Gary's studies began at the University of Washington and continued with an M.A. degree from Stanford University and self-directed studies at Harvard.   He also studied law at the Universidad Libre in Bogotá, Colombia.  For nearly a decade during the 1970s, Gary worked for the U.S. Peace Corps, rising to the role of country director with senior management responsibility for operations in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador.  In 1980, Gary joined a pioneering cross-cultural training organization; through his help, it eventually developed into Prudential Relocation Intercultural Services, where he served as vice president of marketing.  In 1995, Gary became an independent consultant and founded his own company. 

Gary has trained hundreds of global executives, international business travelers, and expatriate families bound for over 30 countries.  Among his more than 50 clients have been General Motors, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Cargill, General Electric, General Dynamics, Levi Strauss, Allied Signal, Amoco, Union Carbide, Dupont, Medtronic, Royal Bank of Canada, Hewlett-Packard, Advanced Micro Devices, and Conoco.  His skills include training needs assessment, training, coaching, evaluation, and cross-cultural ethics policy development.  At both the American Graduate School for International Management (“Thunderbird”) and The Wang Center for International Business (University of Memphis), Gary has prepared business teams to launch operations in The Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Brazil. As a consultant, he has advised senior management (vice presidential level) of several major corporations on cross-cultural business issues in Latin American countries.

Gary has spoken at over 100 professional conferences and published more than 70 articles in business and trade magazines.  He is the author of Intercultural Services: A Worldwide Buyer's Guide and Sourcebook (2000), the only book-length overview and analysis of professional intercultural services (information).  He is an active member of the International Association of Coaches and a graduate of the International Executive Coaching seminar of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (Oregon).  He has carried out executive coaching for corporate leaders in the United States and six other nations.

Gary has lived and worked in Switzerland, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and South Africa. He has traveled to 32 countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  He now lives in the Western U.S. with his wife, Ann, and enjoys hiking, fishing, backpacking, and being a grandfather.
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Peter received his B.A. from Columbia University and his M.D. from Michigan State University; he completed post-doctoral studies as well as his residency at The Stanford School of Medicine.  During his time at Stanford, he conducted research on the social psychology of medical work environments and, specifically, the anatomy lab. This research helped shape curricula at many American medical schools and contributed to a fuller understanding of how physicians learn about and perform their work.  During the early 1980s, he practiced psychiatry in Woodside, California, studied psychoanalysis, and continued to teach and supervise residents at Stanford School of Medicine.

Peter brings a varied combination of knowledge and experience to the critical task of leadership development. He has coached some of Stanford University’s and Silicon Valley's most talented and successful scientists and entrepreneurs.  He has consulted to companies as diverse as 30-person start-ups and Fortune 50 technical and pharmaceutical companies.  His clients have included Johnson & Johnson, Scios, Agilent Technologies, Sun Microsysteps, Alps Automotive, Guernsey Engineering, Eli Lilly, Medarex, and FMC. He has also worked at Stanford Graduate School of Business with MBA students on leadership development issues, and he is currently Director of Action Learning at the school.  In addition, he has taught seminars for Fellows of the American Leadership Forum, where he was on faculty for the Class of 2005.

Peter has been closely associated with the Leading Change and Organizational Renewal (LCOR) course both at Stanford and at Harvard since 2000, participating in and designing the action learning component of the course and facilitating work groups. He has taught the LCOR material on campus and in follow-up on-site workshops with participating companies.  In addition, he has co-authored an influential paper on large-group awareness training, and is co-author of a book on the psychology and sociology of medical training (Sage, 2000).

Peter lives with his wife Kathryn Ford (a psychiatrist), three children, and one aging cat with a white chin. He enjoys swimming, biking, and hiking for recreation as well as music of many kinds from Bach to Van Morrison. Peter and Kathryn are active at one of their children’s primary school and are passionate about the education of all children.
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Carolyn holds a bachelors degree in Latin American studies from Pitzer College in California, a masters in teaching English as a second language from the University of California Los Angeles, and a masters in HR management and organization development from Golden Gate University.  She also studied French history, art, and language at the Université d’Haute Bretagne in France.  She speaks fluent French and holds the Diplôme Supérieur de Français des Affaires granted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris.

Carolyn’s career began in Bogotá, Colombia, where she taught English as a foreign language to business clients.  Later she lived and worked in several regions of France for four years, where she taught specialized English communication skills for managers at Kodak-Pathé as well as for French scientists and managers at the prestigious Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.  While working in the U.S. semi-conductor industry at VLSI Technology, Carolyn enabled management to successfully achieve and maintain ISO 9001 certification for U.S., Japanese and European sites.  As training manager at Synopsys, she developed a globalized new-employee assimilation program. 

Carolyn is a graduate of Corporate Coach U International.  As a coach and performance consultant, she brings her expertise in executive and professional development to global high tech firms in Silicon Valley, including Intel, Hewlett-Packard, National Semiconductor, JDS Uniphase, and Cadence Design Systems.  For the start-up Infinera, Carolyn coached executives in teamwork and collaboration.  At LSI Logic, she coached managers in culturally competent leadership for global operations.   She has also served pharmaceutical clients, such as Lifescan, for which she co-developed and delivered an award-winning cultural diversity training program for over 250 manufacturing employees.

Carolyn is also a master trainer.  She has designed and conducted corporate training courses ranging from cross-cultural orientation to culturally diverse team leadership.  She is qualified to use several assessments, including the Cultural Orientations Inventory.  Carolyn conceived the idea for, and is now leading the development of, a competency-based assessment instrument to be known as the Polaris Global Leadership 360°.

Carolyn resides in California with her husband Bob and their two cats.  They enjoy skiing, hiking, camping, bicycling, and playing tennis.   Carolyn loves to cook French cuisine for family and friends.
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Rossina completed her bachelors in international communication at Pacific Union College and her masters in international studies at Claremont Graduate University, both in California.  She is currently enrolled in Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business, earning an M.S. in organizational development.
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Rossina's work experience began on Jutland, in Denmark, where she worked at a school; this was followed by the assistant directorship for international students at Claremont College.  Rossina then moved to Washington, DC, and joined the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, where she managed research.  Joining McDonald's Corporation, she completed its fast-track Executive Management Training Program.  More recently, Rossina was employed in localization project management for Disney Interactive's International Division, and as the product manager for Latin America at Mattel Media.

Under a former mayor of Los Angeles, Rossina led a policy clinic on restitution and reclamation of the ethnic groups involved in the Los Angeles riots of the 1980s; she presented her findings to the California State Assembly.  For the Los Angeles chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she was a corporate spokesperson as well as a bilingual wish-granter.

Rossina's professional affiliations include the Society for Intercultural Education Training And Research, the Employee Relocation Council, the National Speakers’ Association, and the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s.  She is the author of Doing Business in Colombia, published in 2000 by the Princeton Training Press.

Formerly a ten-year resident of California's famed wine-growing region, the Napa Valley, Rossina now lives in Southern California with her husband, Edward, and their two young sons.  She and Edward love introducing the boys to their friends from many different cultures and countries.
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As a result of adolescent exchange experiences in England, Ireland, and a small Ohio town, Kristiina grew up fascinated with unfamiliar languages and cultures.  During her undergraduate years, she took off a year to live in Stockholm, study Swedish, and work for the Finnish Tourist Board there.  In 1989, she gained a masters degree with a double major in English and speech communication (including intercultural communication) from the University of Jyväskylä.

While still university students, Kristiina and her husband, Olavi, established a translation company; soon they were providing English tutoring and cultural coaching for managers who were engaged internationally.  At the same time, Kristiina was working for her university, developing and teaching extension courses in leadership and intercultural communication.  She then served for two years as training manager of the International Women’s Management Institute.  When her husband was hired by Microsoft in 1991, they moved to Dublin, Ireland, where Kristiina became international communications manager for Synectics, a global consultancy.  Several years later, Microsoft transferred them to Washington State, where the family has lived ever since.

In the United States, Kristiina began to study coaching and became certified in 2000 by the Coaches Training Institute of San Rafael, California.  At first she delivered life coaching to private clients, but her practice increasingly shifted to entrepreneurs and corporate managers.  More recently, Kristiina completed the training offered by Team Coaching International; she is now helping that firm to develop a formal certification process.  Kristiina’s individual and team coaching clients have included Bank of America, Vulcan, Microsoft, Symantec, and Kodak in addition to several small firms.

Still professionally active in her native Finland, Kristiina is a co-author of the recently published Tiedon Kauppiaat, which means “Merchants of Knowledge.”  This business school textbook addresses the special leadership challenges of entrepreneurs in knowledge- and skill-intensive businesses.

Kristiina and Olavi have a son, Markus, born in 1997.  As leading members of the Finnish community, they have dedicated themselves to the founding, funding, and instructional excellence of the Finnish School of Seattle, which in ten years grew its weekend attendance from 5 to 100.  Kristiina maintains a strong link with her former host family in Ohio.
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Kay graduated cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany with a degree in Chinese studies and French language; subsequently, she completed graduate work in international management.  She began her career at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, working in the areas of public relations and corporate fund-raising.  Next, she spent three years working for U.S.-China Industrial Exchange in Beijing, where she coordinated sales activities for American and European manufacturers of hi-tech medical and scientific equipment.  This position involved frequent travel throughout the People's Republic of China as well as to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the U.K.

In early 1987, Kay began doing consulting work that involved facilitating conference calls as well as face-to-face meetings and negotiations among businesspeople in the U.S., the Pacific Rim, and Europe.  Since then, the cultures with which she has worked most closely are the U.S., the U.K., Israel, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China.  Naturally, her work requires regular travel to all of these locations.

While Kay often conducts intercultural training and research for multinational corporations, her background and expertise are truly put to good use when she designs or adapts training events for specific global corporate environments.  Recent examples include localizing and upgrading a workshop on organizational savvy for senior bankers in the Asia Pacific region; and collaborating with a team of interculturalists in order to create nine days of workshops on basic business skills for the Chinese employees of a multinational manufacturing company.  Kay also is a guest lecturer for courses on global business strategy, entrepreneurship, and international marketing at the University of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley.

Kay speaks Mandarin, Japanese, and French as well as her native English.  With her business partner, Anthony Pan, Kay is co-author of Culture Shock! Beijing (Marshall Cavendish, 2005) as well as several shorter articles on various intercultural business topics.

A resident of the San Francisco bay area but originally from a farm in upstate New York, Kay enjoys reading and listening to music (mostly the blues); she is also very active in feral cat rescue efforts in her local area.
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Born and raised in Germany, Stefan holds a bachelors degree in business administration and has studied applied cultural sciences at the University of Lueneburg.  His first corporate position in Germany was in human resources at Babcock Textilmaschinen, after which he held marketing management positions at both RMM Marketing Research and at Springer&Lardon.  As a management consultant and trainer at Fromm Management-Seminare, Stefan designed and conducted a variety of management coaching and training programs for German multinational corporations.  Attending his programs over several years were executives and employees of Airbus, Allianz, Axel-Springer-Verlag, Beiersdorf, Bertelsmann, CSC Ploenzke, DaimlerChrysler, Gruner+Jahr, Hamburgische Landesbank, Nestlé, Philips, Premiere, RTL Television, Thyssen, and Volkswagen.

In 2001, Stefan relocated to Southern California and founded his own coaching and training firm there.  In order to keep up with business developments in Europe as well as North America, he consults, coaches, and leads seminars in both Germany and the U.S.  He has presented on cross-cultural issues at the Anderson Business School of the University of California, and on innovative leadership at the Microsoft’s Executive Briefing Center; in 2002, he spoke at the United Nations roundtable in Geneva.  His personal client list includes, among others, Allianz, Avery Dennison, Bertelsmann, Ceradyne, Philips, SAP, and TimeWarner. 

Stefan has been trained in global leadership systems, global executive coaching, cross-cultural training, transactional analysis for organizations, systemic neuro-linguistic programming, and the power of body language.  He has enhanced his coaching skills by studying at the Newfield coaching and organizational learning program, and at the Wharton Business School’s executive coaching workshop.  His interactive, results-oriented coaching and training approaches apply the personal development tool known as shadow coaching, plus Stefan’s own technique that incorporates humor, which draws on his training some years ago in the art of clowning.  Stefan’s talent for humorously mirroring business situations has made it possible for previously defensive or otherwise reticent clients to become able to wholeheartedly seek innovative solutions to challenging business issues. 

Although they visit Germany often, Stefan and his wife reside near the beaches of Southern California.  Stefan is not only a trained clown but also a long-time actor, abilities that have proved useful in his personal life as well as in his professional services to corporations.
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Tony's exploration of culture led him to Japan for eight years, where he taught history at Sophia University and conducted research as a Fulbright Fellow at Tokyo University.  During Nippon Steel Corporation's expansion into China, he consulted with them in building alliances with Chinese firms.  He also designed and conducted training programs for Japanese executives doing business with Chinese and Western companies.

Returning to the U.S., Tony earned a law degree from Columbia University.  He became a member of the New York bar and practiced corporate law for several years in New York City, coordinating business transactions among American, Chinese, and Japanese companies.

Subsequently, Tony became an independent consultant specializing in the facilitation of U.S.-Pacific Rim business.  He has developed and delivered training programs for executives conducting business in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan.  He has personally contributed to the formation of business partnerships around the Pacific Rim.

With his business partner, Kay M Jones, Tony is the co-author of Beijing at Your Door: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Graphic Arts, 2005); click here.

Fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and English, Tony enjoys domestic as well as foreign films and searches for new restaurants in the vicinity of his home south of San Francisco.
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Michele holds a master’s degree in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).  Her experience living abroad as a child in the Canary Islands and Austria for three years gave her early exposure to other cultures and languages, and influenced her to major in French for her bachelor’s degree.  She is fluent in Spanish and French, and has a working knowledge of German and Italian.  Extensive professional and personal travel in Europe, Africa, and Latin America have strengthened her natural talent for working well with people from diverse backgrounds.

Michele devoted 18 years of her career to corporate communications, eventually attaining senior executive positions: vice president for employee communications at The Walt Disney Company; global head of communications at Barclays Global Investors; and director of corporate communications for three firms: Charles Schwab, DHL Worldwide Express, and Silicon Graphics.  This background enables Michele to bring a deep understanding of business and leadership issues to her work with business leaders. 

Michele is a certified coach, having completed the Hudson Institute’s professional coaching program.   She has worked successfully with business leaders to enhance their capabilities in key areas of professional and personal growth and development such as leadership style, communication effectiveness, influencing skills, and conflict management.  Her clients have included executives at The Walt Disney Company, PG&E, Hewlett Packard, The Alfred Mann Foundation, Outfest, and First Merit Bank.

In addition to her executive coaching work, Michele is a communications consultant in the area of employee communications, strategic planning, human resources, and leadership communications.  Recent consulting clients include Hewlett Packard, PepsiCo, and Cisco.   Michele is also a skilled facilitator and has delivered numerous workshops and presentations on leadership and communication for the International Association of Business Communicators, the National Board of Realtors, the Ohio Bankers Association, and the Women’s Leadership Exchange.

In her spare time Michele enjoys hiking, running, swimming, and a variety of other sports.  She is also an accomplished ballroom dancer who performs with her dance partner for schools and nonprofit organizations.  In her spare time, Michele loves to travel, read, act in live theatre, and spend time with her two grown sons.
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