

His diverse background spans years of extensive experience facilitating and engaging teams in workshops, administering psychological assessments and studying the behavior of people in groups. He has engaged in various change management initiatives including helping to uncover one organization’s "core values" based on the results of an Appreciative Inquiry interview process. Most recently, he helped design, develop and implement the leadership development and coaching program for the executive leadership team and management for a Chicago-area municipality.

Certification:

Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®from the Center for Creative Leadership; Emotional Competence Inventory, Organizational Climate Survey, Leadership Styles Inventory from the HayGroup®, Leadership Architect Suite of integrated tools from Lominger Ltd and the Myers-Briggs®Type Indicator

Education:

Masters degree in Clinical Psychology: Roosevelt University; BA Sociology: University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation

back to the top

Patricia Deer

Patricia Deer, PhD, is best known for her expertise in conflict resolution. Patricia was selected Trainer of the Year by the Center for Conflict Resolution in 2005. She has mediated for the Center since 1992 when she was certified to mediate for the Chicago Courts and the State of Illinois. For the past seven years she has served as one of the Center’s senior trainers and on their Peer Review committee, overseeing the work of other mediators.

Patricia cut her teeth in conflict resolution raising three strong willed, brilliant children. Other experience includes managing computer systems for a publishing firm, and establishing and running "Energy Breaks" a company designed to provide stress relief to corporate America.

Her capacity for analysis, empathy, humor and connection enliven her trainings. Her ability to get to the crux of issues transforms difficult relationships and intractable dynamics. She brings lighthearted ease and penetrating perception to every situation.

Certification:

Certified volunteer mediator: Center for Conflict Resolution

Education:

PhD, Conflict Resolution: Hamline Law School and Harvard University

Affiliation:

Chairman of the Board of Share Circle, a non-profit working to restore the war torn country of Angola

Practice Areas:

Conflict Resolution

back to the top

Ken Helman

Ken Helman provides executive coaching for executives and leaders. In that work, he capitalizes on his more than 25 years of experience working with executives and managers in multifaceted industries and leading businesses. Individual clients range from CEOs to managers in large corporations and small business owners.

Prior to executive coaching, Ken was a senior executive with Coca-Cola Enterprises and a General Manager for a management consulting company. He also held managerial positions in the electric utility and nuclear power industry.

Ken has built a solid reputation for providing candid coaching and feedback for his clients with a high degree of integrity and credibility. Pragmatic and results oriented, he enables clients to take ownership of their own development as well as positively impacting those around them.

Certification:

Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®from the Center for Creative Leadership, Predictive Index and Lominger’s Voices®

Education:

BA Management: University of Phoenix; additional education in change management, facilitation skills, and leadership

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention

back to the top

Rose Hollister

Rose Hollister brings fifteen years of experience and dedication to your project, assisting in the areas of leadership development, change management, executive coaching, and team facilitation.

Prior to becoming an external consultant, Rose served as Vice-President, Learning and Development, for Equity Office Properties, the biggest office REIT in the world. Rose and her staff partnered with internal business leaders to address and resolve challenges in change management, employee performance, leadership development and executive talent management. Over four years, her department created an average of one new course per week.

While at EOP, Rose oversaw the change management of a company-wide restructuring, a project that won the Chicago Organization Development Impact Award of 2004. The change effort included moving from 167 offices to 48, changing roles and jobs, and new team formation. Rose supervised a team of external change consultants who were one of the key supports to regional leadership. The change efforts included company communication, a change curriculum for leaders and teams as well as leadership retreats to guide the definition of the new direction.

In addition, Rose has been actively involved in merger integration, serving as the primary consultant with large regional divisions in the process of integrating two companies. While change management is one focus of Rose’s work, she has also spent her career supporting team effectiveness, supporting groups in conflict resolution, fostering leadership development and increasing organizational alignment. Before EOP, Rose was a principal at Perrone-Ambrose Associates, a firm specializing in mentoring and coaching. In this capacity, Rose taught leadership development and coaching around the United States to leading firms.

Education:

MA, Education and BA, Interpersonal and Public Communication: Bowling Green State University; MS, Organization Development: Loyola University; Cycle of Leadership program: University of Michigan Business School

Affiliation:

Rose is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University where she teaches Strategic Change in the Masters Program for Learning and Organizational Change.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution, Business Consulting, Collaborative Change, Instructional/Program Design, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Linda S. Hughes

Linda S. Hughes, an organization consultant and coach for leadership effectiveness, has nearly twenty years of Human Resources management experience within the insurance and manufacturing industries. Linda held the senior human resource positions at GE Reinsurance and Kemper Reinsurance Companies and was on the HR management team at Square D.

She has extensive experience coaching executives and line managers through change leadership initiatives, restructuring and M&A activities, as well as performance management and improvement processes. She has also established mentoring programs for high potential performers.

Certification:

Benchmarks®from Center for Creative Leadership, Certified Compensation Professional, certified facilitator of GE’s Change Acceleration Process and Work-Out programs

Education:

BA, Education: Montana State University; additional graduate courses: San Jose State University, University of Santa Clara in California; Green-belt training in Quality at GE

Affiliation:

Linda has served on the Board of Directors of the Barrington Career Center, a non-profit agency helping individuals in job transition. She has also served on the HR Advisory Committee for Shelter, Inc. and has been a volunteer and advisor to Holy Family School, serving inner-city children in Chicago.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Collaborative Change, Communication Consulting, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation

back to the top

Daniel F. Jones

Daniel F. Jones, Ph.D. has been providing management and organizational consultation to a wide variety of clients in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors for more than twenty years. He has considerable experience providing expert consultation services to the financial, insurance, retail and publishing industries. His consulting experience to Fortune 500 and multi-national corporations is extensive. Dan’s work is aimed at producing pragmatic results for both the individual and the organization to maximize organizational and personal effectiveness, increase self and organizational awareness and clarify vision and purpose all leading to a better alignment and fulfillment of personal and corporate goals.

Dan has specialized in management assessment, executive coaching, leadership training and organization development. Organizational consulting activities have included the introduction of a performance management/management excellence system, organizational assessment and team development, assessment and development of potential internal candidates for a CEO position and design and delivery of workshops and retreats. His consultation often leads to organizational initiatives in succession planning, team development and strategic planning. Dan has provided coaching to entrepreneurs and family owned and operated businesses. He also has conducted competency model consultation.

Certification:

Certified psychoanalyst and licensed clinical psychologist

Education:

PhD, Clinical Psychology: New York University; BA: Wesleyan University Completed four-year postdoctoral specialization program to become a certified psychoanalyst and is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Affiliation:

Dan has served on faculties of Rutgers University and New York University.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategy Planning

back to the top

Eddie Marmol

Eddie Marmol is a bilingual executive and organization coach with an engineering background. He led several successful projects during a 15-year engineering career in the high-technology defense industry, spanning software architectures, embedded systems and wireless technologies.

Eddie has coached CEOs, senior executives and professionals on projects that include leadership development, onboarding and career development for leading firms.

Born in Cuba and raised in Puerto Rico Eddie coaches in both English and Spanish. Having coached clients in the United States, Canada, Central America, Caribbean, Europe and Japan, Eddie brings a multicultural perspective to his coaching.

Certification:

Coach certification from Coach Training Alliance with whom he taught their Certified Coach Program in both English and Spanish

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering: University of Central Florida; Master’s degree in Computer Engineering: University of Illinois.Eddie is a graduate of the Coach University Coach training program and the Newfield Network graduate program in ontological coaching. Most recently, Eddie has immersed himself in Ken Wilbur’s Integral Institute and the application of integral theory in leadership and business.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, Leadership Development

back to the top

Karen Meyer-Ponzi

Karen Meyer-Ponzi is a well-respected leadership and organization effectiveness consultant with nearly 20 years of diversified experience in the real estate, technology, energy and retail industries. Karen specializes in executive coaching and leadership development.

Karen’s expertise includes working with newly formed and established leadership teams as well as individual executives. In addition to her strong leadership development skills, Karen has co-led large scale change initiatives, lead organization redesign processes, facilitated strategic planning and consulted on team effectiveness. Karen has also designed and implemented organization-wide succession planning processes, which have created organizational bench strength and enabled organizational growth. Karen’s corporate experience includes leadership positions with Equity Office Properties Trust and Automatic Data Processing.

Certification:

Certified in various assessments 360 instruments, organizational development interventions and learning programs as well as leadership and organization assessments, including MBTI, 16PF, BarOn Eqi, Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®, Lominger's VOICES®, PDI Profiler, Hogan Leadership Forecast Series and Hay EQI.Integral coach certification from New Ventures West, an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach training organization.

Education:

MA Organization Development: Loyola University

Affiliation:

Karen has designed and delivered Executive Coaching workshops for Loyola University Chicago Center for Organization Development, where she is also a guest lecturer.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Leadership Development

back to the top

Tom Nelson

Tom Nelson is a consultant, facilitator, and coach with more than 20 years experience in strategic planning, organizational and leadership development, executive coaching and change management. He has extensive experience with companies undergoing change related to increased competition, major growth and expansion, technological innovation, restructuring, reorganization, mergers and acquisitions. He works with boards, management teams, work groups, and individuals to improve performance, accelerate change, solve organizational problems and implement strategic initiatives.

During his career, Tom has held senior management positions in business and non-profit organizations and has served as an internal and external consultant to both. In addition, he was Vice President, senior management development at U.S. Bancorp, and associated with The Performance Consulting Group in Portland, the Center for Executive Options, and The Kennedy Group, Ltd., an international organizational consulting firm. Tom has worked with a host of leading firms.

Education:

BA: Boston University

Affiliation:

Member, Association for Psychological Type and The Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum; Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

Tom also has taught nearly 100 college-level courses in leadership, management, communications and coaching for results.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Organizational Effectiveness, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Stuart L. Ralsky

Stuart L. Ralsky, Ph.D. has a career spanning over 30 years, Stuart has held a variety of academic, corporate and consulting positions including Chairperson, Department of Management Sciences, St. Bonaventure University; Manager, Training and Organization Development, Chemicals Group and Corporate Manger, Management Planning and Development for PPG Industries; and Director, Training and Development for Montgomery Ward.

For the past 22 years, Stuart has been a Leadership and Management Development consultant for companies including Kraft Foods, ITW, La Petite Academy, United, and W.W. Grainger. Stuart’s practice focuses on executive and leadership assessment and selection, and coaching and development.

Stuart’s assessment and selection services help his clients match candidates against positions across organizational levels. In selection settings, Stuart helps his clients evaluate and identify candidates who are most likely to succeed in their organizations. He draws together results from appropriate validated instruments, information gathered in structured interviews, and his considerable experience, to select “best fit” candidates. Stuart also helps clients assess current associates and has worked with many companies to identify and accelerate the development of their high potential talent.

Stuart’s coaching and development services cover a full range of situations including working with high potential individuals, assisting solid performers in finding ways to enhance their effectiveness and helping people experiencing difficulty get back on track. As a coach, Stuart assists clients in examining their past experiences, establishing realistic stretch career goals, and gathering information regarding their current working environments and their effectiveness in them. He then helps his clients develop and implement actionable plans that leverage their strengths and allow them to make demonstrable progress against defined targets.

Certification:

Benchmarks®from the Center for Creative Leadership, Lominger's VOICES®, PDI Profilor.

Education:

B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Labor and Industrial Relations, from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology, and the Human Resource Management Association of Chicago.


back to the top


Dennis Redding

Dennis Redding has over 25 years experience as a management consultant, OD and Human Resources executive. His practice includes: Executive Development, Executive Coaching and consulting in Organization Development.

Dennis is currently Academic Director of the Woodruff Leadership Academy, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, at Emory University. Prior to this role, he was Executive Director of the Goizueta Institute for Corporate Learning, Senior Lecturer in the department of Organization and Management, and Assistant Dean of the Modular Executive MBA program at the Roberta C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta. His corporate experience includes Senior Vice President of Organization Development and Human Resources at PeaceHealth, Director and founder of the AMOCO Management Learning Center, Vice President of Organization Development and Personnel Research at BATUS, consultant at General Motors Institute, and Director of Education at Ralston Purina.

Education:

MA, Personnel Services: University of Denver; BS, Psychology: Illinois Wesleyan University

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching

back to the top

Bob Rook

Bob Rook is a consultant with extensive experience in strategic human resources management. His focus has been in corporate-wide organizational development helping clients create culture as a competitive advantage. Bob has a strong background working in various organizational settings including Fortune 500, Mid-Cap, Software Development, Engineering/Technical and e-commerce organizations.

An ECC coach since 2001, Bob has worked with all levels of management with assignments working in software development, distribution, manufacturing and early stage start-up business models. In addition to individual coaching projects, Bob has worked with various Executive Teams developing strategic clarity and leadership processes to create successful transformational initiatives within company-wide and business unit settings.

Bob has served in various executive HR roles including the senior HR leader for two software development firms where he was responsible for creating innovative HR strategies and equity programs. While at Caremark he launched a major Organizational Development effort to connect multiple independent physician practices.

Bob was a featured speaker on creative equity compensation strategies at the Business Week CFO Conference in February 2000 and co-authored “Building a High Performance Company” published inManaging Change in Healthcare; M.K. Key, McGraw-Hill 1999.

Certification:

Benchmarks®from Center for Creative Leadership, Lominger's VOICES®, HayGroup Leadership Styles and Organizational Climate product.

Education:

MS, Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Illinois Institute of Technology. BA, Psychology: Marquette University

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Business Consulting, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Jessica Safran

Jessica Safran, a business consultant and professional coach, works with forward-thinking, entrepreneurial organizations. Jessica’s expertise focuses on helping client organizations get to the next level of growth and success by creating an environment that fosters competence and commitment, while mapping designing and documenting systems that promote smooth business operations. She has worked with entrepreneurs, executives, creatives, and independent professionals who are engaged in business, professional and personal development.

Prior to coaching and consulting, Jessica was Vice President of Operations at T3 Media, Inc., an Internet consulting company providing a variety of strategic, creative, and technology services to online businesses.

Education:

Master’s Degree, Interactive Telecommunications Program: New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Honors; BA, Comparative Religion: Wesleyan University. Graduate: Corporate Coach University. Presently acquiring Certified Business Coach designation.

Affiliation:

Co-founded alternative public high school in NYC, Vanguard High School, member Coalition of Essential Schools, a national network engaged in restructuring schools to promote better student learning and achievement. She is currently Educational Coordinator for her chapter of Business Network International.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Business Consulting, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation

back to the top

Susan Steinbrecher

Susan Steinbrecher offers corporations and individuals innovative, life-changing, and profit-building solutions to challenges in the areas of operations, human resources, leadership, training and coaching. Passionately committed to the development and motivation of individuals and businesses, she is impeccably responsive to the needs of her clients. Susan brings to the table an extraordinary pairing of consummate professionalism and hands-on experience.

Susan enjoyed a 14-year meteoric career rising from entry level to top level at one of the country’s best-known hotel chains. As one of the chain’s youngest General Managers ever, Susan went on to Corporate Director of Training, creating and overseeing an innovative General Mangers' School for 100+ company hotels. From there she put in place company-wide programs such as Empowerment Trainings and Customer Service Trainings, resulting in significant and measurable increases in guest satisfaction service scores.

Her clients keep coming back thanks to her proven ability to increase their management and customer service capabilities and ultimately strengthen their bottom line profits.

Certification:

Myers Briggs, Heartmath Licensed Coach, Master Certified in NLP.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Instructional/Program Design, Leadership Development, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Candace Thompson

Candace Thompson, an organization development consultant and coach, has coached managers and leaders on a broad spectrum of issues including change and adaptability, teamwork, conflict resolution, communication, listening styles, corporate/vendor relations, and career development. She carries business experience with leading financial institutions and has also provided career transition/outplacement counseling to international staff in Mexico City and Buenos Aires.

She has worked at leading financial institutions including the First National Bank of Oregon, Harris Bank and most recently, FirstChicago/Bank One where she was Organization Effectiveness Practice Lead.

Certification:

Certified by the International Coach Federation with the professional designation of Associate Certified Coach, based on coach-specific training, quality and quantity of client coaching experience, Certified practitioner of the Myers-Briggs (R) Type Inventory, certified practitioner of Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP), Certified NLP Coach. Certified in Lominger Leadership Instruments, The Center for Creative Leadership’s Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®multi-rater feedback instruments. HayGroup’s®Emotional Competence Inventory and Leadership Effectiveness Series.

Education:

MS, Organization Development: Loyola University of Chicago; BA, Spanish: Antioch College and two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela.  Studied Organizational Learning at the Action Design Institute and Coaching with Neuro-Linguistics Programming.

Affiliation:

Candace is a member of the International Coach Federation.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, HIPO and emerging leader coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Team Intervention, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development

back to the top

Terry Trayvick

Terry Trayvick has business experience with industry leading companies including General Motors, Procter and Gamble, Sara Lee and R.R. Donnelley. Most recently, he was President for several strategic business units at R.R. Donnelley. Prior to attaining the President’s role, he was head of strategy for the $4 billion Donnelley Print Solutions business.

Terry has also been the senior finance leader on many business teams. In this role, he coached many general managers and senior sales, operations, technology, service and marketing leaders. He has facilitated projects including strategic and operations planning, translating strategy into action, re-organizations, change management, performance management, consolidations, off-shoring, financial budgeting and planning, organization alignment and business turn-arounds. Terry is very comfortable working with company CEOs, board members and senior executives on path for greater management responsibilities.

Education:

MBA: Columbia Business School; BS, Industrial Management: University of Cincinnati

Affiliation:

Terry is an advisory board member of Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership, neoIT and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York. He is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council and Leadership Greater Chicago.

Practice Areas:

Executive On-Boarding, Business Consulting, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Joel Treisman

Joel Treisman is a certified professional coach and organizational systems consultant who provides leadership and strategy consulting to public and private sector organizations. As a Leadership and Strategy Coach, Joel uses a systems approach to helping senior leaders and work teams become effective leaders and collaborators. He maintains a bias toward action and is dedicated to helping his clients achieve measurable gains in performance. Joel draws upon the knowledge and perspective gained from nearly twenty years of “real world” successes - and failures - as a leader, manager, entrepreneur, and consultant. Clients value his collaborative style and the input he provides as an objective sounding board and strategic thinking partner.

Joel held positions in Advertising with the Leo Burnett Company, in Marketing and Product Development with BellSouth Telecommunications, and in Management Consulting with CoKnowledge, Inc. and Modem Media. He was also a co-founder of a not-for-profit organization and has served as a trustee and consultant to numerous non-profits executives and boards over the past twenty years.

He is an experienced group facilitator trained in leading a number of strategy development processes including Future Scenario Planning (Global Business Network), Future Search (Future Search Network), Compression Planning (The McNellis Group), and the organizational Self- Assessment Tool (Peter Drucker’s Leader-to-Leader Institute).

Certification:

Center for Creative Leadership’s Benchmarks®and Executive Dimensions®, and Management Research Group’s Personal Directions®; Coach certification from Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara

Education:

MBA, concentration in Organizational Behavior: Yale School of Management; Graduate: Stanford UniversityCoaching training from Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara.

Affiliation:

Joel is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, the International Coach Federation, the International Association of Facilitators, the Organization Development Network, and the Connecticut Professional Speakers Association

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching

back to the top

Terre Tuzzolino

As a coach and consultant, Terre Tuzzolino, capitalizes on insights gained during a management career that spans three decades at one of America's leading financial services firms.  Prior to joining the coaching profession, Terre successfully rose through the ranks at Allstate Insurance Company to her last position there as Assistant Vice President - Marketing.  Having held senior level positions in direct marketing, corporate relations, advertising and brand/marketing communications, she has first hand experience with the challenges executives face.  She has managed people, processes and bottom lines.  She's led succesful change efforts, spun off divisions, developed new business, launched departments, directed award winning communications, appeared on television/on radio/in print and met with irate customer groups.  She's had successes, made mistakes and learned from both.
 
Named one of the 100 Best and Brightest Women in Marketing and Advertising by Advertising Age magazine, Terre now brings her business savvy to help others reach their full potential. Her first-hand executive experience and broad education offer an approach that helps executives and senior managers increase their effectiveness by capitalizing on what they're already good at and building new skills vital to their continued success.

Certification:

Graduate of the Coaches Training Institute's ICF accredited Co-Active Coaching program.  Certified NLP Coach and 2young2retire facilitator.   She has completed the Coaching and Words that Change Minds with NLP.  Certified  to administer and interpret feedback for Hay Group’s®Emotional Competence Inventory.  Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®,  Lominger's VOICES®360 and Center for Creative Leadership's Benchmarks ® , 360 by Design® , Executive Dimensions®  and Skillscope® assesment products.

Education:

MA, Communications from  Northwestern University.  BA, Sociology and Psychology from Purdue University.  Related training includes Coaching to Excellence: New Ventures West; Personal and Professional Coaching: Neuro-Linguistic Programming; Leadership Studies Program: Lake Forest Graduate School of Management; Summer Institute in Negotiation: Northwestern University; Mediation Skills training: Center for Conflict Resolution. Terre is also a graduate of The Coaches Training Institute’s ICF accredited Co-Active Coaching Program. A student of communications in any form, Terre studied American Sign Language at Roosevelt University and the Center on Deafness

Affiliation:

Terre is a member of the International Coach Federation and the Council of Communication Management. She is a Volunteer Mediator with the Center for Conflict Resolution and was awarded their Goodwill Ambassador Award for her work in community outreach.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Conflict Resolution, Collaborative Change, Communication Consulting, Meeting/Program Facilitation, Visioning & Strategic Planning

back to the top

Lucy Visceglia

Lucy Visceglia, an organizational consultant and coach, has more than twenty years of experience in building high-performing organizations, with special emphasis on executive development, enhancing top team impact, acquisition integration, and leading change.

For ten years prior to joining ECC, Lucy directed organization and leadership development efforts for Kraft Foods, as Kraft grew from a $9 billion to a $31 billion business with operations spanning 40 countries. Her work included one-on-one coaching with Executive Team members to help define and implement comprehensive HR solutions to achieve long-term portfolio transformation and growth strategies.

Prior to Kraft Foods, Lucy held internal organization development and talent management positions with two other global multi-billion dollars firms, Texaco (oil and gas) and Rohm and Haas (specialty chemicals). She also provided management training services as an independent contractor with community college business outreach programs after serving as a project administrator at the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, a nonprofit organization representing 2000+ US colleges.

Certification:

Benchmarks®, Profilor®, the Lominger Tools Suite (VOICES®, Choices®, Team Architect®, Learning Profile®, Cultributes®), the Myers Briggs Type Indicator®, and the FourSight Breakthrough Thinking Profile®

Education:

MS, Organization Development: The American University. Bachelor’s Degree: Temple University.

Practice Areas:

Executive Coaching, Executive On-Boarding, 360-Degree Feedback, Team Coaching & Facilitation, Collaborative Change, Leadership Development

back to the top

Meet Our Staff

Susan Barnish - Project Consultant

Susan Barnish's professional human resources experience spans 25 years in the service industry with an extensive generalist background and specialization in organizational development/training.  She has held leadership positions in hospitality, retirement living and healthcare.  Her most recent work was leading organizational development for Classic Residence by Hyatt and Hyatt Hotels and resorts.  Susan's expertise is in identifying opportunities and implementing creative, targeted solutions in leadership and executive development, management and sales training, and customer service.
 
At ECC, Susan provides a personalized, consultative approach to our client engagements through:
  •      supportive client project management
  •      customized survey and evaluation design
  •      tailored program design and solutions

In her volunteer work she served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Junior Leagues International, was Past President of the Junior League of Evanston-North Shore (Winnetka, Illinois) and was on the Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Chicago Foundation for Cancer Research Board.   

Certification:

Gallup Perceiver Interviewer, Development Dimensions International, Pritchett and Associates Change Management.

Education:

BA: Speech Communications from Westminster College. 
 

Joanne Straughn - Organizational Manager

Joanne is our Organizational Manager.  She manages the finances along with project organization and timeline management.  Joanne has been an office manager for over 25  years, working 10 years for the Variety Club of Illinois Children's Charities and 10 years with the house management team of Straughn & Straughn.

Kathleen Dewey - Operations Manager

Kathleen's professional expertise in marketing, sales and administration comes from experience in the cable television field and the not-for-porfit arena. Kathleen has a wealth of knowledge in both client and affiliate relations from her 10 year tenure with the popular cable network, American Movie Classics.  She held many leadership positions, including Vice President-Central Region where she was reponsible for all sales and marketing for the network in a 16 state, midwest region.  Prior to joining ECC Kathleen served as the Office Manager for the Junior League of Evanston-North Shore, a volunteer based, not-for-profit organization.  Kathleen managed all administrative operations for the organization.
 
At ECC, Kathleen provides administrative support to our affiliates and clients as well as lending her expertise to our website, sales and marketing processes. 
 

Education:

BA: Communications from DePauw University.

 

 

back to the top

Meet Our Alliance Partners

Our network of experts helps us deliver an even broader array of services to meet your needs.

The Axelrod Group

The Axelrod Group: Collaborative Change Consultants designing collaborative systems, which enable people to construct an organization that is profitable and worthy of pride.

TalentGenesis

TalentGenesis creates and customizes the best practices in talent management in five key practice areas: Selection, Performance, Development, Succession and Measurement leveraging the LEADERSHIP ARCHITECT®technologies.
 
Home   Who We Are   Our Team   Our Services   Our Clients   Development Tools   Contact Us
© 2007 Executive Coaching Connections, LLC® All rights reserved.
1000 Skokie Blvd., Suite 340, Wilmette, IL 60091
Site Design by Canright & Paule, Inc.