Alan Žepec - Head of AoEC Croatia & Serbia

Alan Žepec is the founder of the LQ organization and works as a coach, trainer and consultant in the area of personal and organizational development for leaders and organizations in Croatia and abroad. In last 23 years Alan established two successful companies in construction and consulting business, both of them becoming market leader in the industry niche. He is a lecturer at the London Academy of Executive Coaching. Above all, Alan is committed to bring with his team new leadership culture to organizations all around the world.

Ann Cheung Faculty

Ann is an Executive and Systemic Team Coach who has come from a background of programme and project management consultancy and delivery. She has helped improve the performance of programme and project teams across the infrastructure sector for many years. Ann is a member of the International Coach Federation and has been a MSP Advanced Practitioner for almost ten years. She offers a range of development approaches from consulting to develop bespoke coaching solutions, workshop facilitation, coaching individuals and Systemic Team Coaching. She has a track record in taking the systemic perspective and recognising the wider delivery context which is influencing the cultural and behavioural issues, and coaching teams to achieve the desired results. She is known for her patience, diligence and braveness in teasing out the conversations that are needed for the client to achieve a breakthrough, and her ability to deliver impactful feedback whilst remaining approachable.

Anne Archer Faculty

My passion is to shift perspective in mental health at work. We all deserve to thrive, and my approach is whole person whole life. I have a unique portfolio where I can address people in deep crisis to execs who want a bit more capacity in a full and rich life. This perspective is enabling in how I work with my clients. I’m a trusted companion, advocate, and critical friend. To facilitate a shift, I am a crisis volunteer for Shout; a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Resilience Coach, Global Exec and Team Coach and facilitate changing perspective workshops. My greatest satisfactions come from seeing individuals grow in their capacity to thrive in life and for organisations to create the environment where to thrive is normal. Anne Archer MSc Psychology of Well-being; PCC, Accredited Resilience Coach, Advanced Diploma Exec Coaching (AoEC), Certified Supervisor of Coaches and Trusted Coach Directory member.

Anne-Liis Paide - Co-ordinator

Anne-Liis has worked for the Estonian Business School Group for more than 10 years. Anne-Liis has worked for the Estonian Business School Group for more than 10 years. She has always been fascinated by and involved with new development projects in EBS. She has also been involved with the Organisation of International Events and has contributed as a project manager for international workshops and conferences held in Tallinn. At present, she feels joyful about her position as a Manager of Coaching Programmes in EBS Executive Education. Anne-Liis is also a graduate of the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching.

Anne-Marie Rowson Faculty

“As a coach I get a huge kick out of seeing an individual tap into their own personal power and really start to increase their effectiveness, not only in the workplace, but in all aspects of their life. I aim to bring a mixture of curiosity, challenge, compassion and courage to my coaching practice and am constantly learning from my clients.” Anne-Marie began her career in the military and later trained as a business psychologist, working as an external consultant before moving into a series of internal roles focused on leadership and executive development. She has lived and worked internationally and has experienced many different aspects of corporate life including acquisitions, corporate renewal, and transformational change. Working independently for almost a decade, Anne-Marie is a graduate of the AoEC Advanced Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching and works with leaders from many different types of organisations, both large and small, private and public. She lives in South Somerset and can frequently be found walking along the South West coastal paths or in the hills in Wales, whizzing around on her motorbike or pottering in her garden.

Anthony Eldridge-Rogers Faculty

Anthony is founder of the Foundation for Recovery and Wellness Coaching International. (FRC). He has over 35 years experience of the healthcare field in relation to recovery and wellness field and has supported thousands of people in transforming their lives. He has extensive experience in the media and arts and has worked with many of the industries big organisations among them BBC, Conde Nast, ITV, BBDO, Saatchi’s, SAB Miller. He works as a coach trainer, workshop leader and author with students from across several continents taking both the online and face to face coaching training provided by the FRC. Anthony is committed to the idea that fulfillment and life meaning is within the grasp of all of us no matter what the circumstances. He has created the Meaning Centred Coaching model as the coaching framework for both delivering recovery and wellness coaching and inspiration for training coaches. He has personal lived experience of profoundly impactful healthcare challenges and made his own recovery journey. He is author of ‘Become a Recovery to Wellness Coach – The Essential Principles, Skills and Contexts’ and ‘Meaning Centred Coaching – Getting to the Heart’. In 2010 Anthony was invited to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts where he now runs an Executive Coaching group.

Anyima Okundi - Faculty

Anyima is a multi-talented entrepreneur who draws her expertise from her education in the UK. As an entrepreneur, Anyima has run a successful design entity for the past 15 years. In addition, she has valuable corporate experience having worked at British Telecom Plc., Standard Chartered Bank, and The House of Commons in the UK. Anyima is a member of the Academy of Executive Coaching’s (AoEC) East Africa faculty, and is passionate about coaching senior executives to become more effective in their leadership. Anyima holds a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching and a Systemic Team Coaching Certification from the AoEC. She is certified to administer, interpret, and provide feedback using Hogan Assessment Systems and Leadership Versatility Index 360 feedback tools. Anyima earned her Post-Graduate Diploma in International Business from the University of Surrey and a BA in Economics from the University of East Anglia, and is also a trained counsellor.

Barbara Parmegianni - Faculty

Barbara is a Founding Partner and President of Weplusnetwork, the Italian business coaches’ network . She is Adjunct Professor at the European University of Rome and Luiss Business School, where she teaches management skills and leadership development. EMCC Supervisor and Senior Practitioner, she is a Faculty Member of AoEC. Over the course of her career, her anthropological and psychological background has been complemented by joining the business sector and working with Entrepreneurs, Executives and Senior leaders. She has a broad experience in Corporate HR, and she held Managerial and Senior Leadership positions in the Consulting Sector in Italy and Europe. Barbara has a predilection for coaching individuals and groups, whom she wishes to support towards achieving optimal effectiveness and excellence in results.

Christine Kong - Faculty

PCC (ICF), CSA Coach Supervisor

Christine had a long career in education that allowed her to lead schools as School Principal and a cluster of schools as a Cluster Superintendent. She is currently coaching and training school leaders and has extended coaching and supervision practices to coaches from ICF Malaysia, doctors in the National University Hospital and leaders from Teach for All.

Christine has been a coach since 2014 and holds a PCC from ICF and Coaching Supervision Diploma from Coaching Supervision Academy, UK. In addition, she is certified in Emotional Intelligence EQi 2.0 and holds certificates for Positive Psychology Coaching, Foundations in Gestalt Coaching and Foundations in Action Learning.

She engages with international coaches and is a lifelong learner who believes in her own vertical leadership development as leader and coach. She holds an MEd Guidance and Counselling (Nanyang Technological University, NTU), BA (Hons) Social Science (National University of Singapore), Diploma in Educational Administration (NTU) and Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (NTU).

In her free time, she enjoys her holidays and treks to places less travelled.

Personal philosophy: Seek new landscapes with courage, curiosity, and wonder.

Dan Davies Programme Co-ordinator

Dan is the Programme Co-Ordinator for the Practitioner Diploma Programme. With a rich background in marketing across various non-profit sectors, Dan brings a wealth of experience and a passion for effective communication to his current role. Outside of work, he is an avid animal lover and has one very lazy cat.

Danny Tuckwood Faculty

Danny works with senior leadership teams and boards, helping them to adapt and constantly reimagine themselves in a systemic way as they navigate the uncertain world we inhabit. He also trains and supervises coaches, leaders and HR/OD professionals in how to change the nature of the conversations they have so that they can do likewise. With a broad international business background – from multinationals through SME’s to start-ups - and having started and grown businesses himself, Danny came into the coaching world in 2009 with a strong desire to help others realise their potential and continues that passion today. He holds an MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change and when not helping the world to change enjoys brewing his own beer, spending time with family and watching sport.

David Kesby - Faculty

David believes everyone deserves to be led well. His purpose in life is to support leaders and organisations to create conditions for others to flourish and thrive - their people and their stakeholders.David has 30 years experience of leading and developing people and has been coaching individuals and groups since 1998. He has worked with leaders and teams in finance, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, defence, government, healthcare, manufacturing and global tech. David is an AoEC qualified Executive and Systemic Team Coach, credentialled as a PCC level coach with the ICF, and is an Ashridge accredited Coach and Organisational Supervisor. He joined the AoEC faculty in 2016 and has delivered the Practitioner Programme in Switzerland, UK and within global organisations. In his spare time, David leads a scout unit in Winchester where he lives, for young people between 16-25 years with special educational needs. His whole family is involved and he loves it!

Delel Chaabouni - Faculty

Delel Chaabouni, MSc, MBA, PCC, STC, ORSC, HOGANExecutive & Systemic Team CoachAoEC UAE Faculty. With 25+ years of experience behind her, Delel has successfully delivered turnaround strategies, international business transformation, IT implementation, and digital programmes in multiple industries. In parallel to her coaching, she advises C-Level Executives and their leadership teams on digital strategies and Execution. Delel is a very passionate Executive and Team coach. She coached many Executives from director levels to senior vice presidents as well as diverse leadership teams in understanding business needs and contexts and developing their leadership and influential skills. She works with her clients in English, Arabic and French.

Dr Colm Murphy - Faculty

Dr Colm Murphy has over twenty years’ experience of designing and delivering coaching and team coaching to individuals and teams across the public and private sectors. His team coaching experience ranges from working with globally dispersed teams, to leadership teams of publicly quoted organisations, to project teams. He is the Program Director of the Global Team Coaching Institute Senior Practitioner Program and was Director of Coaching Programs at Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin from 2017‑2022. Colm’s area of expertise is in taking a psychological approach to assist leaders and their teams to achieve meaningful behavioural changes that drive business results, through focused and engaging coaching and training interventions. Colm has a special interest in team dynamics and completed his Doctoral research in the University of Portsmouth on the contribution of team coaching to team effectiveness. He is co‑editor of the ‘Team Coaching Casebook’ (Open University Press, 2022) and is an accredited Master Practitioner Coach (EMCC). He has been the global work stream lead on Team Coaching Accreditation for the EMCC.

Dr Hilary Lines - Faculty

Hilary Lines is an executive and team coach, educator and facilitator, with over 25 years’ experience of working with senior executives in a range of sectors. She helps clients unlock their full potential as leaders, enabling them to develop the relational presence and agility to engage productively with their teams, peers and clients. A driving force for her work lies in her belief that leaders in complex organisations create value through working constructively with difference. She helps leadership teams take a fresh look at the roots of underperformance and find new ways of relating that ignite energy and deliver results. Her work formed the foundation of “Touchpoint Leadership: Creating Collaborative Energy in Teams and Organisations”, a book that she co-authored with Jacqui Scholes-Rhodes in 2013.Prior to setting up her leadership coaching business, Hilary coached the European Board of IBM’s consulting business, and was Global Head of Partner Development at PwC Consulting. She has held HR and leadership Development roles in the pharmaceutical sector.Hilary’s qualifications include:• ICF Professional Certified Coach March 2016• Master Executive Coach Practitioner 2012• Accredited Coach: Coaches Training Institute 2002• Diploma in Advanced Facilitation Skills for Individual and Organisation Change: Gestalt Centre, London, 1999• PhD: Career Development of Scientists in Industry London 1981

Dumi Magadlela - Faculty

Dumi Magadlela is an accredited international executive coach, team coach, coach trainer, leadership development facilitator, organizational ‘people whisperer’, and African skills development practitioner. He is based Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a regularly featured speaker and panellist on coaching, leadership, and people development. He is an author on executive coaching, coaching approaches, ubuntu values, and people development. Dumi co-founded the Ubuntu Coaching Foundation (UCF) at The Coaching Centre (TCC) in South Africa where he has been part of Senior Faculty for over twelve years. He delivers a module on “Coaching in the African Context” at the Integral Africa Coaching Centre. Dumi is part-time faculty at the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s MPhil in Management Coaching. He has vast experience working across the African continent and collaborating with other coaches globally. He currently serves as a Trustee on the Board of the International Coaching Federation Foundation (ICF-F). Dumi is part of an international faculty at the WBECS’ Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI). He is accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) as a Senior Practitioner in Team Coaching. Dumi’s coaching and way of being is influenced by the same principles that Nelson Mandela lived by, that of Ubuntu (meaning: “I am because we are”). He is trained in systems thinking, in gestalt, integral frameworks, and has been exposed to PERILL as some of the adaptable and agile tools for working with and within organisational systems. Dumi features regularly on local and international coaching, leadership, and speaking platforms.

Ebru Goksu Yildirim - Faculty

Ebru Goksu Yildirim BEc, MCC, CPCC, ORSC, NLP, STCExecutive, Leadership & Systemic Team CoachTrainer, Facilitator, Observer and ICF Mentor CoachEbru is an empowering, creative, and growth oriented ICF Certified executive, leadership and team coach (MCC, CPCC, ORSC, NLP, STC), facilitator, mentor and a trainer. She’s been coaching and mentoring individuals, executives, and teams since 2011. She has a BA in Economics, and is a Marketing Communications Expert with almost 20 years of experience, which she gained through working in different fields of Advertising and Marketing in the MENAT region. During her corporate experience, she held senior roles in the region where she led large businesses and teams.She works with individuals and teams by staying true to her life-purpose of ‘unlocking potential’. She is enthusiastic, and a high-achiever. One of her key skills is being able to meet her clients exactly where they are, holding them there just long enough to show how resourceful they are, to increase their capacity to grow. She works with her clients on mindset and energy levels by focusing on their ‘being and doing’. She truly believes this is the path to transformation and professional empowerment. Being a bilingual (English & Turkish), intuitive and fierce coach, and facilitator, she blends her coaching and training skills and tools with life and business experience. She has been based in Dubai, UAE since 2005.

Filip Fiers, PCC

Filip Fiers

Filip is a Professional Certified Coach (ICF) with focus on individual and team development within a business context. His main goal is to make managers and their teams collaborate and perform better in a fast moving, constantly changing environment. He has more than 2,500 hours of coaching at senior executive levels across Europe. 

Clients use the following words to describe Filip’s style:

• open
• honest
• pragmatic
• input can be put into practice immediately
• no fluff around concepts
• down to earth methodology
• great reference framework that helps him to tailor interventions to specific needs
• very flexible mode (on-the-go), 
• in an authentic way and with a lot of enthusiasm 

Background and coaching experience:

Born in Ghent (Belgium), Filip joined ING Group back in 1991 to become a branch manager, serving retail and corporate clients’ financial needs. During that period, he discovered his passion for people management, human behaviour, and the need to build a cohesive, high-performing team. In 1999 the opportunity arose to join the ING Learning & Development department, where Filip managed development projects for a variety of business lines, such as Private Banking, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Financial Markets and Corporate Finance. In 2008 he decided to become self-employed to continue his path as a corporate coach. For the last 15 years, Filip has been coaching organisations, teams and individuals across all levels of seniority in a variety of industries, including Banking, Chemicals, Construction, Energy Distribution, FMCG, ICT, Industrial Production, Insurance, Logistics, Professional Services, Textiles and Public Housing.Filip enjoys all kinds of music (from metal to classical music) and different sports (swimming, cycling).

Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu - Head of AoEC Turkey

Gamze Acar Bayraktaroğlu is an experienced leadership trainer of 24 years, internationally accredited EIA Master Coach and has been coaching executives and teams for 15 years. Gamze is also ESIA accredited coach/mentor supervisor, an EMCC's coach assessor and co-author of a book called- MANAGERS AS COACHES. She has deep experience in facilitating leadership, teambuilding, coaching and mentoring skills trainings. Gamze is in the global trainers team of New Haven from NY, USA and Demos-Hemsley Fraser from Germany and Talentis from France. She is one of the global coaches of Human Systems from UK and PeakInsight from USA and part of World Bank’s coach and facilitator pool. Gamze consults organisations for creating leadership and coaching cultures. She facilitates groups, writes articles on related subjects at Harvard Business Review blog and presents in national and international conferences. She is also a mentor coach and mentor trainer with her 3000+ executive coaching hours.

George Warren - Faculty

Based in Wales, George is an ICF accredited executive coach, facilitator and consultant.After a year living in Argentina, George enjoyed nine years in senior management positions in the travel industry. It was here that he noticed that, each time after being coached, he felt unstoppable, that he could tackle any problem.Following up his interest, he studied and practiced coaching, enjoying the challenge of introducing a coaching culture and style to businesses.It was while attending the AoEC’s Practitioner Diploma programme that he realised coaching was in his bones. He set up his own practice shortly after graduating, and hasn’t looked back since.An internationalist at heart, George loves nothing more than understanding different cultures and approaches. He has coached clients across Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australasia and Africa.He is deeply passionate about the topics of confidence, potential and enjoying a life and career in line with one’s values.

Gina West Partnerships Manager

Gina joined the AoEC in 2017 providing administration support to our Global Partners and Workshops. Gina formerly worked as a Project Co-ordination for a Construction Company and has previous experience providing administration support within the Travel and Tourism Industry, this allowed her to peruse her passion of travel. She now enjoys spending time with her young family, walking and Yoga.

Gwynneth Rees-Kenny- Faculty

Gwynneth has in-depth experience in the field of people development, both as a coach and within the specialisms of organisation, leadership and management development. Her broad sector-wide experience includes a US-based two-year international secondment, which provided a valuable perspective on operating in a global environment. With an HR and OD background, Gwynneth has delivered leadership and culture change programmes and also brings expertise in coaching groups within organisations, helping people to find fresh solutions for collaboration in common ground, using expertise gained from her training in organisation and relationship systems coaching. Having started as an internal coach within financial services, where she coached talent pool / fast track colleagues, she went on to certify as a coach with the Coactive Training Institute in 2005. She is a member of the ICF, with whom she has PCC accreditation, and over the last 20 years, has provided executive coaching across all sectors. Gwynneth has been involved in delivering qualifications in executive coaching since 2017 and is a guest lecturer with the University of Glasgow’s International HRMD Masters programme, delivering the Coaching in Organisations elective. Gwynneth is also an accredited, qualified coach supervisor. She joined the AoEC Ireland & Northern Ireland Faculty in 2023 and is a fabulous addition to our team.

Hanan Al Harthy - Faculty

Hanan Al Harthy, MBA, PCC, STC, ORSC, STC.Executive & Systemic Team CoachAoEC UAE Faculty. Hanan is an accomplished professional with extensive leadership experience in developing and executing the human development strategies to drive sustainable business and cultural change over the past 21 years of her professional career. Her experience includes leadership development, community/society development, executive coaching. She is particularly attracted to companies undergoing change, transforming a business model to accommodate growth and corporate diversification. She works with her clients in English and Arabic.

Inga Heath Director of Finance

Irene Riad - Faculty

Irene Riad, PCC, STC, EQCC, CQC Irene is a multi-lingual Executive, Career and Systemic Team Coach with over 20 years, in public and private sectors, working with leading organizations and individuals to enhance productivity, maximize performance, and accelerate growth. Her subject matter expertise lies in executive coaching, systemic team coaching, leadership assessment and development, high potential pipeline development, talent and performance management, as well as learning and development. She delivers client work in Arabic and English.

Jennifer Minturn - Faculty

Jennifer is a Kompass Associate, an Executive & Team Coach, Organisational Psychologist, & Founder of Hot Lava Coaching and Consulting, based in Dubai. Jennifer is an ICF PCC certified executive and leadership development coach who has dedicated her career to helping individuals increase self-awareness, align intent with impact, and drive value and effectiveness within organisations. Her global footprint spans coaching across diverse leadership tiers in the Middle East, North Africa, India, the U.S., and Europe. She comes with 20 years+ International Experience across the following sectors: Manufacturing, Retail, Government, Semi-Government, Technology/ Start-Ups, Energy, Power/ Power Generation, HR Consultancy, Higher & Executive Education, Aviation, Luxury and Distribution.Her most recent corporate roles were the Director of Leadership Development at Chalhoub Group, Talent Management Consultant at Nawah/ENEC, where she was my stakeholder as we launched 2 x PD in-house programmes in 2021 for the 1st Nuclear client to the AoEC globally. Check her profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennminturn/

Joan van den Brink - Faculty

Joan’s life purpose is to create intimate environments so that people thrive. This acts as her north star in all her work and interactions with others. She has extensive experience in working with organizations as a senior manager, executive and as a consultant. She has specialised in leadership and talent since 2001 and been an executive coach for over 15 years. Prior to her consulting experience, Joan has enjoyed an eclectic career spanning Marketing, Operations, HR & Communications. Her expertise lies in working with teams and individuals in creating bespoke solutions to specific people needs that range from enhancing team effectiveness through building more trust and intimacy to creating and implementing people capability frameworks to develop desired skills in organisational transformations. She has extensive experience of working in the field of diversity and inclusion to facilitate the development of less favoured groups within organisations. Joan has a strong track record in building trusted advisor relationships and supporting others to grow and develop.In addition to her people consulting work, Joan is an author, executive coach and coach supervisor.

John Gray - Faculty

My role as AoEC faculty allows me to combine my experience in coaching with my enthusiasm for supporting people in their professional development and personal awareness and change. I bring empathy and insight to working with those in their learning journeys, for them to find their ideal coaching model and approach. Originally qualifying and practising as a solicitor, John has also worked at the at the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva, in grassroots peace-building in Burundi, and establishing and leading a community mediation service. Since 2001 he has been freelance offering organisational consultancy and facilitation, non-managerial supervision, and also latterly coaching. He has developed a number of professional development programmes and initiatives, including supervision skills, effective conflict skills, team building, reflective practice, managing change, and globally responsible leadership skills and practice. His coaching practice is with leaders and leadership teams, in a wide range of local, national and international organisations. In addition to his coaching, supervision and mentor coaching, and his faculty role with AoEC, John is also an Associate at the University of York’s Centre for Applied Human Rights, researching leadership within the international human rights movement. John is closely involved in the AoEC’s multi-year commitment to the international movement against modern slavery. His qualifications include: · Advanced Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching · Diploma in the work of the Change Agent · Advanced Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (Groupwork Skills) · Certificate in Management and Leadership. He is double-accredited as an Executive Coach – Master Practitioner (EMCC), and PCC (ICF)

John Hill - Faculty

John is an accredited Systemic Team Coach and Executive Coach working with leaders and senior teams, both in the UK and internationally. He has a background in the cut and thrust of the world of business, gained in global organisations, SMEs and start-ups, and moved into coaching and leadership development around 10 years ago. John is passionate about being an agent of positive change, drawing on his fascination with the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of people and organisations, which informs what makes them the way they are – and, perhaps most importantly, what they could be.

John Leary-Joyce - CEO and Founder

John is our CEO and founded the Academy of Executive Coaching in 1999 with one administrator and over the years recruited and collaborated with many talented directors, trainers & administrators to develop AoEC into the prestigious brand it is today. 

With his tireless entrepreneurial spirit, AoEC has become a highly successful international coaching training organisation with professional accreditation from ICF, EMCC, & AC. Previously, he was MD of Gestalt Centre London growing the business fourfold in six years and gaining a Company Director diploma with the Institute of Directors. 

John is a highly principled leader, drawing on and applying his experience from a long career as a Gestalt psychotherapist, executive and team coach, trainer and supervisor. He is past president of EMCC UK where his focus was on maintaining standards for coaching and mentoring and building collaboration between the different professional bodies. 

In 2010, he founded with Peter Hawkins the Systemic Team Coaching programmes. He has an MA in Executive Coaching, is PCC with ICF, qualified supervisor, regular presenter at international conferences and author of Fertile Void, Gestalt Coaching at Work 2014 and co-author of Systemic Team Coaching - 2nd Edition, 2024. His other passion is dancing Tango which links with leadership, coaching and Gestalt.

Karen Smart - Head of Consultancy

Karen is an ICF accredited and experienced executive coach, coach trainer, mentor coach, supervisor and faculty member for the AoEC. She is pivotal in building, connecting, and maintaining effective authentic relationships both internally and externally.

As AoEC Head of Consultancy, Karen is responsible for meeting all executive coaching needs for our organisation-based clients. She works with leaders and senior decision makers across all sectors including financial services, professional services, entertainment, not-for-profit, and the public sector.

Karen sits on the Senior Leadership Team feeding into the AoEC strategy and business objectives. In addition to this, she manages an internal team to seek out opportunities and serve clients effectively. Karen is accountable for the budget for the organisations part of the business.
Prior to joining the AoEC, Karen enjoyed a successful commercial career in the pharmaceutical industry, latterly holding a global responsibility for strategy implementation and launch preparedness for a billion-a-year dollar brand across forty-four different countries. Karen has a broad-based sales and marketing experience in a variety of settings, including a two-year stint as Strategic Planning and Market Research Manager in Mexico City.

In her spare time, Karen likes spending time with her family and three rescue dogs, staying fit and learning music

Karen is the go-to person for organisations who wish to use coaching to generate positive change and business performance. She has a wealth of experience in supporting organisations to embrace coaching and coaching skills. Recent sector experience includes the following; financial services, professions, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, public sector, utilities and SMEs.

Kate Freedman Faculty

Kate is independent capability consultant, accredited Executive Leadership and Team coach and experienced facilitator, who has helped hundreds of managers and leaders improve their coaching and leadership capabilities. Kate has 20+ years’ commercial experience in Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Retailing and Manufacturing roles. Prior to setting up her own business, Kate led Unilever UK’s commercial capability programme and was an internal executive and career coach. She is also an experienced and accomplished skills trainer and delivered the in-house coaching skills programme at Unilever. Kate has worked on numerous change programmes and leadership interventions in her learning and development role at Unilever. Kate has worked with numerous supplier proposals to design and deploy training that creates a behaviour change and she understands how to make learning stick in organisations. Kate has been trained as a coach through the AoEC, from Skills Certificate to Advanced programme and understands how the quality of the training can enhance individuals, teams and organisation cultures. Kate’s independent coaching practice retains clients from Unilever and has added clients from Financial Services, Hospitality, and Pharmaceuticals and Technology through Kate’s strong network and associate work. Credentials • Diploma in Executive Coaching (AoEC) • Advanced Practitioner Diploma (AoEC) • Diploma in Supervision • Certified Systemic Team Coach EMCC • Accredited PCC Coach with the ICF (International Coach Federation) • Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development • BSc Food Science and Nutrition and Retail Management

Katrin Oblikas-Peretti Faculty

With 15+ years of leadership experience in multicultural teams, Katrin today delivers the best results through coaching leaders and teams, mentoring coaches, and as a coach trainer. She has specific expertise in leading cultural transformational projects and developing catching leadership conference programmes. There is a fire & ice in her. She is passionate about self and others' development through transformational coaching, believes in Authentic inside-out leadership, digs deeper in context, and comes across as Nordicly calm, structured, and straightforward. Also known as an effective and skilled communicator with the proven ability to build, motivate and engage groups.Katrin has graduated from multiple coach-specific training programmes with AoEC, including Senior Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching and Systemic Team coaching programs. She holds a Professional Coaching Certificate with ICF and has been ICF Estonia Chapter president from 2020-2023.Certified in C-IQ Conversational Intelligence with Dr. Judith E Glaser and finished The Transformational Coaching enhanced program by PsyD MCC Marcia Reynolds.

Kay Young Faculty

Kay has a deep interest in Awareness IQ; and how awareness supports a more relational, embodied, creative way of learning, living, and leading. She’s deeply committed to supporting clients through the inner journey of leadership: deepening quality of presence; noticing energy/resistance to change; using creative experimenting to support new choices; and change. Her practice is gestalt orientated. Kay has extensive senior management experience, including: working at NHS Board Director level. She has been professionally coaching since 2003 and is currently a member of the Faculty Team for the AoEC, facilitating the Coaching Skills Certificate, and Practitioner Diploma Programmes, in Edinburgh. She is also an ICF Evaluator and Assessor, on the AoEC’s Advanced Practitioner Diploma. She has achieved the Advanced Practitioner Diploma and the Master Practitioner Diploma, with the AoEC. She is a highly experienced, ICF accredited coach. More recently, she completed her training in gestalt psychotherapy with the Edinburgh Gestalt Institute.

Kaz Hazelwood Brand & Asset Marketing Executive

Kaz joined the AoEC marketing team in 2022 and is our Brand and Asset Executive. She has a wealth of experience in events and project management, intranet implementation and management and process mapping within technology companies such as T-Mobile and Orange. Her role at the AoEC encompasses taking care of our brand, including graphics design, social media, brand awareness, newsletters, events management, making sure our website is kept current and interesting, as well as video and podcast production. She also helps our global partners get the best out of their marketing by creating and providing appropriate collateral. She is also a trained psychotherapeutic counsellor with her own practice. She includes ecotherapy as part of her offering, believing that nature is a fundamental necessity for healthy living and balanced mental health. She either walks or runs every day and has completed several 50 and 100k walks all over the UK. She hosts a podcast, interviewing a diverse range of people, about where they walk and how they achieve a state of wellbeing. She'a also a teacher on a meditation app providing guided soundscape meditations for sleep and relaxation.

Kealey Dent Client Relationship Manager

Kealey joined the AoEC in 2024 as a Client Relationship Manager. 

Kealey comes from a sales and customer service background, with elements of training, ensuring she is customer-centric in everything she does. She is results driven, and motivated to have meaningful conversations with anyone she crosses paths with. Kealey is also a fully qualified counsellor qualifying in 2020.

In Kealey's spare time, you will often find her making knitted wire art, experimenting with flavoured coffee, and making memories with her two children.

Kim Cutler Faculty

Kim is a professional coach, specialising in supporting individuals to exceed their expectations in their leadership and management roles. She is passionate about releasing an individual’s potential by breaking down barriers, tackling limiting beliefs head on, and providing the necessary tools for growth by inspiring and optimising performance – the driving force behind achieving goals and maximising success in professional, and personal worlds. 

Kim worked for over 10 years within the financial sector and gained first-hand knowledge how organisations either enable an individual to grow, or stunt that growth through poor management, culture or work practices. Kim fundamentally believes that the individual can learn how to excel even in the most difficult of circumstances. 

Kim Wrighton - Client Relationship Manager

Kim works with the organisations team managing processes, governance, projects, contract issuing and coach matching. She has come from the banking sector with the majority of her career in HR working for a FTSE 100 company. She has built on her coaching skills having qualified as an executive coach on the AoEC Practitioner Diploma, prior to joining the AoEC in 2019. She is known for her practical, logical and structured approach along with the ability to listen to what is needed to find a way of getting the best possible solution for all involved.

Kirstie McLachlan Faculty

Kirstie started professional life as a qualified Social Worker which gave her a good understanding of human behaviour and enabled her to develop the interpersonal skills and resilience required for public sector work. After some years in Social Work, Kirstie returned to university to study for a Masters in Public Health. This gave her academic rigor, later complemented with leadership training at the London Business School. Kirstie worked both in the UK and abroad in the public and third sectors, both in commissioning and provider management. In her twenty-two years in the NHS she worked both at field level and at Board level, giving her an unforgettable experience of organizational complexity. Kirstie’s work as an NHS leader gave her a strong commitment to leadership development. She worked part time for four years for the University of Birmingham as a Senior Lecturer on the Masters in Healthcare Leadership before deciding to focus exclusively on coaching as a key tool for leadership development. Kirstie’s brings her understanding of adult learning principles to her work as Faculty for the AoEC on both the Coaching Certificate and Executive Coaching Practitioner Diploma programmes. In her work as an Executive Coach, Kirstie holds the AoEC Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching, and is accredited at ACC level with the International Coaching Federation. In addition, she has trained with the Centre for Supervision Training and Development, Bath and offers coach supervision.

Leah Simms Programme Manager

Leah joined the AoEC in December 2022 having previously worked for Hachette UK Publishing within one of their book distribution centres for over 21 years. Predominantly from a customer services background, including B2B and B2C, ranging from publishers, retailers, wholesalers, on-line distributors and mail order customers and more recently within a project management role with stakeholder engagement, operations and change management at the forefront of the business needs. She is a qualified EA Run Leader for an all ladies running club and a qualified BTF Triathlon Coach,volunteering for a local club. At weekends, she enjoys spending quality family time on walks with two children and a crazy Springado.

Lee Robertson Marketing & Content Executive

Lee joined the talented AoEC marketing team in late 2018. Working in PR and marketing communications since 2000, Lee has looked after the needs of a diverse array of brands including the National Business Awards, ExCeL London, Virgin Experience Days, Labelexpo, the Roundhouse and Chelsea Football Club. Lee relishes working in marketing comms as no two days are the same. Extremely organised, she has led high profile media partnerships with The Daily Telegraph and Scotsman as well as running successful international campaigns. Lee is passionate about Formula 1, enjoys cooking and gardening and is very animal-centric, owning alpacas, cats and dogs.

Leila Rezaiguia - Head of AoEC UAE

Leila Rezaiguia BA (Hons), MA, Chartered MCIPD, PCC, ORSC, NLP, STC and EIA.Co- Founder & Managing Partner, Kompass/ Head of Academy of Executive Coaching UAEExecutive & Systemic Team CoachTrainer, Facilitator, Observer and ICF Mentor CoachLeila is a highly sought-after multi-lingual Executive, Systemic Team Coach and ICF Mentor Coach with over 23 years, in public and private sectors, working with leading organisations and individuals to enhance productivity, maximise performance, and accelerate growth across 5 continents. She is renowned for her high energy, enthusiasm, passion, fun-loving nature, and her love for building connections, empowering and working with people from diverse cultures. She is passionate about 1:1 & Systemic Team Coaching, Coach Training, Coaching Supervision and Women in Leadership.Leila coaches in English, Arabic and French. Leila’s vision is to successfully contribute to the continued growth of the coaching industry in the UAE, GCC and Levant by bringing top notch executive coach training programmes accredited by all major global coach-accrediting bodies: the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Association for Coaching (AC),) The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and Association for Professional Executive Coaches and Supervisors (APECS).

Lina El Assaad - Faculty

Lina is a Kompass Associate, a Certified Executive Coach, ICF PCC, CPCC, ORSC credentialed, specialising in Executive and leadership development, and team coaching. Leverage multi-faceted skills with scientific coaching methodologies to bring practical approach to coaching leaders to unlock their potential and accelerate performance of talent to achieve successful outcome in Industries including: Telecom, Healthcare, Government, Executive Education, IT, Wellness, Retail, Insurance, Banking, FMCG, Retail Luxury. She is a seasoned corporate and people leader with a progressive career bringing over 16 years’ experience in multinational fortune 100 companies in the healthcare industry working with Johnson and Johnson, Danone, and Boston Scientific, and collaborating with US based executives, leading and managing cross-functional teams across the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and GCC countries.She is the ex President-Board Director of ICF UAE Chapter and is based in Dubai.Check her profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lina-el-assaad/

Lisa White Head of Sales & Service

Lisa joined the operations team as Customer Relationship Manager in 2022. Lisa has had a squiggly career, which spans the automotive, FMCG and education sectors, working with global brands such as Ford, Volkswagen and Unilever and her strength has been in sales and account management. Offering a seamless and customer centric experience, has been her passion and this has led to her creating and delivering customer journeys across multiple businesses. Lisa is mum to two wonderful daughters and 2 nutty cockapoos, who take up a lot of her time. When she does have some 'me' time, she loves to meet with friends for long dog walks. which might include a pub stop. She also enjoys dancing and weightlifting and anything to do with the arts, especially theatre.

Lizzie Holden Faculty

Lizzie has over 4,500 hours of coaching experience from working with middle management to board level in over twenty countries. She is a qualified coach supervisor. Her coaching practice is primarily in financial services, universities, technology and the NHS. Her leadership work is entirely focused on coaching, her other work is as a shamanic healer and a poet.

Lizzie Pawsey Faculty

Lizzie Pawsey is an ICF accredited coach (PCC level) coach, facilitator, coach supervisor and consultant. She thrives on creating a space where leaders can create personal insights that transform their lives and work. She brings 20 years’ work experience in several global organisations, including Diageo, Britvic and Pernod Ricard, where she worked in a number of senior marketing and HR leadership roles. Lizzie has over 1300 hours of coaching experience and works with board, executive and senior management levels both one to one and in groups. Her clients are drawn from 15+ business sectors in the UK and globally. Lizzie is an experienced facilitator and has worked on global leadership development programmes with several clients. Outside of work Lizzie lives with her family in Twickenham and enjoys running, ski-ing, good wine and travel. She has recently embarked upon a project to complete all the parkruns in Greater London.

Ljupko Kontešić - Faculty

Ljupo is working as an Executive & Life Coach and Business Trainer. Rich experience from a 20-year professional sports and high business environment he is using as a basis for working towards the body and mind integration in everyday life of leaders. As a business trainer he is working on projects in the region that are the domain of the development of soft skills, basis of personal development and high professional sales skills.

Louise Nicholson - Faculty

Louise is passionate about empowering individuals and teams to reach their full potential, and in using coaching to achieve this. Louise has a BA (Hons), MSc in International Business & Management, is an AoEC qualified Executive Coach, holds a Certificate in Team Coaching Fundamentals, Systemic Team Coaching & Gestalt Coaching Skills. She is also a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She undertakes regular professional supervision for her coaching practice. Louise spent several years in London working for an international management consultancy which specialised in the field of human motivation. During this time, she worked closely with the principal behavioural scientist and delivered leadership development programmes for senior executives & management teams in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. She has coached individuals & teams from various industries (including Real Estate, Fund Management, Energy, Executive Search, Recruitment, Tech, Banking, PR & Education). As Director of the AoEC in Ireland & a member of Faculty she is committed to sharing best practice and helping others to integrate coaching into their daily management.

Lucy Tulloch Head of Coach Education

Lucy is an experienced executive and team coach, mentor, and supervisor with a 20-year career in specialist travel and tour operations. In 2015, she founded her own coaching practice, driven by a passion for helping individuals and teams optimise their performance, find fulfilment in their work, and take control of their careers.

With a Post Graduate Certification in Business and Personal Coaching, Lucy’s coaching style combines warmth, constructive challenge, unwavering support, and a sense of fun, creating an approach that is both deeply engaging and highly effective. Her innate ability to connect with clients and create a safe, trusting environment often leads to profound, transformational change in both personal and professional spheres.

Lucy’s work is grounded in extensive management experience, exposure to significant business growth, a solution-focused mindset, and practical experience in change management. She is also an ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapist), a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which further enriches her coaching approach by incorporating mindfulness and value-driven action.

In addition to her background in travel, Lucy works with clients across industries such as education, financial services, tech, and recruitment. She has expanded her expertise with studies in high-performance team coaching, wellbeing and stress management, and more recently, a qualification in Understanding Autism.

As a coach mentor and supervisor, Lucy supports other coaches in developing their skills and advancing their professional practice.

Lucy lives in Oxfordshire with her young family and enjoys cooking and long walks with her dog in her spare time.

Lucy is an experienced executive and team coach with a 20-year career in specialist travel and tour operations. With a Post Graduate Certification in Business and Personal Coaching, Lucy's determination to help individuals and teams optimise their performance, find fulfilment in their work, and take control of their careers led her to start her own coaching practice.With a natural blend of warmth, challenge, support, and fun, Lucy's coaching approach is highly effective. She brings to her coaching, her exposure to significant business growth, a solution-focused mindset and practical experience of change management.Lucy's passion for travel extends to working with clients globally in industries such as travel, education, financial services, tech, and recruitment. She has continued to enhance her coaching expertise by studying high-performance team coaching, wellbeing and stress management as well as CBT for Coaching.Lucy lives in Oxfordshire with her young family and enjoys cooking and long dog walks in her free time.

Lydia McClelland Non-Executive Director & Consultant

Lydia joined the AoEC as Director of Marketing in May 2023 having worked in a consultancy and interim capacity with the organisation since 2021. Lydia is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Chartered Marketer, a SOSTAC® Certified Practitioner and licenced trainer and an AoEC qualified Executive Coach. Lydia is also a member of the Association of Business Mentors. Lydia McClelland has held senior marketing, business development and general management roles in economic development (Enterprise Ireland, Inspire Business Centre), the arts (Ulster Orchestra), higher education (Ulster University) and science centre/visitor attraction/tourism sectors (W5 Belfast) . She has a broad understanding of business, including marketing, HR, finance, sales, business development, operations and understands how to drive business growth. Lydia is an action orientated realist and likes to get the job done. Outside of work, Lydia enjoys yoga, yoga holidays and travelling.

Madeleine Dunford - Head of AoEC East Africa

Madeleine is an ICF (International Coaching Federation) credentialed PCC coach and founding Managing Director of Career Connections. She comes from a background of assessing, developing and advising the largest companies in East and Central Africa. With her qualifications from the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC), UK, and ICF Accreditation, she has over ten years’ experience as an executive coach. Madeleine is an action oriented, solutions focused coach who believes deeply in the resourcefulness of her clients. As an experienced leader that consults at senior levels, Madeleine’s coaching clients include the region’s largest and multinational FMCG, governmental and financial services organisations. Madeleine earned her first degree at the University of York, UK and her MSc, with Distinction, from the University of Edinburgh, UK. She has multiple specialist qualifications from USA and UK in assessing and coaching leaders for development. In 2017 Madeleine completed a Certificate programme at Harvard University, USA, on the Art & Practice of Leadership Development.

Magda Żmijewska - Faculty

In 2022, Magda was invited to join the Encyclopedia of Personalities of the Republic of Poland in the field of Business and Economics, 8th edition. She is a focused expert in developing leaders and professionals in business. Her specialist areas are: leadership, executive coaching, diagnosis and development of managerial competencies, intra and interpersonal communication, talent, life energy and change management. For over 15 years she worked in large international organisations as an HR Manager with brands including MTV Networks Polska, TVN S.A., Grupa Pracuj. Today she works as a freelancer and supports the development of organisations and leaders as a certified executive coach (AoEC, PCC ICF, ECPC). She learned life energy management from Shaolin Zen Master Hua Yang by exploring the secrets of his original life-extending system Calligraphy Health. She is the author and director of a postgraduate course at the Collegium Humanum School of Management in Warsaw - Executive MBA Leadership and Coaching with the prestigious AoEC Coaching Skills Certification.

Máire Robinson - Programme Co-ordinator

Máire joined the AoEC in September 2024 as a Programme Coordinator. She is passionate about learning, development and inclusion and has had a range of experience working in client services, education, and the SEND sector. She is passionate about providing an impeccable service in any circumstance and believes teamwork makes the dream work!

With a degree in Theatre with modules in Gender and Women’s Studies, Gender, Sexuality and Society, and Feminism and Social Change, Máire loves the arts and getting involved in her community in her spare time as well as sitting on the Inclusion Advisory Group at England Lacrosse. 

She can also be found on the beach, whether bodyboarding or relaxing, or with her head in a book listening to her record player with her two cats Suzie and Jemima.

Maja Gabrijan - Faculty

Maja ima petnaest godina iskustva u radu sa ljudima, razvoju timova, organizacija i postavljanju sistema za ljudske resurse. Sertifikovani je executive coach i predavač AoEC iz Velike Britanije, kao i predavač Londonske škole za odnose s javnošću. Njene ključne teme obuka su iz oblasti razvoja ljudi i komunikacije: lični razvoj menadžera, motivacija, retorika i prezentacijske veštine, coaching edukacija, krizna komunikacija, timski rad. Maja veruje da zdrava i srećna jedinka stvara zdrav i srećan sistem, te da je svesnost ključ da se to toga dodje. Mama je jedne Dunje.

Marcia Jones Non-Executive Director

Marcia is an experienced and accomplished analytical and results-oriented HR professional. A pivotal contributor to Executive Leaders, she provides strategic direction that enables the execution of business decisions and drives organisational change management. With extensive management and executive coaching experience, she is a trusted advisor in her field.

Her key strengths include a proven ability to both identify and deliver results, navigate through complex employment legislation, and provide commercial, business-focused solutions. She is adept at managing change and restructuring, particularly following M&A transactions.

She has held several senior HR management positions, including membership on the Executive Committee for various UK and overseas organizations.

Specialties: HR strategy, Leadership development, Talent management, Performance management, Compensation and benefits, Executive coaching and mentoring.

Maxine Gooding - Faculty

Maxine Gooding is a team coach, facilitator and organisational dynamics consultant. She has over 25 years’ experience in business leading teams, developing strategy, managing global change initiatives and improving customer experience. She knows first-hand the complexity of working in fast moving large-scale organisations. A graduate of the Systemic Team Coaching Diploma and OD practitioner, Maxine focuses on liberating the human element of business through leadership, teamwork and organisational performance.

Merle Viirmaa - Head of AoEC Estonia

Merle has been leading teams and companies, managing and developing people for more than two decades. She has worked as Member of the Board and CEO for some the largest Estonian media companies. She is experienced in change management, mergers and acquisitions, product and service development, marketing, communication and re-branding.Since 2018 she has her own consultancy business, mainly focusing in leadership and training programmes both for teams and individuals. She is a partner for Executive Education of Estonian Business School.Merle is a graduate of the AoEC Practitioner Diploma programme and is a faculty on the AoEC’s Coaching Skills Certificate and Practitioner Diploma programmes. Merle is also Gestalt Practitioner and continues her studies in AoEC Advanced Practitioner Diploma. She is an Associated Certified Coach with the ICF.Her special interest is Women in Leadership.

Mihaela Slamar CEO Croatia & Serbia

Mihaela Slamar is the CEO of LQ, leading a team of 30 dedicated professionals focused on the development of leaders. In her role as CEO, her goal is to preserve the LQ community and the legacy built over the past 20 years, while continually creating and delivering programs that cultivate strong, better, and more satisfied managers and organizations. Her greatest motivation comes from people; their transformations, successes, and the relationships they build in both their professional and personal lives.

Miranda Kavanagh Non-Executive Director

Miranda has extensive board level experience in both private and public sectors. A barrister by training, she had spells working in corporate finance in the City, and investor relations and public affairs for major multi-nationals such as Glaxo and Pfizer. 

From there she moved into the public sector, initially in academia, running an economics research centre at London Business School. She then moved into health, capitalising on her pharmaceutical industry experience and became Director of Corporate Affairs at the Healthcare Commission, the predecessor of the healthcare regulator, CQC. 

Her most recent executive role was as Executive Director of Evidence at the Environment Agency. This role was about evidence-based decision making and policy making in environmental regulation and flood risk management, so was a complete change.  Her most recent non-executive role was at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust during a particularly challenging time for the NHS. She joined the AoEC as a non-executive in August 2023.

Moira Nangle - Faculty

Formerly Director of Organisation Development at Virgin Atlantic Airways, Moira is a creative, perceptive OD professional with qualifications in Training, Teaching, Psychotherapy, both one to one and team coaching, and an MSc in Organisation Development. She has Director level experience in all three sectors. Moira has designed, delivered and evaluated OD interventions from Board to Shop-floor level ranging from business strategy to organisation design, new product development, talent management, culture change, and customer service. During the last few years she has worked with senior teams in a coaching or consulting capacity across Europe and in Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Middle East to develop the internal capability and capacity to lead and manage change. Moira is a visiting lecturer in HRM and leadership at City University London, and is also an associate of Roffey Park Leadership Institute where she works primarily in the areas of leadership and change.

Narinder Ubhi Programme Manager

Narinder is the Programme Manager for our Systemic Team Coaching® Certificate (Practitioner) programme at the AoEC. She is a results-driven Learning & Development professional with a proven track record in leading, delivering, and managing training and development projects that drive organisational growth and development within both private and not-for-profit sectors. Her focus is on building meaningful customer relationships to consistently achieve targets to the highest professional standards and delivering high-quality results.

Narinder is a Mum to two young children. In her free time, she loves going for walks and being immersed in nature and landscape, travelling is a passion (1 continent left to travel!), and socialising with her friends and family is very important to her.

Natalia Zalesinska -Head of AoEC Poland

Masters Degrees in Occupational Psychology and Human Resources Management, NLP Master Practitioner,Integrative and Generative Coach, Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching (AoEC), Founder of Metta Coaching. Natalia is fascinated by the mystery of human nature and potential, trying to understand and find the key to unlock people’s ability to blossom and thrive. Natalia was working in London for over a decade as an HR business partner and consultant for international banks and financial institutions. The understanding she gained from this experience has afforded her a unique insight into, and an understanding of, the challenges and complexities faced by leaders as well as what is required for exceptional leadership. She has coached both corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, with a particular interest in those driven to inspire and make positive impact. Natalia extends executive coaching beyond the usual; also delivering transformational coaching programmes to those seeking to connect with their inner wisdom, to express their unique individuality and to create an extraordinary and meaningful life.

Neil Atkinson - Faculty

Neil worked in the business world as a digital communications and marketing expert for three decades before moving into coaching and leadership development. An ICF PCC-accredited Advanced Coach, he’s passionate about supporting people to develop themselves, their careers and their potential, as well as helping teams become more effective. Neil has studied positive psychology and mindfulness/meditation and created training programmes in wellbeing and resilience. He brings these interests to his coaching practice and his role as a facilitator on many coaching training programmes.

Neil Mackinnon Faculty

Neil is a coach and consultant based in London. Following an early career as a professional musician, Neil transitioned into the business side of the cultural sector. He ultimately spent 12 years at London’s Southbank Centre, the UK’s largest arts centre, in a series of increasingly senior management roles. He first worked with a coach in 2013 and found the experience transformational, resonating deeply with his lifelong fascination with personal development, growth and effectiveness. This experience instigated an odyssey of exploring coaching through a learning cycle of reading, experiencing and practicing. He brought coaching as a style of leadership into his work at Southbank Centre and began gradually building a 1:1 practice externally towards the end of his time with the orgainsation. Neil has trained with RD1st and is a graduate of the AoEC’s Practitioner Diploma program. He is passionate about supporting people to connect with their personal agency, get specific about what they want and become the best version of themselves as they go on the adventure towards getting it.

Nick Kitchen Faculty

‘I am passionate about developing the craft and profession of coaching to support and help individuals and organisations more effectively respond and flourish in the face of increasing volatility and complexity – the world needs great coaches more than ever!’ Previously new business director of international advertising agency TBWA, Nick is an experienced senior executive and team coach, trainer, facilitator, coach supervisor and engaging event speaker, with more than twenty five years’ experience in supporting the development and success of organisations and leaders throughout many parts of the world. His clients have ranged from SME entrepreneurial organisations to large multinationals across many sectors including automotive, financial services and banking, IT, media and creative, pharmaceutical, industrial, oil exploration, public sector and charities. He has been developing coaches for over twenty years, drawing particularly on his development of Somatic Cognitive coaching and facilitation which enables coaches and leaders to engage with their deeper embodied experience and thereby impact more effectively that of their groups and wider systems. He has been a member of faculty with the AoEC since 2009, principally on the Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching and the Systemic Team Coaching Diploma. Nick’s professional qualifications include: · Developer of Somatic Cognitive Coaching and facilitation · Developer of IIMAC© sales process · AoEC Diploma in Advanced Executive Coaching (Distinction) · ICF Professional Certified Coach Accredited · Accredited NLP Trainer

Paul Smith Non-Executive Director

Paul joined the AoEC team as a Non-Executive Director to support the growing Global Partner Business. He has 42 years of International Business leadership and has worked and lived Internationally for 20 years. 

His passion has been leading the establishment and improvement of business, in 20 countries, across the MENA region, India, Russia, China, S.E. Asia and Africa and he has worked with UK and International listed companies, franchises, joint ventures, locally owned franchise, private businesses, and charity. 

Positions held: Chair, CEO, Managing Director, Director, and Trustee. A strategic, and thinking leader, capable of successful implementation in pioneering scenarios and working to maintain brand standards and commercial opportunity. Paul has led management teams, focusing on strategic change, start up, and performance improvement initiatives. 

He coaches team capabilities to perform and deliver, principally in culturally diverse markets, and recently across the Executive Leadership team in Eden. This has developed into a real passion for cultural understanding, its influence and impact on business and his coaching style developed in Africa that he calls Butterfly Coaching. 

Paul has an AoEC Accredited Executive Coach Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching & International Systemic Team Coaching Certificate, I.M.D. Lausanne, Switzerland:  Breakthrough Programme for Senior Executives, MSc Change Leadership, BSc (Hons) Food Marketing, Diplomas: Change Leadership;  Marketing, Inst’ Marketing and Executive Coaching.

Paul Van Geyt Faculty

Paul is an ICF accredited Master Certified Coach and a trained ICF assessor. For the past 15 years, Paul has been coaching clients across all levels of seniority in a variety of industries, including professional services, FMCG, banking, energy distribution, real estate and industrial production. During a quality audit, the following characteristics are pointed out about Paul: “patient, honest, listening and understanding. His empathic ability is considered to be a remarkable quality”. Further coaching strengths that are mentioned by clients are expertise, knowledge and analytical capacity. Paul can operate comfortably in the heart of a group and is adept at building teams, integrating groups and creating consistency and alignment.

Peep Aaviksoo - Head of AoEC Estonia

Peep has more than twenty five years of experience managing stock listed companies in Estonia and sitting in the supervisory boards of different public and state owned companies. He has also served as Vice Mayor of Tallinn. Peep has more than twenty five years of experience managing stock listed companies in Estonia and sitting in the supervisory boards of different public and state owned companies. He has also served as Vice Mayor of Tallinn. He has graduated from Tartu University as a basketball coach, got MBA in Estonian Business School and passed Senior Executive Program in London Business School. Today he is managing the Executive Education of Estonian Business School that is a license holder of AoEC in Estonia. He has also done mentoring for Enterprise Estonia. Peep is a graduate of the AoEC Senior Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching and is faculty on the AoEC’s Coaching Skills Certificate and Practitioner Diploma programmes. Peep is an Professional Certified Coach with the ICF.

Peter Burditt Non-Executive Director

Peter is a senior advisor and coaching supervisor.  He was a pioneer in the coaching world, post a successful banking career in investment banking at board level.  

He re-trained in Gestalt psychology and co-founded the Academy of Executive Coaching in 1995.  He was on the board and an active faculty member for over 10 years and maintains a close relationship as their strategic advisor.  Peter brings a combination of pragmatic business experience, psychological insights, strategic awareness and over 27 years of coaching the C-suite, PMs and traders.  

His favourite quote is: ‘Truth is what stands the test of experience’ Albert Einstein.

Philip Atkinson -Faculty

Philip is passionate about empowering individuals, teams and businesses to grow and in using coaching to achieve this. He first started to study coaching to be a ‘better line manager’ and the breadth and depth of the AoEC framework appealed to his curiosity about many different coaching models. He has since continued his academic and practical study by completing the AoEC’s Advanced Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching as well studying Systemic Team Coaching and Gestalt Coach Training. Philip is a regular keynote speaker on leadership and has also taught on executive programmes at London Business School and INSEAD. He is also teaching faculty for the ICAgile curriculum of programs. He has gained experience building and shaping high-performing teams at Roche, Novartis, Reckitt Benckiser, Sanofi and The Publicis Group of Communications Agencies. Philip is also a passionate beekeeper and is fascinated by how they function as a complex system, not unlike multi-national organisations. He is based in Basel and the founder of Hive-Logic Coaching & Communications.

Professor Peter Hawkins - Faculty

Peter Hawkins is Honorary President of the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC). For the last 30 years he has been helping organisations in many parts of the world connect their strategic change, their organizational culture and their leadership development. He has written extensively about leadership, leadership teams, coaching and supervision. Currently his major concern is the growing gap between the increasing and changing challenges for individual and collective leadership and how leadership development is failing to evolve at the same speed. The AoEC Systemic Team Coaching suite of programmes, diagnostic tool and coaching are based on Peter’s 5 Disciplines model which in used internationally. He regularly blogs and publishes papers on these and other topics. He also is also Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School University of Reading UK and Emeritus Chairman of Bath Consultancy Group, visiting professor at the universities of Bath and Oxford Brookes, chairs Renewal Associates and is enjoyably kept busy by his wife, three children and their partners, five grandchildren, and numerous hens, sheep, goats, steers and guinea fowl and large gardens where he lives on the edge of Bath in the UK.

Sabine Stanley Faculty

Sabine has an exceptional track record of working with leaders in complex organisations, creating momentum for organisational development and change. As a coach and consultant, she specialises in executive coaching, bespoke leadership development and team effectiveness. Drawing on many years of senior-level experience in a FTSE100 global organisation, Sabine combines organisational insight with interpersonal sensitivity and a cross-cultural/global perspective to help her clients develop themselves and their business. Focused on outcomes, she brings a practical emphasis to all she does and is an ICF accredited coach (PCC level).

Sam Jayasuriya Faculty

Sam is passionate about coaching and knows that a great coaching session can have a significant impact on your life. Her coaching sessions give you a space to stop, think and plan. A space to recognise your strengths, your values and what makes you tick. A space to reconnect with the wisdom of your whole body. Sam has a 30-year background in the education sector. In that time, she was a Headteacher for 20 years in 3 separate schools. She has also been part of two Co-Headships in her career. Sam’s experience of working with a vast range of people across diverse cultures, economic and social backgrounds give her a strength of connecting with others. After her coach training, she moved into full time coaching. She runs her own business and works as an associate coach with global coaching companies. Sam is a PCC coach with the ICF, she is a certified body-oriented coach, certified mBIT coach, NLP practitioner and is DISC accredited. She is a coach mentor and supports experienced coaches to develop their practice. Sam leads one to one coach sessions for new and experienced leaders. She leads coaching circles for leaders to reflect on resilience and what it means to be a leader. An experienced trainer, she works to support coach development as well as teams to help them develop a coaching culture. Sam seeks to live a creative life in thoughts and deeds. The seasons are particularly important to her, and she chooses to live her life in line with what is going on outside. She loves to write, book bind, knit, crochet, and sew. She lives with her partner, two young adult sons and a very bouncy dog.

Sarah Carrington Head of Education

Sarah is our Head of Education and is an ICF Accredited Executive Coach, working with leaders and leadership teams to strengthen their performance and achieve competitive advantage for them, for their stakeholders and for their organisation. She has extensive experience of leading teams in complex, dynamic environments from many years at one of the top FTSE 100 companies. Sarah is a member of Faculty for the Advanced Practitioner Diploma and a coach supervisor. She supports and challenges people to discover how they are holding themselves back and how they can drive themselves forward. Sarah’s coaching qualifications include the Master Practitioner Diploma in Systemic Team Coaching and the Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching.

Sharon Thompson-Tan - Head of Asia Pacific

Sharon has been a trusted, strategic thought partner, coach and mentor to many senior executives and leadership teams. Having personally worked in senior leadership positions in both Finance & Human Resources functions within global corporations, she understands first-hand how to strike the right balance between the competing demands of delivering results and developing leaders. She’s well-versed in facilitating systemic changes across multicultural, cross-functional organisations inclusively through shared leadership, co-creation, and fostering collaboration amongst stakeholders at various levels. She is qualified in team coaching by ICF and certified MCIPD.Sharon Tan (+65 9008 3982 SG / +44 7521 926645 UK) sharon.tan@aoec.com

Shruti Sonthalia - Faculty

Shruti Sonthalia is a highly accomplished Master Certified Coach, renowned in the International Coaching Federation for her exceptional talent in guiding executives and senior leaders towards peak performance. With an impressive global reach, Shruti has provided dynamic executive coaching to C-Suite and senior leaders across a diverse range of industries, from multinational corporations, operating on a global scale, to market leaders in technology, financial services, data analytics and legal consulting, there Shruti consistently empowering renowned department heads and senior managers to unlock their full potential. Her expertise extends to industry leaders in technology, pharma, retail, manufacturing, financial services, development, Edutech, chemical, agrochemical, and textile, among others and invitations to present at major coaching platforms, including the prestigious ICF Global Converge, are a testament to her reputation as a leading industry professional.Clients wholeheartedly endorse Shruti's compassionate, yet fiercely determined approach, as she advocates for them to embrace their true abilities and potential. With a diverse portfolio spanning organisational culture, resilience, stakeholder management, career transitions, difficult conversations, emotional intelligence, and burnout, Shruti has consistently helped clients derive tremendous value from transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. Her ability to navigate ambiguity and the unknown while embodying agility, resilience, deep listening, curiosity, and presence has positioned her as a trusted guide in the world of coaching.Beyond her impactful coaching work, Shruti has been a Coach Educator and Mentor Coach for years, equipping business leaders with coaching skills and supporting aspiring coaches worldwide in achieving their coaching credentials. Shruti also serves as a Board Member of an International Women's organisation with ECOSOC status at the UN, headquartered in Geneva. Additionally, she has designed and led coaching interventions for country heads and core teams, including Peace Corps Madagascar and Fiji.Shruti's educational background includes a sociology degree and economics diploma from the esteemed London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been a recipient of the prestigious ICF Young Leaders Award.

Soo Yee Leong - Coach

Following illustrious careers with the last being an executive director, Soo Yee is a certified professional coach partnering C-Suite and senior executives to lead change, grow successful teams and thrive. She was the first Asian on ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Executive Board, where she led its business in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Middle East and UK, besides its digital transformation programme.Prior to ACCA, Soo Yee held senior leadership roles at AIA and Citibank, after starting her career in sales and marketing at Shell.COACHING APPROACHSoo Yee brings a unique blend of transformative coaching, agile and design thinking to support leaders and executives lead change and innovation, achieve breakthrough performance, elevate employee engagement and improve personal wellbeing.She has coached teams and senior executives around the world in organisations which includes BP, Deloitte, Nexia, Sephora and Qualcomm. Her areas of coaching: organisation transformation, innovation, culture agility, leadership, growing high performance team, wellbeing and career growth/transition. EDUCATION AND TRAINING• Bachelor of Business Administration, National University of Singapore • Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation (ICF)• Certified Transformational Master Coach, Coach Masters Academy Global• Certificate on Hogan Assessments• Certified Scrum Master, Scrum Alliance• Certificate on Design Thinking, Stanford University Graduate School of Business• Positive Intelligence CoachSoo Yee loves nature, the arts and meditation. She is a passionate advocate of diversity, equality and inclusion who volunteers at Beyond Social Services, a Singapore charity and mentoring platform which makes mentoring accessible to aspiring women leaders globally.

Sophie Bruas - Faculty

Sophie is an accredited Executive Coach, Coach training faculty member with the Academy of Executive Coaching, Coach Supervisor, and Mentor Coach. Sophie has developed a number of executive coaches and contributed to ensuring high standards of coaching practice. Sophie has been coaching for more than seven years with domestic and international clients. Before making a career in Executive Coaching, Sophie worked as Country Director in various countries across Africa for Action Against Hunger.Sophie’s coaching is influenced by the Co-active Model, which emphasizes the systemic perspective of coaching, highlighting that various facets of the client’s life interact in motion and impact decisions. She looks for lasting solutions that impact her clients by using a direct style of coaching.Sophie earned her Accredited Coach Supervision diploma from the International Coaching Community (ICC), UK. Sophie holds an MSc from the University of Manchester and a degree in Logistics Management from the University of Paris XIII.

Sophie Welch Head of Programmes

Sophie Welch is Head of Programmes at the Academy of Executive Coaching. She brings over fifteen years’ experience from the Higher Education sector, working first in academic and research management at Durham University, and latterly in researcher development as an independent leadership coach and ethics consultant. From 2007 to 2022 Sophie supported ethical research through the NHS, and for the last seven years served as Vice-Chair to the North of Scotland Research Ethics Committees. Sophie is a graduate of Classical Civilisation at the University of Leeds (BA, MA) and an alumna of AoEC Scotland (Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching, 2014).

Stephen Murphy Faculty

Stephen is accredited at Master Practitioner level by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC). Stephen is accredited at Master Practitioner level by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC). He has a multi-cultural and multi-functional background. British, living in Poland with a 30-year career spanning P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Coca-Cola Bottlers and PZ Cussons; on-the-ground in UK, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, Russia and Poland; with assignments in Sales, Marketing and Country/ Regional General Management. He has led and been responsible for international start-up operations, in developed and hardship locations; significant organisational change projects; business turnaround assignments and re-shaping leadership teams into effective operating units. Stephen is an active Coach Supervisor and currently coaches and mentors in China and Europe. His work is with senior management, individually and in teams, to build greater self-awareness and operational impact. Sectors include FMCG, Insurance, Banking, Software, Legal, Engineering, Logistics and Chemicals.

Sue Burston Client Relationship Manager

Sue joined the AoEC in 2007 and has held a number of positions including Head of Operations and also Programme Manager for our Coaching Skills Certificate and Practitioner Diploma programmes. Sue is now Client Relationship Manager and enjoys speaking to our customers about their learning journeys and providing advice and support as required. Before joining the AoEC, Sue spent 19 years with the BBC in a number of finance and admin roles within the local, national and international Newsrooms. Here she gained invaluable experience of working with a wide range of people and situations and dealing with some very complex admin and finance systems.

Sue Reynolds Faculty

Sue Reynolds has over 20 years Human Resources experience in Business Partnership, Global Reward, Learning & Development, Organisational Effectiveness and Generalist HR. She is Senior Director for Pfizer’s Global Innovative Pharma Business with responsibility for the emerging and developed countries of the European & the Africa/Middle East Regions. Her focus is on culture, employee engagement, talent management, leadership development and organisational change. Previously Sue worked at Age Concern England. Sue is studying psychology and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. Friends, family and fitness are priorities along with a passion for her life-time interest in horses and more recently, in learning to dance.

Sue Simmons Programme Co-ordinator

Sue has worked in the fast paced environments of the hotel, design and television sectors as PA at senior management levels. She joined John Leary-Joyce at the Gestalt Centre in 1990 and then worked as his PA from the inception of AoEC. She is highly organised with strong multi-tasking skills which she uses to support the Business Team, dealing with bookings and admin on the Coaching Skills Certificate programme and Introductory events as well as supporting both the Directors and Marketing. In her spare time, Sue is a keen reader and passionate gardener.

Suren Chellappah Non-Executive Director

Mr. Chellappah is the Global Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer (COO/CFO) of Bernstein Autonomous LLP, and Global Head of Risk. He was appointed Global Head of Risk in 2012, and in addition continues to serve as the COO/ CFO for Bernstein Autonomous’ European sell-side business, a role he has held since 2003. Previously, he was the CFO for Instinet’s European broker-dealer business between 1999 and 2003. Mr. Chellappah has served as a company director since 1999. Outside of work, Mr Chellappah is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London.Mr. Chellappah began his career at Prudential Corporation before moving to Instinet in 1993. He holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from University College, Swansea, an MBA from Henley Management College and is a Fellow of both the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

Susie Bourne Faculty

Susie is an AoEC Accredited Associate Executive Coach and Accrediated Team Coach with 15 years of marketing experience at a senior level. She has held roles including Marketing Operations Director at the Telegraph Media Group and Marketing Director for the Times and Sunday Times. She has managed teams of up to 30 and her business expertise includes managing change, strategy, business planning, problem-solving, the creation of training and development programmes for 250+ people, introducing new processes and shaping the culture within newly formed teams. Susie also brings an extra set of skills to the world of business because as well as being a fully qualified Executive Coach she is also a trained, working actress with many high profile adverts and theatre work under her belt.

Trudy Arthurs Faculty

As faculty member of the AoEC, I’ve been delivering the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching for eight years in London, Dublin and Northern Ireland. I am currently working with a local charity to support them in developing Coaching and Mentoring Skills (ILM accredited). In 2016-2019 I co-facilitated seven Training-as-Mentor workshops to senior Earth Science academics and practitioners in London, Manchester and Dublin, accredited by the Geological Society of London. I consistently find that once clients have become familiar with the benefits of coaching, they are keen to adapt their own management and leadership styles to include a coaching approach.Reflective, mindful practice is really important to me. I strongly encourage all my clients and students to develop journaling and reflection habits. My own daily meditation, reading and journaling practices have helped me through the peaks and troughs of life, especially the Covid-19 times, and my clients have told me how much they now appreciate these few quiet moments that they have learned to give themselves in the hustle of life as senior leaders in organisations.

Urmas Kaarlep - Faculty

Urmas gained his management experience from working for 21 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Estonia, Ukraine and Slovakia. Since then, he has kept up to date with business and management by participating in several supervisory boards: a member of the Supervisory Board and the chair of the Audit Committee of the Port of Tallinn, a member of the Supervisory Board and the chair of the Audit Committee of Nasdaq Securities Depository in the Baltics and Iceland, a member of the Audit Committees of Coop Bank and North Estonia Regional Hospital. Urmas is a lecturer of finance at Estonian Business School. Urmas started coaching in 2015. Since 2020, he is faculty on the AoEC’s Coaching Skills Certificate and Practitioner Diploma programmes. To continue his professional development Urmas completed Integral Associate Coach Program and Integral Professional Coach Program at Integral Coaching Canada in 2021. Urmas is a member of ICF.

Valérie Weston Faculty

Valérie is a member of faculty for the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching. She is an ICF certified executive coach, coach mentor and leadership consultant, and has over 20 years of experience in the field of people development. Committed to helping individuals and teams make the most of their talents, Valérie believes in mixing lightness and depth to create a supportive yet challenging environment where people can explore, reflect and grow. She has coached and trained executives at all levels from junior managers to managing directors and her clients include DuPont, PwC, HSBC, the World Health Organisation, Smiths Group, Forum for the Future, Concern Universal, Ardagh and Buckingham Palace. Valérie previously held senior leadership and global commercial management roles at a FTSE 100 company and was a volunteer with VSO in Africa. Her coaching roles and qualifications include: - Practitioner Diploma in Executive coaching (AoEC) -Team coaching certificate (AoEC) -Master trainer in coaching / management programmes (HSBC) -Co-active Coach (Coaches Training Institute) -Executive coach and member of faculty for HSBC University, the CIPD and the Leadership Trust. A dual French and British citizen, Valérie is happy to work in French or English.

Vicki Peacock Systems Support Executive

Vicki joined the AoEC in 2014 and previously worked in administration and client/sales support for 25 years with roles as part of a team and as a team leader within the sales/mortgage and investment industry. Vicki is also qualified as a bookkeeper. Within the AoEC, Vicki provides administration support to the Programme Managers.

Vicky Routledge Head of Marketing

Vicky joined the AoEC Marketing Department in 2015 having worked in the charity sector for sixteen years and additionally brings a wealth of experience from voluntary activity. Vicky enjoys organising events, developing information resources, managing teams, planning and developing processes and strategy. She has a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for developing and promoting events and services for a wide range of people. Resources have included websites, publications, newsletters and factsheets. Services include helplines, support groups and methods of data collection and evaluation. Her passion to achieve the best is portrayed in her attention to detail, organisation and desire for perfection and she loves planning and developing strategy, always in the pursuit of improvement. Vicky has a passion for supporting people to become the best at what they want to be. With a degree in psychology, a certificate in Transactional analysis and a wealth of experience in the voluntary sector, she brings a creative energy balanced with a realistic planned approach. She also loves a bit of baking and spends her spare time watching her children play a lot of football!

Zeynep Yetkin - Faculty

Zeynep is an ICF (International Coaching Federation) credentialed PCC coach with more than 1,300 hours of executive coaching practice. She is enthusiastic to combine her 14 years corporate management experience with positive psychology and mindfulness methods for professionals to thrive while enabling them to discover their life purposes, values and authentic selves. After graduating from Co Active Coaching Institute in 2013 she completed ORSC (Organizational Relationship and Systems Coaching) to lead team development. Zeynep has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Istanbul University and graduated from Yeditepe University MBA program in 2002 with honors.Her passion about coaching led her to join Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) in Istanbul and became faculty member in year 2022. After joining AoEC, she improved her coaching model as a mindfulness based model. She takes pride in supporting coaching profession by delivering high quality trainings of AoEC as well as ICF credentialed trainings for coaches. Spending years in global corporate banking industry enables Zeynep to connect deeply with people who work under competitive and stressful conditions. Being one of Search Inside Yourself (SIY) Leadership Institute’s global teachers enables her to deliver practical mindfulness techniques for her coaches and trainings. Search Inside Yourself is a Google born Mindfulness based Emotional Intelligence Program for leaders, reaching more than 50,000 participants all over the world.

Zia Manji - Head of AoEC East Africa

Zia is the Director and Senior Client Partner in Korn Ferry’s East Africa alliance, Career Connections, where he heads the firm’s executive search practice. Zia brings in excess of 18 years’ experience of leading senior level searches in East Africa and also has extensive experience in executive coaching, leadership assessments and development. Zia is an accredited executive coach and faculty of the Academy of Executive Coaching. Zia’s experience spans across financial services, consumer goods, telecommunications, agriculture and media sectors. Prior to joining Career Connections, Zia was Managing Director at a large Kenyan food and consumer goods manufacturing company. Zia holds a business degree from the University of Edinburgh where he earned the John MacFarlane Award for Leadership. He also holds an Executive Master in Consulting and Coaching for Change from INSEAD, with Distinction, and is a founder member of the Africa Executive Coaching Council, developing the profession on the continent.