Adri Adler has been working as a consultant for 27 years, specializing as family business advisor, mediator, and coach. She is driven to understand the human dynamics among partners, board members, family members and executives. She helps boards with such tasks as evaluating their functioning and creating family constitutions and shareholder agreements. She mentors board members and facilitates board meetings.
Adri combines her own family business experience, with a deep belief that it’s peoples’ relationships that really make the difference between success and failure.
She worked as an executive search consultant for 7 years at PMC AMROP, has worked also in her own family’s business, Brinquedos Estrela, and in marketing at Itau Bank. She is a founder of Ekilibra Governança Integrada. She was Coordinator of the People Committee at Instituto Brasileiro de Governança Corporativa, and is Vice Coordinator at the Future Board Commitee.
She holds a BA in Marketing at ESPM-SP and Post-Graduated in Business Administration at EAESP-FGV. She is certified as a mediator by Instituto Mediativa (forme Familae); as a corporate mediator by ADR Group, (London) and with Ron Kelly at UC Berkeley. She is also certified in Organizational Conflict Management with Rudi Ballreich at Trigon and as a Coach by Integrated Coaching Institute. Post-Graduated in Group Dynamics at SBDG and as certified Family Advisor with the Family Firm Institute
She is the Co-author of “Aspectos Relevantes da Empresa Familiar” and also “Aspectos Relevantes da Empresa Familiar e Mediação de Conflitos - para Iniciantes, Praticantes e Docentes”
Dr. Robert Blankenship, with his extensive 26-year career in emergency medicine, is a distinguished figure in both clinical and academic settings. His leadership experience includes roles such as Medical Director for various emergency departments, and he has adeptly managed the Mercy West Market Emergency Departments. His academic contributions are equally impressive, having served as Ultrasound Director, Assistant Residency Director for an Emergency Medicine Residency program, and as Residency Director for a Transitional Year Residency.
His military contributions are noteworthy, including the development of the Army's first Tactical Ultrasound Course and earning a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq. Beyond his clinical and military roles, Dr. Blankenship has made significant contributions to the American College of Emergency Physicians, serving as President of the Government Services Chapter of ACEP.
As an executive coach, Dr. Blankenship is certified by the International Coach Federation, focusing on behavioral change and team leadership. He coaches a diverse array of leaders, utilizing Stakeholder Centered Coaching and Birkman's High Performing Teams methodologies. His entrepreneurial ventures include running two online educational companies, demonstrating his dedication to advancing medical education and leadership.
Cassie Brennand serves as the Sr. Director of Leadership Development at Penske Transportation Solutions, where she leads an amazing team that designs and delivers transformational development experiences to leaders at every level of the organization.
Cassie began her career in Training and Executive Development at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) while she was pursuing her Master’s in I/O Psychology at the University of Baltimore. She served in various roles at OPM over the course of 7 years, leading a number of cross-agency leadership development programs and initiatives, including a training program and network for Internal Federal Coaches and a career rotation program for high-potential Government leaders.
In 2017, Cassie migrated back to her roots in Pennsylvania as she took on a role with Penske, leading a portfolio of leadership programs for Director-level leaders. Cassie is passionate about human and organizational development, and preparing leaders for the ever-increasing complexity of our world. In 2022, Penske’s Leading Excellence program earned the Chief Learning Officers’ Learning in Practice Gold Award. In addition to leadership development, she has worked over the past five years to develop and integrate innovative talent processes that are transparent, scalable, and aligned with key business and development needs. She is interested in and optimistic about the increasingly important role leadership development plays in fostering individual, organizational, and societal wellbeing.
Cassie holds a number of certifications in various leadership tools and assessments, including the Hogan Personality Inventory, Global Leadership Profile, Leadership Circle Profile, Immunity to Change, Human Centered Design, and Brain-Based Coaching. She currently lives near Reading, PA with her big, vibrant family—she is a proud mom to 5 children (2 sets of fraternal twins!), and wife to husband Patrick. They love to spend as much time as possible outdoors, preferably in the woods or by the water.
Beatriz Brito is a highly accomplished professional with a diverse range of experiences and expertise in various areas. Her background as a Business Administrator and her specialization in human and organizational development make her a valuable asset in the field of consultancy. She has also received additional training as a Family Therapist, which enhances her ability to understand and address the complexities of family dynamics within businesses.
With over 26 years of accumulated experience in both internal and external consultancy positions, Beatriz has honed her skills as a Mentor, Coach, and Family Business Advisor. Her extensive career includes working with renowned companies such as Citibank, ABN-Amro Bank, ICTS Global, and Alelo, where she served as a Human Resources Executive. These roles have given her valuable insights into the inner workings of organizations and the challenges they face in terms of leadership, succession planning, and change management.
For the past 17 years, Beatriz has been running her own Consultancy Company, focusing on providing support to Leaders, Heirs, Successors, and Family Businesses in their planning and preparation for the future. Her methodology, based on the psychodynamic and systemic approach, allows her to take into account both objective and subjective aspects, ensuring a holistic perspective in her work.
In addition to her consultancy work, Beatriz actively participates in the Agribusiness industry as a partner and board member of a Family Business specializing in meat, soybeans, and corn production in the Brazilian Midwest. This firsthand involvement provides her with valuable industry-specific knowledge and insights that she can bring to her clients.
Beatriz is also a published author, co-authoring two books: "The Legacy of the Entrepreneurial Family and the Continuity of Their Businesses" and "Agribusiness' Women." These publications showcase her expertise and commitment to sharing knowledge and promoting the development of both family businesses and women in the agribusiness sector.
Beyond her professional achievements, Beatriz is a dedicated mother of two and has a genuine passion for human and organizational development. This personal drive and commitment undoubtedly enhance her ability to connect with her clients and create meaningful change within organizations.
Overall, Beatriz's rich background, extensive experience, and multidisciplinary approach make her a highly effective and well-rounded professional in the fields of business administration, human and organizational development, family therapy, and family business consulting. Her commitment to bridging the gap between the objective and subjective aspects of her work, combined with her industry-specific knowledge and publications, make her a valuable resource for clients seeking to navigate the challenges of family businesses and organizational growth.
Renata Catelan is a consultant and coach and works with individuals, teams and boards on leadership, corporate governance, and organizational change. She designs and facilitates transformation processes through an in-depth analysis of conscious and unconscious factors that influence human behavior and interrelation dynamics. She believes development comes from taking risks, going beyond our comfort zone, exploring our limits, our contours.
Her works includes individual and group coaching, development programs, board review and development and consulting in the context of corporate governance. Renata works with a large variety of organizations, in all sectors. She is also expert in family business, supporting families structuring their business and family governance and plan the continuity of their business, over generations. Renata is also an executive coach of INSEAD.
Renata has a B.A. in law from Pontificia Universidade Católica – PUC/SP, a MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas – CEAG and Executive Master in Consulting and Coaching for Change from INSEAD.
As a lawyer, has more than 20 years’ experience in mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance, family business and mediation. She made her first steps for a career transition in 2013 when she became managing director of Peninsula Participações, a well known family business in Brazil, in charge of human resources, strategic planning, M&A, corporate affairs and public relations.
Certified by the Kets de Vries Institute in the Tools Certification Program and the Family Business Advisory Masterclass, by Phyleon regarding the NELS – Non Executive Leadership Survey and BRQ – Board Review Questionaire and by the Leadership Circle regarding the Circle Profile, Manager Edition and Collective Assessment.
Jacquie Fedo is a leadership and organization development professional who has been developing leaders and teams for over thirty years. She has a particular interest in developing high performance teams that deliver innovative solutions to complex challenges. Jacquie started her professional leadership coaching practice in 2012 to support emerging, mid-level, and executive leaders to improve their personal awareness and ability to positively influence and lead others.
Jacquie is an experienced leader, facilitator, and leadership coach who has worked in various sectors including medical device/biotech, healthcare, non-profit, government, and academia. Before joining Penske, Jacquie was part of the executive team of a small biotech start up as the vice president of business development, also responsible for the development of the executive team, leader, and organization development. Within her professional coaching association as a board member and president, Jacquie was instrumental in developing a high functioning board that has now experienced four successful leadership transitions while more than doubling the membership.
Jacquie’s corporate experience spans over twenty years where she held various sales, marketing, and business development leadership positions. She understands the challenges related to transitioning from individual contributor to emerging leader, front-line supervisor to manager, mid-level leader to director, and senior level to executive. Skills and competencies that generate success at one level may become blind spots at the next. Jacquie partners with leaders to explore these potential blind spots, harness their confidence in their strengths, gain clarity on their values, and lean into their growth opportunities. Jacquie creates a safe and confidential space for leaders to explore their perspectives and equip them to handle increasing responsibility, complexity, uncertainty, and change. A leader’s authentic leadership presence is foundational to working with her.
Jacquie values attracting and retaining high caliber talent through professional development and inclusion. She enjoys exploring career development potential, performance management opportunities, living in balance with one’s core values, and contributing in meaningful, holistic, and lasting ways. She is skilled at navigating complex challenges across organization silos and multi-disciplinary teams. She is drawn to performance-driven individuals who care about how they impact those around them and the way in which they seek extraordinary results. Jacquie is highly effective at facilitating alignment, trust, and communication in building sustainable teams.
Jacquie is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF). She upholds their commitment to professional ethics, integrity, and confidentiality. Jacquie has a B.S. in Business Administration from The Ohio State University and a M.A. in Organization Development and Leadership from Fielding Graduate University. Her graduate work included an emphasis in evidence- based coaching and her master’s research project on vertical development for mid-level leaders. Jacquie is certified in a variety of behavioral assessments.
Jacquie lives in Boulder, Colorado raising her teenage son and young adult daughter. She grew up in Ohio and enjoys rooting for the Buckeye’s football team. She loves being outdoors and appreciates the various seasons Colorado has to offer for cycling, mountain biking, alpine and cross-country skiing, birding, and hiking with her pup, Riley. Jacquie loves to read, watch documentaries, garden, and most of all, travel.
Matt Finch is a strategy & foresight practitioner: he works with communities, companies, and institutions around the world to help them create innovative and effective strategies, policies, partnerships, and offerings. He is also an Associate Fellow of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, where he teaches on the MBA & Executive MBA, directs Custom Executive Education programmes, and serves as Lead Facilitator on the award-winning Oxford Scenarios programme.
Matt has worked globally in the public, private, and non-profit sectors as well as academia, and has advised clients across fields including aerospace, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, intellectual property and the legal sector, education, and broadcast media. He has spoken in both the British House of Commons and the Australian Federal Parliament, and was a host of the OECD's 2020 Government After Shock pandemic podcast.
Matt’s previous public projects include workshop design and facilitation for the OECD, scenarios for Energy Consumers Australia, the future of Norwegian schools for the University of Oslo, impact evaluation methodologies for the Spanish Ministry of Culture & Sport, and foresight consultancy to the European Commission’s Horizon-funded IMAJINE project on the future of regional inequality. Matt is also a member of the Strategic Foresight Expert Working Group for the European cybersecurity agency ENISA.
Matt holds a PhD in Modern Intellectual History from the University of London and has written on scenarios & strategy for academic, specialist, and popular publications.
Cathy Hawley is co-founder of Bolster which is an executive talent marketplace matching executives with startups and scaleups. At Bolster, Cathy manages the leadership consulting practice, including actively engaging coaching CEOs and leading executive team and board 360s and offsites. She also engages executive coaches to support Bolster clients' needs.
Cathy has experience as a fractional and full-time Chief People Officer, and her passion is around building highly effective leadership teams and creating inclusive and people-focused workplaces. She was the driving force behind the creation of the return-to-work program at Return Path and is now on the Board of Path Forward, a non-profit that helps companies create return-to-work programs for caregivers.
Cathy loves spending time with her family, snowboarding, cycling, and traveling.
Eliza Orleans is a Manager at CFAR. She draws on eight years of experience in nonprofit management, with expertise in strategy, meeting design and facilitation, operations, and governance.
Eliza works cross-functionally in each of CFAR’s market areas, bringing curiosity, efficiency, and interdisciplinary thinking to each of her client engagements. An experienced writer and presenter, Eliza has spoken at the Family Firm Institute and Temple University. She also authored a case study for use at the Yale School of Management on leadership transition in the arts and cultural sector.
Prior to joining CFAR, she was Associate Managing Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, where her responsibilities included budgeting, contract negotiations, and scenario planning efforts.
Eliza serves on the board of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia. She holds a BA in Theater Studies from Ithaca College and an MFA in Theater Management from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.
Daphnie Pierre is a Manager at CFAR bringing 10 years of experience from mission-driven organizations, specifically in the fields of higher education and research administration, to her client engagements. With an appreciation for both the human element of business problems, as well as the subtleties of client culture, Daphnie works in partnership with her clients, for their specific organizational and strategy needs. In her time at CFAR, she has served across CFAR’s owner-led business, healthcare, higher education, and non-profit practices.
In her previous role at The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, she was a member of cross-organizational teams that advised on strategy development, risk analysis, and mitigation for emerging business ventures. She was also responsible for translating complex information into accessible formats for broader review by organizational leadership.
Daphnie currently serves on the board of Enroot, a non-profit that provides mentorship, internship, and leadership opportunities to students who have recently immigrated to the Greater Boston area. She also serves on the board of the Medford Public Library Foundation. Daphnie holds a BA in Economics with a minor in Public Health and an MBA in Strategy & Innovation, both from Boston University.
Alejandro Pinedo was born in Chile, but was raised in the United States and Brazil, where he is a
permanent resident. The academic and professional development paths he chose to
pursue have also been quite international, providing him with opportunities to live, study
and/or work in the US (NYC), Argentina (Buenos Aires), UK and France.
He is the founder and managing partner at Alma Mater (www.almamatereng.com), a
strategic consultancy firm dedicated to supporting organizational change and
development processes that start by reconnecting the people who control and lead the
organization with their true essence. An approach that stems from the belief that true
change only happens within, requiring a good dose of self-knowledge and awareness.
With more than 30 years of professional experience in Brazil and abroad, working in
leadership positions as an executive in companies such as Interbrand, Red Bull, Nike and
Alpargatas, Alejandro’s areas of expertise include general management, organizational
development, strategic planning, business and brand internationalization, sustainability
and psychoanalysis.
He holds a Postgraduate degree in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge
(UK), a B.A. in Marketing from ESPM (BR), as well as certifications from CEP (3-year
Psychoanalysys Training Program), The Tavistock Institute (P3C Systems
Psychodynamics), INSEAD (IEP - International Executive Program), Harvard Business
School (SMP - Senior Management Program; Innovating for Sustainability Program) and
IBGC (Board of Directors), among others. He has taught in Executive Education programs
at Insper, FGV and ESPM.
On his free time you would most probably find him outdoors, exploring mountains around
the world, especially in the vast Patagonia region on both sides of the Andes mountains.
With a passion for building an organization’s capacity and capability through evidence-based practice, Elizabeth “Betsy” Riley-Wasserman, Ph.D. has provided organization development leadership in the corporate finance, healthcare and telecommunications industries for more than 30 years.
As Comcast’s first dedicated leader for change management, Riley-Wasserman focuses on building the company’s change management “muscle,” by strengthening its capabilities to drive adoption, higher utilization and greater proficiency of the changes that impact its employees and customers.
Currently, she serves as Vice President Consumer & Strategic Programs for Comcast Cable. Working hand-in-hand with leadership, she and her team focus on creating and implementing strategies that accelerate decision velocity, ensure organization sponsorship and facilitating agreement and delivering macro change strategies and plans.
With the goal of creating a highly reliable consumer experience, Riley-Wasserman currently serves as the Integration Lead for Comcast Cable Reliability, Privacy, Sustainability and Accessibility Programs. Previously, Riley-Wasserman served as the Integration Lead for the implementation of the Comcast Cable Net Promoter System, the Customer Approval Process, digital transition of the customer experience.
Prior to Comcast, Riley-Wasserman served as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Organization Development for Mercy Health System (MHS) where she was the Chief Human Resources Officer. In that role, she facilitated the national redesign of HR products and services for the parent Trinity Health System and drove improvement of colleague engagement and labor relations within MHS. Under Riley-Wasserman, MHS received the 2014 Press Ganey Commitment to Excellence national award for organizations (2,500-9,999 employees) demonstrating the greatest statistically significant improvement from 2012-2014.
Riley-Wasserman came to Mercy following twelve years at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) where she served as the Chief Learning Officer. While at UPHS, Riley-Wasserman provided organization development leadership for the nationally recognized redesign of the health system’s patient care model.
As a result of her strong commitment to regional workforce development, Riley-Wasserman’s was appointed by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter to serve on the executive committee of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board (now Philadelphia Works).
Riley-Wasserman began her career in organization development as a process design consultant for AT&T Capital Corporation in Morristown, NJ. She has held positions in higher education at The Ohio State University, Drexel University, and Temple University.
Riley-Wasserman earned a Ph.D. in organization design and development from Temple University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from The Ohio State University College of Education, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from LaSalle University. In addition, she has earned the following professional certifications: Design Thinking, Stanford d.School; Black Belt in Six Sigma, Penn State University; Center for Creative Leadership 360 Benchmark Tool; MBTI; FIRO-B; Prosci Certified Trainer.
Jason Smith is a skilled manager, facilitator, instructor, and leadership coach with experience developing people in multiple industries, including government, academia, and healthcare. Until joining Penske in October 2022 as a Senior Leadership Development Manager, Jason was the Manager of Talent Planning—which included the Learning and Development, Workforce Planning, and Career Development teams—for the University of Virginia’s Academic Division and Health System. Jason's leadership and learning philosophy is grounded in emotional intelligence, vertical development, and in the emerging field of humanistic leadership, which seeks to place human well-being and dignity at the center for leaders and organizations.
Before joining UVA, Jason managed leadership and organizational development for Cochlear Americas, a market-leading medical device company based in Denver, Colorado. Prior to that, he worked for 16 years at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in analytic and leadership positions, focused on analyzing complex information to help senior US officials stay ahead of a broad array of critical foreign policy challenges. As an experienced first and second-line manager, the teams Jason leads are known for high morale and trust, strong vision and values, and good team dynamics, which he believes lead naturally and sustainably to efficient processes, exceptional results, and excellent talent retention and development.
Jason is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF). He often coaches clients around navigating change and transition, developing emotional intelligence, strategic leadership, effective decision-making, and having difficult conversations. A graduate of Georgetown University’s leadership coaching certification program, Jason approaches coaching relationships with “cura personalis” or “care of the whole person” in mind. This approach comes alive principally through a focus on finding a healthy integration between work and life and developing the person for the sake of achieving professional goals.
Jason lives in Crozet, Virginia with his wife Mary, two children Olivia and Parker, and Boston Terriers Poe and Stephen. Jason has a BA in Government and International Politics from George Mason University and a MA in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University. Jason enjoys, running, hiking, biking, and getting outside as much as possible. He also loves mopey, introspective music, creative horror and sci-fi movies, and boring documentaries about pretty much anything.