A Learning Journey
Designed for and by Women Leaders
For over two decades, the Strategic Leadership Accelerator program has been successfully empowering professional women to accelerate their careers and drive organizational impact – leading to increased profitability, team collaboration and organizational growth.
For Your Dispersed and On-the-Go Workforce
This leadership experience, designed for women at all career levels, is available as an open-enrollment offering or can be delivered exclusively for your organization. This 8-part virtual facilitator led learning journey focuses on the critical tools, skills, and strategies uniquely faced by women and is continually refreshed to focus on the current workforce trends differentially impacting women.
Best Practice Learning Components
In addition to the live sessions, participants complete a 360° leadership assessment, which allows them to benefit from a comprehensive understanding of their strengths and areas of opportunities in robust feedback from managers, direct reports and peers. They also receive two individual coaching sessions and complete self-paced work to help them apply the key concepts covered in real-time to their individual roles.
FORMAT |
COMMITMENT |
CREDENTIALS |
COST |
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22.5 hours live sessions & 6 hours self-paced work |
Realize the impact of your investment as your participants emerge confident, capable, and intentional around driving change in your organization.
Bring this offering to my organization
Are you interested in advancing and/or retaining high-potential women in your organization? The Strategic Leadership Accelerator program is ideal for groups of leaders and can be customized to meet your organizational goals.
Who Should Attend
- This facilitator-led virtual program is ideal for women at all levels of the organization who are interested in accelerating their impact and their careers.
- The program can also be tailored and delivered to the leaders in your organization.
8 expert-facilitated live sessions
Interactive 3-hour virtual sessions incorporate a blend of guided discussion on highlighted topics, small group work, and reflection exercises.
2 one-on-one executive coaching sessions
Exclusive 50-minute sessions designed to deepen each participant’s self-awareness and empower them to activate their learning in their role.
Best Self 360° Assessment Report
Participants complete a 360° leadership assessment to gather data and insights on their strengths and areas of opportunity.
Independent and group work
Self-paced learning in between sessions reinforces core concepts through short videos, reading, and reflection on a dedicated learning platform.
Impact and Outcomes
As a result of attending this program, your participants will:
- Get actionable strategies to manage stress and triggers necessary to optimize impact
- Identify and learn how to optimize areas of strength through 360° leadership assessment
- Negotiate effectively to drive individual, team and organizational outcomes
- Receive 1-on-1 coaching on leadership issues, challenges, and career aspirations
- Engage with a diverse group of women eager to accelerate their careers
- Establish a professional network with integrity to strategically support your career aspirations
Curriculum Overview
Program Kickoff
Join a Zoom session for a live virtual orientation to the program, when you will meet the cohort and learn more about what to expect from the program.
Building the Foundation + Activating Your Best Self
This session provides an opportunity for participants to understand the specifics about when they are at their best. This view includes clarity of strengths, core values, and public persona.
Cultivating Resilience
How important is cultivating resilience as a leader? Very! In this session you will explore strengthening your emotional resilience to better understand why effective leadership includes emotional self awareness. You will be given tools and practices that allow you to immediately put into action techniques to manage and release emotional stress.
Returning to Your Best Self
In this action-oriented and reflective session, you will learn strategies for returning to your Best Self to close the gap between intent and impact. You will cultivate a foundation of confidence that will allow you to respond to situations and people with curiosity and calm so you can maximize your effectiveness.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as Leadership Competencies
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are words that we hear often, but what do they truly mean? In this foundational session, we will develop a shared understanding of key concepts and the historical systems that have led to where we are today.
Leading in a Gendered World
This highly interactive session uses role play, research, and group discussions to explore work practices and norms that look gender neutral, but can have a differential impact on women.
Intentional Networking
This session empowers and inspires participants to view networking as an integral part of their career management strategy. It gives them a practical roadmap for how to effectively curate and communicate with their network to accomplish their individual leadership goals.
Negotiating Conditions for Success
This session introduces the fundamentals of successful workplace negotiation, with a particular focus on women and negotiation. Learn the basic elements of mutual gains problem-solving.
Program Schedule
Join Us for the Fall 2024 Program
This certificate program is delivered in a dynamic virtual format, featuring highly interactive live sessions along with coaching, peer group work, and exercises done at your own pace between sessions.
| Live Session Dates | Eastern Times | Session |
|---|---|---|
| October 17, 2024 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm | Program Kickoff Welcome Session |
| November 7, 2024 | 10:00am – 2:30pm | Building the Foundation + Activating Your Best Self |
| November 12, 2024 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Cultivating Resilience |
| November 14, 2024 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Returning to Your Best Self |
| November 19, 2024 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Leading in Gendered World |
| November 21, 2024 | 11:00am – 2:00pm | DEI as Leadership Competencies |
| November 26, 2024 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Intentional Networking |
| December 3, 2024 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Negotiating Conditions for Success + Celebratory Closing |
Can’t join us in the Fall?
This certificate program will also be offered in the Spring of 2025. Curriculum, format and pricing is all the same and the spring dates can be found on the registration link below.
Our Faculty
Our Faculty
Audra Bohannon
Founder, Bohannon Advisory
Audra Bohannon
Founder, Bohannon Advisory
As a thought leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for over 35 years, Audra has helped individuals and organizations see the possibilities for a better tomorrow. Appreciating differences comes with challenges. Inclusion and equity provides strategic solutions to that challenge by creating cultures where everyone can do well. Audra has served in very focused roles such as trusted advisor, coach, facilitator, guide and, of course, thought leader. It is her deep dedication to those individuals and organizations who want to be better and do better, that keeps her passionate about this important work. It is her transformative power to engage hearts and minds that confirms her commitment to the “potential of all, not just a few.”
Background and Experience
Audra is a publisher and highly sought-after keynote speaker. Drawing on her life and career experiences to stimulate thoughtful conversation, she is fluent in topics related to the empowerment of people with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and race matters. Whether engaging an industry audience or a global summit, her message that “all people have potential” touches emotional buttons to connect people and creates a lasting, often life-changing, impact.
Prior to founding Bohannon Advisory, Audra was a senior client partner at Korn Ferry. Audra also served as principal at Global Novations, senior vice president of Novations Group, and as partner and business architect of J. Howard & Associates, one of the leading consulting and training firms that established the diversity and inclusion industry.
Susan MacKenty Brady
CEO, Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Susan MacKenty Brady
CEO, Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Susan is the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and Leadership at Simmons University and the first Chief Executive Officer of The Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership.
Susan has previously published two books on leadership. Her third, co-authored by Executive Chair of the Board of Deloitte US Janet Foutty and Simmons University President Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten, Arrive & Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership (McGraw-Hill), debuted in April 2022 and landed on the best-seller list in the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today.
Susan also serves as emeritus board member for Strong Women, Strong Girls and as a Strategic Advisor for the relationship technology company, Our.Love.
Susan resides in the Boston area and is the proud Mom of two awesome daughters and two rambunctious Portuguese Water Dogs.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Simmons, Susan was Executive Vice President at Linkage, Inc. a global leadership development consulting and training firm. She founded Linkage’s Women in Leadership Institute™ and launched Linkage’s global practice on Advancing Women Leaders and Inclusive Leadership, and led the field research behind the 7 Leadership Hurdles Women Leaders Face in the Workforce™.
Publications
Featured on ABC’s Good Morning America, Susan is the author of Mastering Your Inner Critic and 7 Other High Hurdles to Advancement: How the Best Women Leaders Practice Self-Awareness to Change What Really Matters (McGraw-Hill, 2018), The 30-Second Guide to Coaching Your Inner Critic (Linkage, 2014), and co-author of Arrive & Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership (McGraw-Hill, 2022).
See Susan’s Insights below for more details.
Public Speaking & Consulting
A celebrated speaker, Susan has keynoted or consulted at over 500 organizations around the world. She is host of the popular “Better Understanding” podcast series and a sought-after guest expert on leadership across media platforms, including The Gallup Podcast with Mohammand Younis on The Most Important Leadership Skill? Listening.
Download Susan’s speaker kit to learn more about her work and impact and book her as a keynote speaker at your next event.
Bryn Panee Burkhart
Founder & Principal, Bright Evolution Leadership Coaching & Career Management
Bryn Panee Burkhart
Founder & Principal, Bright Evolution Leadership Coaching & Career Management
As Founder & Principal of Bright Evolution Leadership Coaching & Career Management, Bryn Panee Burkhart empowers her clients to move forward in their lives and careers with clarity and confidence.
We are all works-in-progress, and Bryn’s philosophy is that we should seek to evolve and grow in ways that leverage our natural strengths and gives us a sense of purpose. She guides her clients to be intentional about their leadership strategy and to be authentic to who they are – helping them evolve into the next, better version of themselves.
Background and Experience
Bryn also serves as an Executive Coach at Landit, a personalized career platform created to increase the success and engagement of women and diverse groups in the workplace. She is an Executive Coach for IRelaunch, an organization focused on helping people return to work after a career break. In addition, she is a recommended coach at MIT and the MIT Sloan School of Management, Columbia Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bryn holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an Ed.M from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She completed her Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) training through the Co-Active Training Institute and is a PCC with the International Coaching Federation. She is certified in Gallup Clifton Strengths, MBTI, and Positive Intelligence.
Bryn recently relocated from Boston to Honolulu with her husband, two sons, and sweet mini goldendoodle. As part-Native Hawaiian, she is thrilled to return home to live near her ohana and immerse herself in the aloha spirit.
Suzanne Frazier Wilkins
Coach & Organizational Consultant
Suzanne Frazier Wilkins
Coach & Organizational Consultant
Suzanne Wilkins is a coach and consultant with over twenty-five years of experience working with organizations and individuals to develop leaders in health care, higher education, retail, financial services and the nonprofit sector. She is also a sought-after conference presenter on leadership development and personal transformation.
Suzanne coaches leaders to enhance their own performance and to create inclusive environments in which organizational goals can be achieved. As a registered drama therapist, Suzanne uses traditional coaching approaches and invites her clients to utilize embodied techniques and tools from the arts to develop critical insights into the myths, meanings, metaphors and memes that drive each leader’s behavior and effectiveness.
As a consultant, she helps organizations develop and fully leverage the talents of their valued employees through coaching, creation, and facilitation of long-term developmental experiences, training, and building inclusive environments.
A playwright and actress, Suzanne performs “Undiscovered” a one-act play on a woman’s journey through mid-life.
Professional Experience
In her former role as Director of Program Services at The Partnership, a Boston-based firm specializing in talent development for professionals of color, Suzanne led the organization’s flagship leadership development programs and guided the firm through a six-month transition period as Interim President and CEO. She has served on several nonprofit boards.
Public Speaking
Suzanne has presented at the Linkage Women in Leadership Institute, the North American Drama Therapy Association and the Association for Group Psychology and Psychotherapy conferences, and keynoted at the American School Counselors Association. A coach through the Harvard Business School Executive Education programs, Wilkins has been on the faculty of Cambridge College, a guest lecturer at Babson College and Bentley University and The Institute for Nonprofit Management & Leadership.
Kerry Seitz
Vice President, Women’s Leadership, Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Kerry Seitz
Vice President, Women’s Leadership, Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Kerry Seitz heads the development of Women’s Leadership programming at Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to produce innovative, research-based learning journeys that foster gender parity in organizational leadership worldwide. As a member of the Institute’s leadership team, Kerry is deeply committed to establishing the Institute as a global authority on the intersection of leadership, equity, and inclusion. A Certified Career Coach, Kerry began her work in leadership development as Principal of her own coaching business where she worked predominantly with women relaunching and redefining their career journey.
Outside of work, Kerry enjoys running, yoga, and spending time with her husband, three sons, and (female!) Labrador Retriever.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Simmons, Kerry was Vice President of Learning and Development at Landit, a career development tech startup aimed at democratizing career success. Prior to that role, Kerry was the Director of Advancing Women and Inclusive Leadership solutions and Executive Director of the Women in Leadership Institute at Linkage, a global leadership consulting firm.
Kerry spent the first ten years of her career in the mental health field. She has served as a clinician at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; a researcher at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College; a coalition and program manager for the Support to End Exploitation Now coalition at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County; and an adjunct faculty member in the criminal justice department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Mary Shapiro
Professor of Practice, School of Business, Simmons University
Mary Shapiro
Professor of Practice, School of Business, Simmons University
For more than 25 years, Mary has served as an Organization Behavior faculty at Simmons University. She is also an executive trainer and a consultant to public and private companies.
She teaches in Simmons’ M.B.A., undergraduate and corporate programs, where specializes in three areas: team building and leadership, influential communication across diverse stakeholders, and strategic career management.
Throughout her career, Mary has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, private institutions, and nonprofits to create vision, mission, and strategic plans; launch teams with operational infrastructure and project plans, and intervene in teams in crises. She also works with numerous boards of directors in strategic planning and She continues to create and deliver an inventory of leadership development seminars.
Professional Experience
Mary joined the Simmons MBA. faculty in 1993. In 2014, she was appointed to the inaugural endowed position of the Kagen Trust Professorship for Leadership Development where she steered the University in developing a leadership platform to be infused throughout the undergraduate program. She developed “The Communication Styles Diagnostic,” an online tool that has been used by thousands of managers to improve their effectiveness with individuals and teams.
Research & Publications
Mary researches and publishes in the areas of women and their careers, and organizations, and their use of male allies as gender-equity initiatives. Her most recent publication is “The HBS Guide to Leading Teams” (Harvard Business School Press, 2014). She has also co-authored two books, Your Job Interview: An Easy, Smart Guide to Interview Success (Silver Lining Books, 2003); and Take Charge of Your Career (Barnes and Noble Publishing Inc., 2004), which extend an understanding of interviewing and career strategies to include the nuances of gender and many dimensions of diversity.
Darlene Slaughter
Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement Officer, March of Dimes
Darlene Slaughter
Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement Officer, March of Dimes
Darlene is a visionary with a passion to remove barriers and provide equal opportunities for all. At the March of Dimes, Darlene is leading a culture of engagement, innovation, accountability, trust, diversity and inclusion.
Darlene’s work in diversity and inclusion has received many awards and honors, including SAVOY’s 2012 Top 100 Influential Women in Corporate America, Profiles in Diversity Journal’s list of Women Worth Watching, Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Diversity, and Heart & Soul’s Women of Substance in Finance. She has also graced the cover of Inclusion Magazine.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining March of Dimes, Darlene served as the Chief Diversity Officer for United Way Worldwide. Her efforts expedited and advanced diversity and inclusion strategies, partnerships and initiatives throughout United Way’s footprint. She also served as the Principal Consultant and Chair of Linkage Institute for Leading Diversity and Inclusion where she trained corporate leaders on developing and leading D&I initiatives in the workplace.
Before Linkage, she led an integrated strategy to utilize and support the talents at Fannie Mae and designed the first Executive Diversity Council as its Chief Diversity Officer.
Samantha Tan
Consultant & Executive Coach
Samantha Tan
Consultant & Executive Coach
Samantha Tan is a consultant and executive coach in leadership, culture, and group dynamics. She is passionate about women’s leadership and enjoys working across generations and cultures. She helps leaders tap into emerging voices to inform and shape their organizations into the future. She uses the integration of body, emotions, and language to support effective decision-making and sustainable change.
In addition to her coaching practice, Samantha designs and facilitates local, national, and international retreats and off-sites.
Samantha’s work has been published in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science and she is a chapter contributor to The World Cafe: Shaping the Future Through Conversations That Matter (Berrett-Koehler) where she wrote about creating a culture of learning and care in her birth country, Singapore. Her first career was in strategy and policy development with the Singapore government where she worked on national reform projects in the manpower, arts, and education sectors.
Samantha has a BA in Philosophy from Bristol University in the United Kingdom, a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and was a Research Fellow in Leadership at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is a graduate of the Newfield Network Certified Coach Training Program.
Samantha lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her family. She loves painting, gardening and yoga.
Lynn Tetrault
Founder, Anahata Leadership
Lynn Tetrault
Founder, Anahata Leadership
Lynn is an experienced global business leader and board director who is passionate about healthcare, leadership development and the advancement of women. She is the founder of Anahata Leadership, an advisory firm focused on supporting the leadership effectiveness and development of women. A longstanding executive in the pharmaceutical industry, Lynn is currently Lead Independent Director of Neo Genomics Clinical Laboratories and Non-Executive Director of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals. She is also a Director of Paradigm for Parit
Elisa van Dam
Vice President, Allyship & Inclusion, Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Elisa van Dam
Vice President, Allyship & Inclusion, Institute for Inclusive Leadership
Elisa van Dam brings a wealth of experience in gender equity and inclusion to her role as head of the Allyship and Inclusion practice area. Elisa works with organizations and individual leaders to increase their understanding and practice of inclusive leadership behaviors. In collaboration with other Institute Fellows, she creates and delivers research-based content and programming, based on our proprietary framework that demystifies the Work of the Inclusive Leader™. She is also responsible for developing and delivering engaging learning experiences for women leaders, including leading the development of the Arrive and Thrive Certificate Program for Women, launching in May 2023.
She recently published The Inclusive Leader’s Playbook: The Work of the Inclusive Leader with co-author Susan MacKenty Brady.
Elisa also maintains a private coaching practice, working with women on how to successfully navigate maternity leave.
Elisa lives in the Boston area with her choreographer husband, their young adult son, and a willful rescue cat.