Diane Carazas
Diane is a senior level bilingual (English, Spanish) professional with over twenty-five years of international and national experience working in or consulting to international development organizations, with extensive experience working in Latin America. She excels in working to optimize the potential of those around her to accomplish organizational mission and professional goals. She has managed large country offices with more than 200 staff. She believes in the collective wisdom of a group and coaches senior leaders to develop high performance teams. She inspires and provides methodologies for teams to focus on strengthening collaboration with all stakeholders through identifying a shared vision that helps to uncover innovation for creating a plan for realizing results. Her clients include Plan International, CARE, Management Sciences for Health, Ghana Health Service, Food for the Hungry International, Casals, and Dana Farber Institute. Diane holds a Master’s in International Administration from the School for International Training and is a professional certified coach with a Master Certification in Energy Leadership. She also holds a certificate in strategic human resources from Wharton University.
Send an email to Diane Carazas
508-881-3294
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Michael (Mike) J. Feinson
Mike has helped organizations – from hospitals to technology companies – to hire exceptional performers, maximize the talent of their workforce, and implement new ways to boost performance. He specializes in using Appreciative Inquiry, an approach to change that generates solutions to challenges by identifying and amplifying successes and best practices. Clients consistently refer to Mike’s exceptional facilitation skills and his ability to blend insightful management theory with practical application and results. Prior to joining IPI, Mike founded a consulting business, worked as a performance consultant for Nextel Communications, and for Starbucks Coffee he helped launch the company’s East Coast operations. He is a faculty member of the American Management Association. Mike earned his BA in human resources from American University and his MBA in organization development from Boston University. In his free time he enjoys cooking, running, and laughing and learning with his family. He lives with his wife and two children in the Washington, D.C. area.
Send an email to Mike Feinson
202-965-4614
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Jen Hetzel Silbert
Jen is an experienced consultant, trainer, facilitator, and author supporting the design and implementation of innovative strategies, business processes, change leadership capacities, and collaborative communities. Her strength-based approaches have delivered positive change results to hundreds of public and private organizations – small and large – around the world, from the Rhode Island Department of Education, to YMCA, Sprint-Nextel, the American Red Cross, the United Nations, and the US National Intelligence Community. Jen has been a guest lecturer at numerous conferences, academic institutions, and professional associations. Among her publications is an encyclopedia of positive questions titled Positive Family Dynamics: Appreciative Inquiry Questions to Bring Out the Best in Families (© 2008, Taos Institute; coauthored with Dawn Cooperrider Dole, Ada Jo Mann, and Diana Whitney). In 2007 Jen was honored by Providence Business News as a "Forty Under 40" award recipient, which recognizes RI-based professionals for demonstrating outstanding leadership in their field and in service to their community. Jen holds dual BS degrees in international studies and economics from American University, and an MS in organization development from Johns Hopkins University. You can find Jen, a former marathon coach, running along the South County shores of Rhode Island, where she lives with her husband, Tony, and two young daughters, Brianna and Jos.
Send an email to Jen Hetzel Silbert
401-782-6090
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Lisa Hirsh
Lisa thrives on improving organizational performance and spirit. She integrates the business and interpersonal sides of leadership and teams so that people accomplish their goals and deepen their working relationships. Lisa concentrates on the interconnection and impact of each part of a system, leveraging the strengths of individuals, teams and the organization.
In her 28 years of organizational change experience in large and small businesses, healthcare and education, Lisa has harnessed the power of stories and uses film to capture the impact of a change initiative and a team’s learning, especially in health care.
Lisa is known for helping clients navigate thorny conflicts and has facilitated both sensitive small meetings and company-wide sessions. She has led strategic planning processes, coached senior leaders and middle managers, designed innovative approaches to mobilize organizations for change, and helped clients develop learning cultures. Lisa has led leadership development programs, and taught consulting skills and organizational change courses.
Her clients include The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pfizer, State Street, and The Government of Newfoundland.
Lisa taught the Leadership Journey at Oberlin College and has been a guest lecturer on culture change at Boston College Leadership for Social Change. She holds a C.A.S from Harvard University with a focus on organizational change, and an M.ED from Lesley University and B.A. from Oberlin College.
Send an email to Lisa Hirsh
617-782-9457
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Roselyn Kay
Roz consults with corporate, government and nonprofit entities to identify effective strategies, build dynamic leadership, develop teams, and expand capacity for optimal performance. She also coaches leaders and teams to enhance collaboration, deepen self-awareness, and build capacity for change. Among the many clients she has served are NASA, AARP, Points of Light Foundation/Volunteer Center National Network, Celera Genomics, HUD, Fannie Mae, National Cooperative Bank, American Federation of Government Employees, Medicare Office of Hearings and Appeals, United States Geological Survey, Cenlar, Fuqua School, Buck Lodge Middle School, and Miss Hall’s School. Roz founded New Heights Group LLC, an executive coaching and consulting business in 2001 and in 2004 became a Principal in IPI. Prior to founding New Heights Roz was a Director, Single Family Business at Fannie Mae and she held senior level positions in financial institutions in New Hampshire. She holds an MSOD from American University/NTL and earned her BS in business management. She is a Georgetown certified Executive Leadership Coach and a Certified Somatic Coach with the Strozzi Institute. In addition, she is on the faculty of the Georgetown Executive Leadership Coaching program. She lives with her husband in Washington, DC. In her free time she enjoys the beach, biking, traveling and reading.
Send an email to Roz Kay
301-320-4441
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Robert (Bob) A. Laliberte
Bob has managed or consulted to organizations for more than 30 years in the field of high-performance work system design, redesign and project management. His focus is on innovative whole system change approaches and he has led the design/redesign and implementation of many organizations. Key clients have included Lafarge, Georgia-Pacific, Esthetic and Reconstructive Dentistry and St. Mary’s Hospital. For 20 years prior to consulting, Bob worked in engineering or OD/HR capacities for American Optical, Polaroid and lastly Domtar where he led the organizational design and start-up of the Newington site, still recognized as one of the most productive wallboard facilities in the world. He holds a BSME from Northeastern, an MS in Management Science from WPI; teaches the Project Management Certificate Program at two universities and is adjunct faculty at the University of Maine. Bob lives with his wife in Sebago, Maine, and enjoys building boats and outdoor activities.
Send an email to Bob Laliberte
207-787-4191
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Ada Jo Mann
Ada Jo Mann, a partner in Innovation Partners International, has 35 years of experience collaborating with clients on strength-based approaches to strategic planning; organization design; whole system change; program development and evaluation; inter-organizational partnerships; team building, and training. Using practical, strength-based and participatory management approaches she has advised and trained over 1500 leaders in more than 50 countries. She is a pioneer in the field of Appreciative Inquiry in the international development and social change arena and Founder and former Managing Co-Owner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, LLC. For seven years she was Director of The GEM Initiative, a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve the leadership and organizational capacity of non-governmental organizations in all regions of the world. Under GEM, along with AI thought leader, David Cooperrider, she developed and delivered the first comprehensive AI Certificate Program. She recently developed a strength-based planning tool called LEAD. Ada Jo is a co-author of Positive Family Dynamics: Appreciative Inquiry Questions to Bring Out the Best in Families (Taos Institute Tempo Series, 2008)
Send an email to Ada Jo Mann
202-363-9292
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Bernard J Mohr
Bernard J. Mohr is the author of over 75 books, articles, chapters and journal issues dealing with collaborative design and innovation of organizational cultures, structures and systems that are economically sustainable and worthy of commitment from their employees and communities.
For almost 40 years, in the US, Central America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Canada and the Middle East, he has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, retail, pharmaceuticals, education and government - using large group, strength based processes, dynamic evaluation, and generative organization design.
As one of one of the original pioneers in the field of Appreciative Inquiry, he is co-inventor of the Innovation Summit and co-created the NTL Institute Certificate in Appreciative Inquiry and has served as Dean of those programs.
Recent books include:
- Appreciative Inquiry: Change At the Speed of Imagination (Jossey Bass)
- Essentials of Appreciative Inquiry: A Roadmap For Creating Positive Futures (Pegasus Communications, Waltham, USA)
- The Appreciative Inquiry Summit: A Practitioner's Guide for Leading Large-Group Change. (Berrett-Koehler)
In addition to being an Advisory Board member of the Taos Institute, Plexus Institute Associate and senior faculty of NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science he has also taught organizational innovation at the Universities of Ottawa, Concordia, Dayton and Cornell, as well as the Canadian Centre For Management Development, and the Danish Center for Management.
Bernard holds a BA (cum laude) in Organizational Psychology (University of Waterloo), an Ed.M in Organizational Learning (University of Toronto), and a Diploma in Organization Design (Columbia University).
Send an email to Bernard J. Mohr
207-874-0118
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Dan Saint
Dan serves clients moving organizations forward. With over 25 years of leadership, consulting, teaching, and motivational speaking experience, he brings energy, care, and understanding to the complex challenges of human systems.
Dan’s background in change leadership coupled with his experience as a senior business executive provides unique value to clients. He has served and learned from clients across multiple industries from start-ups to Fortune 10-sized companies in the areas of strategic planning and execution; change leadership in information systems implementation and mergers & acquisitions; designing and implementing systems of enterprise risk management and corporate governance; and in changing the corporate culture. He has served clients globally including Boeing, Chrysler, Daimler, DTE, General Motors, Intel, Navistar, and the World Bank. The common thread is serving clients who desire to positively change and grow.
He brings real-world perspectives to clients gained through work as a Partner at Deloitte, Managing Director at Jefferson Wells, CFO and COO at XUMA, Chief Audit Executive and Director of M&A at Federal-Mogul, Finance and Organizational Learning Senior Manager at Chrysler, and US Army Infantry captain serving in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Dan has been a member of the faculties and advisory boards for the graduate business schools at the University of Detroit, Lawrence Technological University, and Wayne State University. He is a distinguished visiting scholar and board member at the Samatvam Academy in New Delhi and serves on the Global Council of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting (AiC). He holds a Ph.D. in Organization Development from Benedictine University and is a graduate of both the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland’s program in International Organization and System Development and MIT Organizational Learning Center program in organizational learning. He holds an MBA from the University of Detroit and a BA from the University of Pittsburgh.
Send an email to Dan Saint
248-565-5056
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Bill Scott
Bill is an innovative trainer with a unique blend of business and social services training. He stresses the use of strengths-based, appreciative and collaborative processes that enhance individual and organizational effectiveness. His focus is on helping others to understand what they want to achieve as opposed to what they want to avoid.
Bill is a skilled facilitator with an acknowledged ability to develop individualized, non-traditional answers to client queries while creating learning opportunities that emphasize the development of hands-on knowledge and skills that can be immediately applied. He uses adult learning techniques, including experiential exercises, group discussions, and role plays, in his work with clients. His workshops have been described as invigorating, fast-paced, and fun!
Bill’s interests cover a variety of settings including people and program valuations, community capacity building, and organizational change and renewal. Bill also assists social profit organizations in the development of self-generated revenue streams by taking advantage of social entrepreneurship opportunities and innovative financing schemes.
Bill has a BSW, an MBA and extensive training in appreciative processes, negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution.
Send an email to Bill Scott
604-574-1856
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Tony Silbert
Tony has over 20 years of experience in organizational development, change leadership consulting, training design and delivery. Tony’s areas of expertise include strengths-based and participatory approaches to strategic planning, innovation, large-scale change, organization design, and collaboration. He works with private and public sector organizations in a variety of industries, both domestically and abroad, including corporate, healthcare, non-profit, government, international development, IT, finance, and telecommunications.
He earned his Master of Science degree in organization development from American University/NTL Institute. He is a co-owner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, Dean and faculty of National Training Laboratories (www.NTL.org), partner and board member of Social Venture Partners of RI (www.svpri.org), and on the board of A Place to Grow. Tony was the keynote speaker at the Treasury Board of Canada’s Classification symposium (2003), the co-project director for the 2nd International Conference on AI (2004), and was selected as a “40 under 40” business leader in Rhode Island (2006). He has been a guest lecturer at George Washington University and has led numerous training sessions on positive approaches to strategy, innovation, and change.
Past and current clients include Allstate, American Red Cross, Blackbaud, MetroHealth System, Neighborhood Centers Inc, Bell Canada, American Express, Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Agency for International Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, RI Dept. of Education, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Sprint-Nextel, Mellon Bank, Points of Light Foundation, Social Security Administration, YMCA, DC Sustainable Business Network, and Department of Treasury. Tony lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island, with his wife and two daughters.
Send an email to Tony Silbert
401-782-6131
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Cheri Torres
In the face of chaos and exponential change, new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing are essential if organizations and communities are going to thrive. Cheri Torres, a partner of Innovation Partners International, brings the practice of Appreciative Inquiry, design thinking, and an ecological worldview to communities and organizations striving for sustainable growth. Her work facilitates learning, innovation and dynamic interpersonal relationships capable of achieving remarkable outcomes. She partners with communities and organizations to elevate and extend their strengths and broaden and build their capacity for collaboration and collective intelligence. As a result of her work with others, people change the way they work, the way they relate, and the way they design their systems.
Cheri has worked with diverse communities: from public schools and community organizations to corporations and government entities, supporting their capacity for innovation, shared leadership, high performance teamwork, and learning. She has trained thousands of trainers and teachers in the use and practice of Appreciative Inquiry and Experiential Learning with a particular focus on leadership development, teamwork, creativity, and sustainable collaboration.
Cheri holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Collaborative Learning from the University of Tennessee. She also holds an MBA, a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, and Level II Certification in Spiral Dynamics Integral. She has authored or co-authored numerous books and articles, including The Appreciative Facilitator: An Accelerated Learning Practice and Dynamic Relationships: Unleashing the Power of Appreciative Inquiry in Daily Living.
Send an email to Cheri Torres
828-225-5088
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Christine Whitney Sanchez
Christine Whitney Sanchez has collaborated with leaders across four continents to build the capacity for distributed leadership and strategic collaboration.
The creator of Methods for Strategic Collaboration™, Christine has coordinated dozens of large-scale change events for corporate, government and social sector groups and has trained hundreds of facilitators around the world in strength-based approaches for self-organizing in their own communities.
Her background in depth psychology and experience in cross-sector work has positioned Christine to inspire diverse groups of collaborators to deep levels of co-learning and high performance on behalf of a meaningful cause. She has worked with executive leadership teams, has coordinated system-wide capacity building and strategic change, has facilitated intense work with intact groups, and has guided multi-party stakeholders in resolving thorny issues and generating new opportunities to increase the triple bottom line - people, prosperity and the planet.
Christine holds a B.A. from the University of Hawaii and a Master of Counseling from Arizona State University. She has brought strategic collaboration to clients such as La Liga de La Leche de Latino America, Facilitators Network Singapore, Appreciative Inquiry Network UK, KaosPilots Business School in Denmark, American Red Cross, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Northrop Grumman, Motorola, Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, AZ and Aspen, CO, Digital Equipment Corporation, Arizona Diamondbacks Sales, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the United States Postal Service.
A highly sought-after conference presenter, Christine has facilitated some of the largest intergenerational conversations in the world. At the 2005 and 2008 Girl Scout National Conventions, she invited over thirteen thousand girls and adults to use their voice to create the future of the Girl Scout Movement.
Send an email to Christine Whitney Sanchez
480-759-0262
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