MEET THE LEADERSHIP TEAM
Natalie Wilkins
Co-founder & Managing Partner
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Natalie Wilkins, PCC
Co-founder & Managing Partner
| Specialties: | Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Change Management, Executive Coach & Trainer, Keynote Speaker |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Languages: | English |
Background
Natalie, co-founder 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 mum, 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.
Deborah Croft
Co-founder & Managing Partner
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Deborah Croft, PCC
Co-founder & Managing Partner
| Specialties: | Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Executive Coach & Trainer, Keynote Speaker |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Coaching languages: | English |
Background
Deborah Croft, co-founder 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. Given that over 60% of the workforce become parents and the talent pipeline this represents, Deborah in close collaboration with Natalie and the team, is determined that reaching their goal of helping 1 million parents by 2020, will reap great rewards both in organisations and in Switzerland.
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.
Jenna Clarke
Managing Partner for Thriving Parents
Associate Coach & Trainer for Thriving Talent
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Jenna Clarke, CPCC, ACC
Managing Partner for Thriving Parents
Coach & Trainer for Thriving Talent
| Specialties: | Transition to parenthood, leading change, courageous conversations, leadership, team development and group facilitation |
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| Location: | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Coaching languages: | English |
Background
As a new parent facing the daunting task of going back to work, who can best support you on fulfilling your personal and professional ambitions?
After all, you’re looking for an elusive combination. It’s not easy to find a highly experienced and senior executive-level coach and facilitator who can roll up their sleeves with you to face your self-limiting beliefs and take the necessary steps forward.
Imagine finding that person who is also a parent themselves and has more than 20 years of management experience in various international organisations.
That person may actually be much closer than you realise – really close.
As a certified coach, executive trainer and seasoned facilitator, Jenna Clarke can bring you powerful action-oriented coaching support. Born and raised in Canada, is fluent in English and mostly fluent in French.
Her coaching and training philosophy is based on drawing out your hidden strengths, resourcefulness and creativity. Her training approach uses interactive, energising and behavioural-based activities blended with the best practices of coaching.
However it’s hard for a short bio of achievements and skills to fully capture the energy, and passion that form her personality and coaching approach.
Jenna is willing to shake things up and believes that humor and fun are amongst the best ways to learn and become more self-aware. She also applies effective drama techniques to help foster your creativity and allow space for innovative solutions to emerge.
If anything you’ve read here ticks some of the boxes in your checklist or piques your interest, contact Jenna to continue this conversation.
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)
OUR SUPERSTARS
Caroline Dykes
Client Services Manager
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Caroline Dykes
Client Services Manager
Location: Switzerland
Background
Caroline has over 20 years sales and client support experience, in a variety of sectors covering financial media, exhibitions and conferences, foods and charity.
Caroline is an organised and dependable client services manager and takes pride in taking the time to listen and understand our clients' requirements and nurture long-term relationships.
Her approach is enthusiastic, engaging and open and her aim is to ensure that all our client needs are fulfilled promptly, resulting in happy customers.
Over the years she has developed a keen interest in ‘wellbeing’, taking a holistic approach to health and is currently studying a Diploma Course in Sophrology. Working with Thriving Talent allows Caroline to combine her business experience with a focus on supporting both the individuals within a company and the company as a whole - ultimately assisting each client to become an employer which respects, supports and values its people.
Caroline lives in a village in Switzerland not far from the Jura mountains with her husband and two sons and their favourite pastime is to head off in their old campervan for adventures in the outdoors.
Bethany Carter
Social Media Manager
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Bethany Carter
Social Media Manager
Location: UK
Background
A curious and creative wordsmith, Beth creates and curates content for our social media channels. She is also responsible for overseeing the articles written by our coaches and publishing them on the website, as well as sharing them with our social media communities. With a first class degree in Public Relations and Communications, Beth wrote her dissertation about blogging and gained her first graduate PR job through Twitter in 2010. Since then she has worked in a global communications consultancy based in London, gained experience as a group marketing manager, and written articles for various publications, blogs, and websites. She launched her own social media business, Lemon Squeezy Marketing, in 2013. Beth is a new Mum to little Elijah, so she has personal insight into the journey from pregnancy to working parent which she is able to draw from in her role for Thriving Talent.
Francisco Baptista
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Francisco Baptista, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Leadership, Managing Change, Team Development |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Coaching languages: | English, German and Portuguese |
Background
Francisco helps business teams and individuals at all levels finding solutions to achieve higher performance through a coaching based-training for leaders, organisational and team coaching, 360° diagnostic assessments, individual executive coaching and leadership development.
Over the last 5 years Francisco has built a practice developing interventions, coaching executives, training line managers, bringing teams nearer to their customers, and helping teams and couples overcome conflict.
Prior to this, Francisco served as program manager in an FMCG environment introducing continuous improvement methods such as LEAN and Six Sigma across different functions. Previously, he implemented Enterprise Resource Planning solutions in various industries and NGO’s, and selling his own startup in South America. Francisco’s success has always been setup with an eye on enhancing human potential empowering team members working more efficiently.
Francisco is well rounded in both managerial and leadership aspects as well as in emotional and social intelligence competencies. His coaching and facilitation skills combine, with his expertise from past careers, to deliver credible, viable, and sustainable change.
Francisco lives near the Lavaux Vineyards in Switzerland with his wife, daughter and son. During his downtime, he loves experiencing the wild, silent nature of the surrounding mountains and valleys with his family.
Skills & Accreditation
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), The Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
- Leadership Program Graduate, The Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
- Leadership Circle Certification, Full Circle Group/The Leadership Circle
- ORSC (Team Coaching) Core Curriculum Graduate, Centre for Right Relationships,
- Team Coaching International Assessments
- Design Thinking, SAP D.LAB
- Six Sigma Green Belt, Nestlé
Henri-Michel Yéré
Associate Trainer
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Henri-Michel Yéré
Associate Trainer
| Specialties: | Inclusive Leadership, Unconscious Bias, Mentoring, Emotional Intelligence, Team Communication |
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| Location: | Basel, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Switzerland |
| Languages: | English, French and German |
Background
Henri is driven by supporting organisations, leaders and teams to overcome bias and set ways of thinking, in order to work efficiently and set free their innovative power. He enables clients to overcome barriers to change the culture of their organisation.
Henri has seven years of experience in Diversity and Inclusion work in the pharmacetical industry. Trained as a historian and political scientist he knows how different perspectives and diversity in thinking styles can enrich your organisation.
Areas of expertise:
- Workshops on how to practically mitigate the effects of unconscious bias
- Enhancement techniques for better intra-team engagement and communication
- Employee engagement work
- Coaching and mentoring techniques
Accreditations
- PhD in Contemporary History (African History Specialist)
- Certified MBTI coach
- Certified CQ (Cultural Intelligence) coach
Vinay Deshpande
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Vinay Deshpande, CPCC, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Life transition, Design and lead change, Develop creativity, Build resilience and growth. |
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| Location: | Basel, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Coaching languages: | English |
Background
Vinay is an awareness builder, an enabler and a transformation evoker... who engages with individuals, groups and organizations to design their life around their own ideas and bringing it into a reality. He believes that everyone has a choice to design and create the life they want and on this journey he enables you to overcome resistance, build resilience and lead your life.
His mantra is “You have to let yourself in!"
He is your guide on your creative journey. While working with him, be ready - to experiment, to get challenged, to feel vulnerable, to get nurtured, to be playful and to be accountable to yourself!
He uses co-active coaching along with work influenced by Theory U, Immunity to change, Improvisation Theatre techniques and Mindfulness.
Vinay brings into his coaching a rich experience of working for 18+ years in diverse finance roles within big multinational companies. Born in Mumbai, India, Vinay has lived and worked in India and in Switzerland. In 2005 while working with Clariant India, he came to HQ in Basel on an international assignment. Since then he is living in Basel with his wife and a daughter.
Skills & Accreditation
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC) by International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Certified Professional Co- Active® Coach (CPCC) from The Coaches Training Institute
- Certified in Human Centric Design Thinking methodology to design change, build creativity and innovation
- Masters in Cost and Management Accountancy; Bachelor of Commerce (Mumbai University)
Daniela Rusu
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Daniela Rusu, MSc, ACC, CPCC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: |
Leadership, Resilience, Performance, Change Management, Mindfulness |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Global |
| Coaching languages: | English, French, Romanian |
Background
Passionate to help people and organizations thrive, Daniela works with individuals and teams to develop their inner leadership capabilities, and to use emotional, social and collective intelligence to reach higher levels of performance and well-being.
The workplace is on the brink of change with the emergence of new organizational models and increasing pressure to move from old structures to new forms of cooperation and relationships.
Daniela is excited to take part in this new wave of change by creating integrative training solutions in the form of real-life business simulations that challenge deeply ingrained mental models and allow participants to experiement with new approaches to collaboration, innovation, performance, communication and leadership.
As a coach, Daniela is known for creating safe environments for people to face their fears and limiting beliefs, supporting them in finding new possibilities and opportunities, expanding into their power and full potential. Daniela recently created The Inner Leader program to fulfill this goal.
Prior to founding Quantum Communications in 2011, Daniela held various management roles leading innovative digital platforms and outreach projects for climate change, leadership and talent management, and corporate/employer branding for the Canadian government.
A Romanian and Canadian national, Daniela lives in Switzerland since 2009 with her husband and two grown children. When not reading, she loves exploring the Swiss hiking trails with her friends and family.
Skills & Accreditation
- MSc in International Business Development, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Leadership Program – Building on Talent, IMD Lausanne, Switzerland
- BA in Communications, University of Ottawa, Canada
- Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), Coaches Training Institute
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation (ICF)
- ORSC (Team Coaching), Center for Right Relationships
Michal Abel
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Michal Abel, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Transition to Parenthood, Social and Emotional Intelligence, Work Climate, Facilitating Engagement and Performance |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande – Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe, Middle-East |
| Coaching languages: | English and French |
Background
Michal is a Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Coach and Trainer living in Geneva. He’s passionate about growing Human’s well-being and productivity by implementing Mindfulness and Social & Emotional Intelligence skills into real life, at work and at home.
He’s dedicated to helping people see what’s most important and creating the attitudes facilitating change, effectiveness and fulfillment.
Success in one area of life is no longer enough to live a good life. You give the best of you at work and still want to be a great parent and a caring partner at home? It’s a constant source of both, challenges and motivation for growth. Michal understands it perfectly.
Working professional and a Father of two, a girl and a boy, Michal turned his parenting into long term training in soft skills – a key component of leadership and high-performance. Michal is a medical doctor and a scientist. His ideas and trainings are deeply rooted in modern research on neuroscience, human psychology and behaviorism.
Living in 6 countries on 4 continents, experiencing radically different cultures, Michal incorporated change as a natural element of life. He brings this advantage to his clients facilitating them the development of new skills useful in both, professional and family life.
Michal’s mission is to empower working parents to living fully their different roles in life, to trust themselves and… still have fun!
Skills & Accreditation
- Certified Coach, ICF Member
- Life and Career Management System
- Brain Talent Profile Assessment
- The Science of Happiness
- Master in Psychology of Achievements and Personal Change
- Resonant Leadership through Emotional Intelligence and Coaching
- M.D. and Ph.D. in Medical Sciences
Catherine Hickel
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Catherine Hickel, PCC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | TWomen in transition, Leadership and Team Development, Burnout Prevention |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande – Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Europe |
| Coaching languages: | English and French |
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.
An economist by education, she started her career in a high growth US startup, experiencing the whole corporate life-cycle, from Nasdaq IPO to take-over, from 100 employees to 1’000, during an accelerated five years. In this context, leading multicultural teams, she gained solid insights into the many challenges of today’s business leaders. After she had to implement organizational change and restructure the team she had developed, she decided to build on this challenging experience to develop innovative ways to increase resilience, get inspired, embrace what is and lead with purpose in today’s corporate world.
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.
To the question “Is it possible to have it all?”, her answer is “Yes, it is, and even more, once you know what ‘ALL’ means to YOU!”.
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.
Skills & Accreditation
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Coaching toolbox: Somatic Coaching, Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), Transactional Analysis (TA), team coaching, Systemic, Clean Language
- Master of Arts in Economics and Business Management (University of Strasburg, FR) and in European Integration (College of Europe, BE)
Cornelia Asanger-Lexa
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Cornelia Asanger-Lexa, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Women in Transition, Change Management, Transition to Parenthood |
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| Location: | Sweden |
| Delivery: | Global |
| Coaching languages: | English, German and French |
Background
Cornelia is an Executive & Transition Coach and Trainer, living in Sweden. She specialises in empowering others who are at a turning point in their life to get on the right path by achieving their goals yet remaining true to their values and beliefs. Being a working mum herself Cornelia knows juggling the path between giving the best in Parenthood and Leadership at the same time isn’t an easy one. Her passion is to empower Individuals and help them grow both professionally and personally, getting them to develop their leadership skills to finally live a more fulfilled and balanced life.
Cornelia works with individuals and executives to accomplish their restricting prospects by strengthening their excellence and uniqueness, which she reveals by means of various coaching techniques and approved leadership models. Cornelia also trains and coaches teams or groups to provide team-spirit, teamwork and achievement by being engaged. This could be done both in-person and virtually for getting the best result for the individuals, the teams and the organization. Clients have a clear path for success including their personal and professional values by working with Cornelia.
Prior to founding CAL Coaching she worked as an international Finance and Senior HR leader for a range of sectors and industries such as global banks, strategic and IT consultancies including Roland Berger and FJA. Cornelia worked with leadership teams to help them adapt to the challenges of talent management and people development, especially at a time of great restructuring and transition.
Cornelia is convinced that a concerted work-life-balance is key to success and therefore key for being an effective leader. Cornelia trains individuals to getting to know their own purpose in life, being present in every moment (at work and at home) by building up resilience to manage stress better to finally find their own work-life-balance.
Having lived across Europe and as a mother of three active daughters, Cornelia understands the challenges of being abroad and recognises the on-going journey of balancing the multiple roles we play in our lives, without losing sight of our own needs and dreams. And besides this she is making the most out of what nature provides together with her family including a dog.
Skills & Accreditation
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC), ICF Accredited & Member
- Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), Coaches Training Institute CTI
- MBA Social & Economics Sciences of University of Augsburg
Annie Couleru
Associate Consultant
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Annie Couleru
Associate Consultant
| Specialties: | Organisational change and Flexible Working |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Switzerland |
| Languages: | English and French |
Background
Born and raised in Switzerland, Annie migrated to Australia in 2006 where she experienced an array of different cultures in her personal and professional life. In 2018, she moved back to Switzerland for family reasons. Now she hopes to make a difference by sharing her experience working in the field of HRM in a non-European country where the culture and customs differ dramatically.
Within the parameters of the Australian legislation, local economy and employment market, Annie’s work experience has taught her a different way of managing the invaluable human capital of an organisation. Such a life experience has brought a flexible, innovative and creative mindset required to cater more holistically to organisational issues such as talent attraction, management, development and retention.
Contemporary trends demonstrate an emergent aging, feminisation and culturally diverse workforce affecting the demographic and societal developments of the workplace, which require more flexibility and consideration for life issues. The importance of employee engagement, which can be achieved by optimising the workforce contribution through offering flexibility of working conditions, has been proven for years.
Studies by Gallup (2015) demonstrate disengaged employees incur substantial cost to the economy and organisational productivity, including decreasing profit and return on investment (ROI). The highly desirable status of employer of choice, which is correlated with enhanced employee engagement, is a substantial organisational competitive advantage as it is perceived by stakeholders and shareholders as valuable, rare and inimitable.
As a working mother of two, passionate about the field of her chosen career, Annie fully appreciates the challenge of balancing work and life. She would like to encourage working parents to be fantastic role models to their children. This can be achieved by demonstrating that we can all learn to balance quality time with them and continue to build a career, step by step, at the right time. She lives with the motto that we may not be able to ‘Have It All’ right now, but we can have a good portion of it at each stage of our life.
Skills & Accreditation
- Certificate in Swiss Employment Law - FER
- Master of HRM with honour - Australia
- Professional Diploma of Human Resources – Australian Human Resources Institute
- Mental Health First Aid - Australia
- Grievance Handling – Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia
Katelijne Vercaeren
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Katelijne Vercaeren, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Transition to Parenthood, Executive Presence and Communications Coaching, Change Management, Employee Engagement, Internal Communications, HR Strategy |
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| Location: | Suisse Romande, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Global |
| Coaching languages: | English, French, Dutch |
Background
Married to a loving husband, and a mother of two, Katelijne has faced her fair share of career challenges and life changes. This first-hand experience is critical to understand what it is like to navigate your career through parenthood. Her family has been and is her inspiration to continue to evolve as a coach.
Over the last fifteen years, Katelijne has worked with executive leadership teams in human resources and corporate communications across Fortune 500 companies managing organisational change and efficiency programs to empower employee engagement worldwide.
Today, she serves as a certified and accredited executive coach to help leaders enhance their presence and become more impactful communicators. Combining coaching and communication skills, she is passionate to deliver credible, viable, and sustainable change.
In life, just as in her coaching relationships, she is practical and pragmatic, and knows how to create a safe space for her clients.
An art historian by education and a trained sculptor and painter, Katelijne also has a passion for grand masters and the innovation they inject in society. So, when working with clients, she brings in a lot of creativity to help them find new perspectives to re-invent themselves time and again.
Katelijne is an accredited professional coach with the International Coach Federation (ACC) and is certified with the Coaches Training Institute (CPCC).
Based near Geneva (Switzerland), she works in English, French and Dutch across timezones and geographies.
Skills & Accreditation
- Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), The Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
- Accredited Certified Coach (ACC), International Coach Federation (ICF)
- CTI Leadership Program
- Specialising in Creative and Expressive Arts Therapy
- Expert in Internal Communications, Change Management and Employee Engagement
- Extensive experience in FMCG and IT/IS
- Master of Art History, University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium Bachelor of Business Administration
Diana Orejas
Associate Coach & Trainer
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Diana Orejas PhD, ACC
Associate Coach & Trainer
| Specialties: | Change, Leadership, Growth |
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| Location: | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Delivery: | Global |
| Coaching languages: | Spanish and English |
Background
Diana is an Executive coach and trainer, originally from Spain and currently living in Geneva. She is passionate about finding creative and effective ways to support individuals in their quest for personal and professional growth.
In the current world, individuals are under constant pressure to do more with less; to balance life and work; to excel at being individuals, parents and professionals; to find meaning and happiness and to do all this while posting on social media. There are ways to leverage internal resources to better manage this balance, yet most people struggle to find them at crutial moments in life.
Diana’s passion is to support individuals discover their own approach to manage and grow in the face of life’s transitions and professional challenges; to expand their ability to understand themselves and others, manage competing needs and responsibilities, transform attitudes and switch perspectives to live up to their full potential. To do so, she recently founded “The Growthery” a bistro for the mind.
In the past, Diana spent a decade facilitating change and organizational development in global multicultural organizations with Challenge Learning and Duke Corporate Education; five years running global executive development programs with the International Trade Centre; and 3 years conducting research at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Diana believes there is always something to learn and that the self-discovery journey that one embarks as a parent is a unique opportunity for personal and professional growth. An avid learner herself, she is always looking for new ways of expanding her knowledge and skills to help clients achieve their goals.
Diana juggles learning, family life and work in the heart of Geneva with the demands of a third generation family business in Spain. She loves travelling, running, paddlesurf and giggling with her 9 year old daughter
Skills & Accreditation
- Ph.D. in Organizational Competitiveness and Economic Development, Deusto Business School
- M.A. in International Relations and International Economics, Johns Hopkins University
- B.A. in Business and Economics, University of Navarra
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Accredited Facilitator and Change Management Practitioner (APMG)
- Balanced Score Card; Situational Leadership; MBTI; FIRO-B; LIFO; HOGAN suite; Leadership Versatility Index; Booth 360 feedback; Emotional and Social Competency Inventory; Intercultural Readiness.
