Faculty

Mazher Ahmad is Senior Advisor at CLA and has over twenty-five years experience as a seasoned business executive and management consultant. Mazher has served in several leadership roles, most recently as the Chief Talent Officer for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company’s global talent acquisition, talent management, leadership and organizational development, learning, culture, workforce planning and DE&I functions. In addition, Mazher has extensive management consulting experience, as he was a Principal at Philosophy IB. Mazher is also a seasoned team & executive coach to senior leaders across a variety of functions, industries, and regions including North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, and has spoken at conferences around the world.
Mazher holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dan is a consulting psychologist and Managing Partner at CLA, where he serves as trusted advisor to C-Suite executives, boards, and investors. Dan has extensive experience assessing executives for both selection and development. In addition, he works with senior leadership teams to optimize team performance and align companies around vision, mission, and strategy. Prior to co-founding CLA, Dan was a founding member of AlixPartners’ Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness practice, where he served on the Senior Leadership Team and led the team development practice.
Dan completed postdoctoral studies and was a faculty member at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. An active contributor to industry conferences, he previously served as board president of the Metropolitan New York Association for Applied Psychology. Dan, along with his colleague, Dr. Steve Garcia, is co-author of The End of Leadership As We Know It: What It Takes to Lead in Today’s Volatile and Complex World (Wiley, 2023).

Jennifer, as master executive coach, was most recently the Head of Global Talent Innovation for Vontier. She is a highly accomplished member of Marshall Goldsmith’s exclusive group of MG100 coaches, scholar, and patented inventor of a coaching system for guiding interactions.
She uses art and science to help leaders – from aspiring leaders to senior executives – create the best work environments for their teams, create an innovative culture, and achieve exponential growth for their companies. Jennifer left a coaching legacy at IBM after her 20-year tenure with the firm where she is known worldwide for creating and operationalizing the largest internal coaching practice. Under her leadership of the IBM Coaching Community of Practice, she designed the famous IBM Blue Core Coaching (BCC) skills training program.
Jennifer holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Dan Flowers is an Engagement Manager at CLA, where he brings his expertise in organizational effectiveness and talent development to bear to help leaders, teams, and organizations maximize their people power. Dan applies a consultative approach and systems thinking to help design large-scale interventions focusing on leadership development, talent management, and culture and engagement. Prior to joining CLA, Dan wore a number of different hats at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, with a majority of his time embedded in the Organizational Effectiveness team.

Dan holds a Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University.

Evan is a change/ transformation practitioner, and executive coach with CLA. He’s worked extensively and passionately with leaders and their teams on journeys of change and growth – focusing on the personal “last mile” of behavior change for leaders. When leaders see themselves more clearly, they can explore more options that ultimately enable new behaviors – generating and collaborating intentionally to create stronger futures.
In addition to his work with CLA, Evan’s worked extensively with Kotter, Inc., Box of Crayons and others bringing intentional, practical habit change and a structured data-based approach that helps leaders shift their patterns, create more engagement, and have more impact.
As a consultant – He’s worked with leaders across F500 companies, private firms (including startups), government and nonprofits. As an operating leader for companies – he’s run quality, talent and systems functions within multiple organizations.
Evan completed his MBA at Yale University, and holds a BS in Industrial & Management Systems Engineering, as well as a BA in General Arts & Sciences from Penn State. He’s taught in leader development programs for UPenn’s Wharton School, the State University of New York, Cornell, and Tufts University.

After many years of successfully leading large operations teams and small specialty teams to greater results, Robyn began working with organizations and sharing her expertise in leadership and team development, as a consultant, coach, speaker and author. Through her work as an organizational development consultant, Robyn partners with senior executives as they focus on building and supporting high-performing managers, leaders, teams and organizations.
A foundation of her work is the belief that strong leaders and managers create an environment that engages, challenges and develops employees who in turn provide world-class service and experiences to customers. Robyn works with clients to address their needs in the areas of organizational effectiveness; leadership development; change management; strategic communications and thinking; and people management and team building.
Robyn completed her B.S. in Communication and Media Studies at Syracuse University and obtain her MBA at Columbia University.

Jeff is a Senior Consultant at Contemporary Leadership Advisors, as well as the founder of CoreChoice, a leadership development company. For over 35 years Jeff has been helping individuals, teams and organizations achieve their objectives. Through his coaching practice Jeff works with teams and executives (from the C-suite and down), managers and professionals in a range of disciplines and industries, including life sciences, health care, financial services, energy, real estate, entertainment, professional services and government to achieve breakthroughs in their development and performance.
Jeff’s coaching and leadership skills are informed by his extensive corporate and professional experience, including leading legal and other corporate functions at significant public companies and serving on the Boards of both public and non profit organizations. He was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation and Covance Inc. (a spin out from Corning Inc. that he co-led). He also led the Life Science practice of the Princeton office of Wilmer Hale (formerly Hale and Dorr) and was previously a Vice President and General Counsel of the pharmaceutical service group of Corning Inc. He started his career at the Wall Street law firm Shearman & Sterling. Jeff is also extensively involved in philanthropic organizations, including his Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s New Jersey Chapter, his service on the All Stars Project’s New Jersey Board, which works with disadvantaged youth, and his association with the Climate Reality Project, which is dedicated to education and advocacy about climate change. Jeff graduated magna cum laude with a B.A from the University at Albany and manga cum laude with a J.D from the Boston University School of Law, where he published several articles. Jeff keeps his coaching skills sharp by instructing in the coaching certification programs run by Rutgers and Amercian Universities and his work in the Buccino Leadership Institute at Seton Hall University. Jeff has also coached in the Executive MBA program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Mangement.

Daniel Dworkin helps organizations to achieve their top priorities and build the capabilities necessary to adapt and thrive.
He currently serves as an Organizational Development leader at Google supporting core product areas like Search, Payments, and YouTube. Daniel coaches senior leaders and leadership teams to align around their most critical objectives and strengthen how they collaborate together to achieve them.
Previously, Daniel was a Director at Kotter where he supported clients across industries to navigate complex change. Daniel also led Kotter’s executive coaching practice, created the firm’s high-performing team model, and developed thought leadership for various publications including the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Chief Executive Magazine.
Daniel served as a Partner with Schaffer Consulting where he led innovation, culture development, and acquisition integration engagements with technology, healthcare, and financial services organizations, among others. His first consulting experience was with Stromberg Consulting / Ketchum Change, a boutique firm that is now part of the Omnicom network. Daniel began his career as a New York City Teaching Fellow and bilingual public elementary school teacher.
Daniel volunteers for the Humanitarian Coaching Network, which connects humanitarian staff with a global cohort of volunteer professional coaches. He chaired the board of the Conscious Capitalism Chapter of New York City and was a founding member of the Fund for Public Housing’s Advisory Board.
Daniel is a Columbia University certified executive coach. He has an MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from NYU, an MS in Bilingual Education from City College of New York, and a BA in Political Science from University of Michigan.
Daniel lives in the Bay Area with his amazing wife, Simone, and vivacious three-year-old daughter, Domino. He loves the outdoors, traveling, and reading fiction.

Greg Collins is a change management consultant and leadership effectiveness coach. He helps clients develop growth strategies and build teams capable of implementing those strategies to achieve sustainable revenue and profit growth. His work focuses on aligning a client’s executive team as a critical first step in clarifying and implementing any strategy. Greg designs and leads engagements that combine perspectives and tools from Strategy, Organization Development (OD), Adult Learning, and Coaching. He focuses on both individual and organizational change as the means of delivering extraordinary results.
Greg works with an organization’s leader and leadership team concurrently both in their work setting and in offsite, both face-to-face and virtual, that he designs and facilitates. He helps his clients increase their individual and team effectiveness. Greg has the ability to sense and make explicit subtle “disconnects” among members of a team. Much of this work centers on influencing the members of client teams to expand their candidness with one another and to take greater responsibility for their actions as team members. He achieves this goal through a combination of attentive listening and observation, candid discussion, and thoughtful intervention, as well as building self-awareness and the capability to lead more effectively in his clients.
Greg holds a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Organization and Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cornell. He has also done work in Change Leadership and Adult Learning with the faculty from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Scott Slipy is a Senior Advisor with CLA and co-founder of Momentun Global. He brings 25 years of global operating experience in both Fortune 100 and mid-sized, growth-phase, private firms. Scott has deep expertise and passion for working with boards and executive teams to execute and scale efficiently through superior leadership, culture, and talent practices. He has been affiliated with CLA for over 10 years in multiple capacities including participating in a development program, as a CHRO purchasing talent solutions, and as an ongoing advisor engaging in peer research and consulting projects. Scott has served in global HR leadership roles with Honeywell and Microsoft, as VP of Total Rewards at Cisco, and led the People function (CHRO) at three privately owned, mid-stage tech firms. Scott holds an M.A. in Human Resources and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.

Michael is a senior advisor and executive coach at CLA, where he specializes in leadership, peak performance, relational dynamics, and business mastery. With over 40 years of business and coaching experience, Michael has worked with numerous high-striving leaders and teams in both traditional and fast-growth enterprises.
Michael’s broad background includes ten years in investment banking for General Electric Capital, over 20 years building innovative venture-backed companies, CEO-ing three businesses, and serving inside Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen’s think-tank. He’s also helped build several early internet businesses including the first online music and multiplayer gaming companies, and has served on numerous boards.
In 2008, Michael intentionally shifted his focus from building businesses to building people and teams, and has since spent the last 15 years coaching hundreds of C-Suite executives and teams, facilitating hundreds of personal growth groups and retreats, and continually studying various coaching and psychology curricula.
Michael brings his enthusiasm and perspective to everything he does, consistently energized by helping leaders simplify complexity, reframe challenges, leverage core values for collaboration and culture, and much more. His passion for helping others achieve their full potential is evident in his work, and he plans to never retire.

Evelyn is an Executive and Team Coach and Consultant who is a recognized pioneer in the field of Leadership Development. She has an exceptional background that combines experience as Global Managing Director of Leadership and Talent at four Fortune 100 companies with an early career as a supervising individual and family therapist who co-authored a seminal textbook.
She has a unique combination of business acumen, psychological insight, and experience in managing large corporate departments. She was elected to the MG 100, an elite group of world-class coaches, CEOs, and iconic thought leaders, to which over 20,000 have applied.
She was Managing Director of Leadership at JP Morgan, JP Morgan Chase, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank, and was Chief Talent & Development Officer of KPMG, where she managed a matrixed team of over 100 people with a $100+ million budget and won the #2 national Best Company for Training.
She is a recognized authority in Leadership, Executive & Team Coaching, and Organizational Change. She has done groundbreaking work and led cultural integrations in several Fortune 100 mergers, Leadership and Succession Programs for CEO succession and the top 200 executives, as well as complex cultural transformations and ethics initiatives at scale.
She has taught at graduate school level and been a member of the Wharton Advisory Board for Executive Education, The Conference Board Executive Development Council, and the New York City Leadership Academy.

Jeff is an executive coach and organizational consultant with over twenty-five years of experience working with fortune 50 companies worldwide. He is CEO of Leadershift, Inc. a leadership development consultancy based in NYC and Amsterdam. The author of three books, most recently he published The Science of Leadership. This followed publication of the best-selling book, FLEX: The Art and Science of Leadership in A Changing World, with PRH (Penguin-Random-House) in 2020. A highly sought after speaker and facilitator, he provides hundreds of workshops and keynotes each year for major corporates and professional associations, such as Duke Medical, Yale Medical and Mass General Health Systems, International Leadership Association, Goldman Sachs, Syngenta, Mastercard and many more. An Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School for over a decade, Jeff is also the Executive Director of the Institute of Coaching, a Mclean Hospital-based Harvard Medical School Affiliate.
Jeff completed his PhD in Analytical Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, received an MBA Phi Kappa Phi from University of Maryland, and conducted post-doctoral work at Columbia University.

Sara Roberts is an executive consultant, facilitator, and leadership coach on purposeful companies, culture transformation, and organizational change. Over the last twenty years she has worked with CxOs and their teams at a quarter of the Fortune 100 as well as numerous other big brands and institutions as they’re embarking on their biggest change imperatives.
Sara’s first company, Roberts Golden, a successful boutique consulting firm, was acquired by Ernst & Young (EY) in 2016. She most recently held an in-house role at Google getting up close and personal with some of the most beloved and ubiquitous products in the world as their director & head of organization development and talent for Google’s core consumer product businesses including Ads, Assistant, Maps, Payments, Search, and Shopping.
Sara’s authored 2 business books with her most recent being Nimble, Focused, Feisty: Organizational Cultures that Win in the New Era and How to Create Them. She is also a highly regarded keynote speaker.

Jennifer Brown (she/her) is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, author, and diversity and inclusion expert who is deeply passionate about building more inclusive workplaces where more of us can feel welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. As the Founder and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting (JBC), a certified woman- and LGBT-owned firm, Jennifer and her team design and execute inclusion strategies that have been implemented by some of the biggest companies and nonprofits in the world. She is also the bestselling author of two books, Inclusion: Diversity, The New Workplace and The Will to Change (2017) and How To Be An Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive (2019), a shortlist winner of the O.W.L. Award, and winner of the 2019 Nautilus Book Awards’ Business & Leadership category. The Second Edition, released October 4, 2022, addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our times and takes a deeper dive on complex topics including identity, privilege and equity. With more than 50% new content, it provides an effective roadmap to help individuals navigate through their journey to become an inclusive leader. The Second Edition was one of the titles chosen by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) for the AUPHA Bugbee-Falk Student Book Award for 2022. She also recently co-authored a groundbreaking book on diversity, equity and inclusion in society with thought leader and fellow bestselling author, Rohit Bhargava. The book, Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World, is a 2022 Axiom Award Gold Medal Winner in the Women/BIPOC Category, a Wall Street Journal bestseller,

Reese Haydon is an executive coach and leadership advisor with 10+ years of experience working with senior executives in technology. He is currently the Director of Executive Talent and Succession at Salesforce, where he focuses on elevating capability for the company’s top leaders. Prior to Salesforce, he was Director of Executive & Team Development at Dropbox, and prior to that Reese worked at Cisco on their global executive talent team, where he conducted executive assessments for selection and development of Cisco’s top 500 leaders. He started his career in boutique consulting companies that specialized in leadership and organization development. Reese specializes in helping senior leaders develop capabilities to be effective in new and emerging contexts. His philosophy is built on iteration, a process he guides leaders through as they seek to build their strategy to engage with their environments and effect changes that lead to high performance. He is passionate about complexity, influence, performance, and effective communication. Clients have described his coaching style as curious, insightful, and empowering. Reese completed master executive coach training under David Peterson and David Goldsmith as part of their Accelerating Coach Excellence: Journey to Mastery program. He holds an ACC credential from the International Coaching Federation, along with certifications in a suite of executive development instruments. Reese also holds an MS in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. He currently lives in San Francisco, CA. When he’s not working, you can find him in a HIIT class or walking his mini dachshund, Becky.

As a strategic leadership expert with a specialization in cross-cultural communication and global business acumen, Thor Legvold has spent 20 years consulting for businesses and organizations across various industries. With a proven track record of delivering value, his accomplishments include saving a global energy provider hundreds of millions of dollars, opening new markets for a US publisher in China, and driving significant profit growth for a family-owned business.
Thor is passionate about making a lasting impact by increasing the effectiveness of senior leaders and mission-critical teams. He employs evidence-based, scientifically validated tools to design tailored programs that lead to real improvements in behavior and performance. His collaborative approach encourages clients to bring out the best in themselves and their teams.

In addition to his consulting roles at Bjørnson Organizational Psychologists, Assessit, and Norwegian Royal Mail, Thor has held positions as Adjunct Faculty at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Principle at Kirkegata IO Psychology. He holds a Psy.D. from the University of Bergen, Norway, and a B.A. from Cal State Northridge. Thor’s professional affiliations include the Norwegian Psychology Association, EuroPsy, American Psychology Association, Society of Consulting Psychology, Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and California Psychology Association.

Toni is an executive coach and HR strategist who brings extensive experience as a business partner and trusted leadership advisor.
Prior to consulting, Toni served as CHRO for Kaleida Health, a 10,000-employee, $1.7B health care system in Western New York and she held senior HR roles as people strategist with Time Warner Inc., The Worth Collection, Citigroup, Bankers Trust and Electronic Data Systems.
Toni received her BA in psychology from Swarthmore College, and was certified in Executive Coaching at Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business. She is a founding Board Member for The Buffalo Arts & Tech. Center and served as Board Chair for JazzReach.

A former CHRO with extensive senior HR experience at some of the world’s premier technology companies, Jignasha has deep expertise in developing and executing strategies that leverage top talent, innovative technologies, and optimize business processes to help companies grow while effectively managing risk. She recently retired as Chief Human Resources Officer at DISCO, a leading legal SaaS company revolutionizing the legal industry with cutting-edge solutions that leverage AI, cloud computing and data analytics to help legal professionals accelerate e-discovery, document review and deposition review. Prior to joining DISCO, Jignasha served as CHRO at Epicor, a PE-owned (KKR) cloud software provider with $1B in annual revenue and 4,000 employees globally. This CHRO role was preceded by senior HR leadership positions at Cisco Systems, Dell and NPX (Freescale Semiconductors). Earlier in her career, she worked in the legal field and has experience in both human rights/immigration law and civil litigation. She has worked, lived and studied on three different continents and is passionate about creating a higher standard of living for all people. She earned her B.A. from Emory University and her J.D. from University of Miami School of Law. She resides in Austin, Texas with her husband John and her two sons. She enjoys traveling with her family/friends, reading and practicing mindfulness in the great outdoors.

Steve is a Managing Partner at CLA where he works with clients at the intersection of technology and organizational effectiveness. Prior to co-founding CLA, he served on the Senior Leadership Team in AlixPartners Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness practice and was the Partner in charge of Human Capital Consulting at Philosophy IB. At Philosophy IB, Steve built the firm’s first predictive people analytics applications, one of which, SYNAPP, was accepted into DreamIt Venture’s selective Accelerator Program. Previously, Steve was Head of Product Marketing for Nortel Networks’ digital switching, optical Ethernet, and voice-over-IP portfolios and worked on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment. Steve holds an M.B.A. from The University of Virginia and an Ed.D. in Adult Learning from N.C. State University where his research focused on how organizational networks affect learning, change and innovation. Steve is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as co-author of The End of Leadership As We Know It: What It Takes to Lead in Today’s Volatile and Complex World (Wiley, 2023). He is a frequent presenter at professional conferences. Steve can be found at either his home in Millburn, NJ or working on repairs at his lake house compound in Sparta, NJ.

Liz Weglarz is an Engagement Manager at Contemporary Leadership Advisors (CLA), where she focuses on leadership development, organizational development, talent management, and team and individual coaching with clients. Before joining CLA, Liz worked in human resources and led talent management initiatives at consulting and technology organizations, including Compass Workforce Solutions, Yext, Inc., and Koios Medical. While in those roles, Liz supported and coached leaders at various levels on matters related to employee engagement, change management, performance management, and conflict resolution. As a coach, Liz takes an energetic, thoughtful, and practical approach to supporting client development and success. In addition to her work at CLA, Liz is a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Baruch College, CUNY, where she researches leadership, motivation, and emotions. Liz teaches undergraduate and master’s level courses on motivation and leadership. Liz completed her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology and an M.B.A. in Human Resource Management at Stony Brook University.

Natalie is a Partner at Contemporary Leadership Advisors. She is an engagement and culture thought leader and evangelist, with keen insight into the depth and breadth of the employee experience. She has spent her career translating engagement and culture research into SaaS based software, helping organizations to achieve high performance.
Natalie currently holds a joint position as Chief Workforce Scientist with Achievers, a global leader in employee experience solutions, partner to CLA. Prior to her current roles, Dr. Baumgartner co-founded RoundPegg, a SaaS based Culture Measurement and Management platform, later acquired by Achievers.
Natalie graduated from UCLA and the University of Denver with a PhD in Clinical Psychology, with a specialization in Strength-Based Psychology, and received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
She serves on several boards and has long advised senior executives on issues related to culture and engagement. Natalie is a regular contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review and is a popular speaker – she regularly engages audiences on topics related to the employee experience, including a TED talk on the importance of culture fit.

Carol is the founder of the prestigious Institute of Coaching, where she has dedicated herself to bringing science and practice together. She is a leadership coach with over 25 years experience helping leaders raise the bar on their performance and managing their success. She is most interested in high-stakes coaching when the stakes are high, outcomes are uncertain and it can be necessary to intervene quickly.

Carol has extensive coaching experience with over 40,000 hours of client contact.  She works with multi-national organization either on an individual basis or in tandem with large-scale leadership development programs. A sampling of clients includes: Ahold, Astra Zeneca, Baker & McKenzie, BCG, Bombardier, Egon Zehnder, Linklaters, McKinsey, Norton Rose, Tube Lines, Unilever, Vanderbilt University & School of Medicine and Wellington Management Company
In addition to coaching, she has designed and delivered Leader as Coach training programs to hundreds of business and physician leaders. These include programs at Unilever, Massachusetts General Hospital, Health Dialog/BUPA and Infosys. Carol is also the Chief Supervisor of the Meyler Campbell Business Coach Programme, The Alexander Partnership in the UK, and supervised the BCG Europe/Middle East fleet of leadership coaches. She also individually supervises 25 Leadership Coaches in UK, Europe, US and Asia.
Carol has published in many venues, and was the Founding Editor and launched the first academic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to coaching. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review where she directed and authored the HBR first research project on executive coaching. She is co-author of Real Time Leadership. Carol appears regularly in the media including New York Times, Forbes, LA Times, New York Magazine and is interviewed for local and national television and radio. She has coached live on television, radio and for a documentary film on positive psychology. She is a member and examiner for ABPP, the American Board of Professional Psychologists.

Doug has had a distinguished career leading organizations and coaching senior leaders across the world. A Senior Fellow at the top-ranked global leadership development Center for Creative leadership, his contributions to the field have been recognized by the Harvard Institute of Coaching, the American Psychological Association, and other professional institutions. As the author and editor of numerous books, papers, and articles that have shaped the field of leadership coaching, he has spoken in more than 20 countries and worked with the leadership of some of the most influential companies in the world. He is known for his commitment to just and equitable workplaces and, as the curriculum director for the Carol Emmott Fellowship, has invested in advancing women in senior leadership in healthcare. Responsible for creating leadership development systems for major healthcare organizations, including the Massachusetts Healthcare Leadership College, the California Healthcare Leadership College, the Carol Emmott Fellowship, and UCLA Health System. Focused on integrating individual mindful and reflective practices in interpersonal development for organizational impact.