Expertise: Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Change Management, Executive Coach & DEI Trainer, Keynote Speaker

Location: Suisse Romande, Switzerland

Delivery: Global

Languages: English

Background

Natalie, co-founder and co-CEO of Thriving Talent, is passionate about helping organisations to improve their female talent pipeline and build inclusive cultures where diversity can thrive.

She helps companies to create and drive talent and culture programmes that support employees who have caring responsibilities. By valuing the commercial benefits this brings, her clients are able to overcome diversity barriers, reduce attrition, become an employer of choice and drive their inclusion & culture agenda.

With her extensive HR background across the public and private sectors, you benefit from Natalie’s deep experience of organizational change management, leading and managing teams, and coaching and advising leaders and executive within multicultural environments.

Natalie lives in Switzerland, leading a careful balancing act of being a mother, wife, business owner and driving much-needed change in business and society. She values family time and takes the time to explore and play in Switzerland’s beautiful lakes and mountains with her young family.

Expertise: Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Executive Coach & Trainer, Keynote Speaker

Location: Suisse Romande, Switzerland

Delivery: Global

Languages: English

Background

Deborah Croft, co-founder and co-CEO of Thriving Talent is passionate about supporting organisations to create a more inclusive, socially responsible culture; where parents and carers are empowered to choose career and caring, without the risk of career suicide, overwhelm and guilt.

Deborah spends a great deal of her time understanding the gender diversity challenges and visions of businesses within Switzerland, and sharing expertise and solutions on inclusive leadership and parenthood initiatives; so that organisations increase the retention and engagement of their workforce who are parents &/or carers.

Deborah has over 25 years of international industry experience and in her former years, worked on multiple change projects across Europe at IBM, in her role as a Project Manager. Prior to the launch of Thriving Talent in January 2015, Deborah had been successfully running a business focused on coaching and training leaders, back to work programmes, team building and effectively managing change, for 5 years in Switzerland.

Deborah lives near Geneva, with her husband and 2 daughters, so understands what it’s like to juggle the many demands of family life, be fulfilled in her career and make the most of the outdoor playground that Switzerland provides.

Background

With a background in business consulting as well as two master's degrees in psychology and business administration, Eleanor is well equipped and highly experienced in managing clients' needs, nurturing relationships and finding the best solutions for everyone involved.

She is energetic, engaged and prides herself in fast and practical solutions. Having written about diversity in work teams for her psychology degree, Eleanor still has a great interest in managing heterogeneity. And after taking time off to travel between every job change, Eleanor has a personal interest in non-linear career development and enabling people to fulfill their passions and personal values on the job.

Eleanor grew up in Basel and now lives in Zürich with her partner. Her life is always a balance between working passionately and filling every minute of her time off work with adventures - be it hiking up a mountain, swimming or diving in a lake, horseback riding, running, or catching up with friends over a cold beer or a nice meal.

Background

Simon Lunt has 20 years of senior global sales and marketing experience across industries as wide ranging as aviation, mass participation events, space exploration, cryogenics and personal safety, providing Thriving Talent with a broad and unique insight to help drive our client experience and growth ambitions.

Simon has led global sales teams in the sale of products and services which keep people safe on space rockets, enable paper to be written on with ink, alert deep sea divers to the dangers of hydrocarbons from the jurassic period and to keep paint wet in the tin. He is uber-enthusiastic about the development of people and is an advocate of a more compassionate workplace.

Simon lives with his wife in Teesside in the North East of England where they attempt to herd their son, daughter and two cats daily with varying degrees of success. Simon enjoys retro gaming, manga, playing the ancient Viking game of hnefatafl and realises this list makes him sound like the geek he really is. He has a significant passion for D&I, particularly in relation to working parents and disabled workers, both of which are topics close to his heart.

Background

Expertise: Transition to parenthood, change management, communications, leadership, team development and group facilitation

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Delivery: Europe

Languages: English

Background

Jenna Clarke is a certified coach, executive trainer and seasoned facilitator. Jenna will bring you powerful action-oriented support for your training and coaching needs.

Her coaching and training philosophy draws out hidden strengths, resourcefulness and creativity from her clients. Her training approach uses interactive, energising and behavioural-based activities blended with the best practices of coaching.

Jenna is willing to shake things up and believes that humour and fun are the best ways to learn and become more self-aware. She also applies effective drama techniques to help foster creativity and allow space for innovative solutions to emerge.

Jenna’s 20+ year career spans journalism, public relations and corporate communication in media and international organisations. She works with clients, such as multiple United Nations agencies, the Red Cross, Deloitte, Credit Suisse, the International Olympic Committee, and CERN.

Born and raised in Canada, she has native fluency in English and conversant in French. She is divorced, has two young sons and spends as much time as possible in the mountains. She is also a comedy writer and performer.

Skills & Accreditation

• Certified in Co-Active coaching (CPCC) and accredited with the International Coaching Federation (ACC)
• Certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Masters in Arts (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (Sociology)

Background

Simon Kernahan has an MBA and a post-graduate certificate in Account Management from St.Gallen University. With three decades of project delivery and account management experience for clients large and small, he is passionate about how organisations navigate change and how to provide the best working environment for teams and individuals.

Simon thrives when he can help clients solve their key issues and unlock the potential within their teams. Having worked internationally and with a flair for languages, he enjoys working across functions and borders with people from diverse backgrounds. He is an advocate of lifelong learning and also teaches part-time (e.g. Marketing for engineers or Applying for Swiss citizenship).

With UK roots, Simon has been based in Switzerland since his teens and is fortunate to be at home in 3 cultures, since he’s married to a lady from Mexico and has a daughter and a son, who are still both at home with the family. As an antidote to the digital world, he enjoys cycling and stand-up paddling and skiing. Other interests include cooking, travelling and, last but not least, a good book and a glass of wine or a cool beer.

Background

Essi has over 10 years of experience in managing client relationships with major international corporations and sponsors of global sporting events as well as complex multi-stakeholder projects. She is a people-person and enjoys meeting people from different cultures and building long-lasting relationships. She is motivated by the challenge of getting to know the clients inside out and finding ways to help them exceed their goals. She is organised and effective in creating transparent procedures to ensure projects are completed within deadlines.

Born and raised in Finland, Essi has first hand experience on the impact of good work-life balance on families wellbeing, work performance and women’s career development. She moved to Switzerland in 2006 and now lives in Geneva with her Canadian husband and two multi-national (and multi-lingual) daughters. After taking a long parental break, Essi joined Thriving Talent in May 2022 and is extremely motivated to help make a positive change for families and the working population in general.

When not working, you will probably find her outside in the park with her children, doing sports, enjoying mountain adventures throughout the year, or cooking healthy meals.

Background

Expertise: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consulting

Location: Suisse Romande, Switzerland

Delivery: Global

Coaching languages: French and English

Background

Julie Beaudoin joined Thriving Talent in March 2022. She is an ardent advocate of how an inclusive and diverse workplace can drive sustained business growth, innovation and better decision making. Her areas of expertise include DE&I strategy and execution, and work flexibility in all its forms to balance work and personal life.

Prior to joining Thriving Talent, Julie worked for 16 years for Novartis, first in global brand management and in the last 6 years in DE&I. As a result of her time in the Pharma industry, narrowing the gender gap in healthcare is also a topic that is very close to her heart. She also has earlier work experience in the IT and financial services industries.

Julie is a French speaking Canadian and has lived and worked in Canada, the US, Ecuador and in Switzerland since 2003 with her husband and two children. She holds an MBA from Rice University (USA) and holds a Bachelor degree in Marketing from Université Laval (Canada).

Background

A seasoned business-minded coach, Catherine has 20 years of experience across sectors and geographies in management consulting, executive search, and today, professional coaching.

Having lived across Europe, changed career path several times and as a mother of two, Catherine has been working as an independent professional coach since 2013. She understands what it takes to re-define what ambition and quality of life mean to you, today. She particularly cherishes the coaching work which aims at rebalancing the “work/life/ambition/values/family/couple/self” equation.

She developed a niche working with people who are on a professional journey or transition of any kind. First, as a coach, she will question, challenge, encourage and also gently confront you: you will become who you are. Then, as a former headhunter, she will guide you to refine your career strategy to land your next professional challenge.

Whatever the coaching context, Catherine strives to create a meaningful dialogue with clients, to help them develop the confidence and clarity to move on and take action. Her clients say that she brings a warm, deep though fun and engaging presence to their work together.