Search Results for: Wasserman

Ilene Wasserman, Ph. D

Ilene Wasserman, founder and president of ICW Consulting has over 30 years of experience in Organizational Consulting, Strategic Planning, Change Management, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching. As Vice-President of a major consulting firm and founder and President of ICW Consulting, Ilene helps leaders and teams throughout organizations leverage multiple dimensions of domestic and global diversity by enhancing communication and collaboration. Ilene’s approach is appreciative, based on the principles that we transform organizational cultures through engaging the whole system.

Ilene has served a consulting coach with senior executives and board of directors of Fortune 100 companies, socially responsible businesses, health care institutions and institutes of higher education. Consultations have also included designing retreats for leadership teams and developing internal work teams. She has also led large strategic change initiatives. In addition to consulting and coaching Ilene has taught courses in leadership, organizational consulting, leading diversity, organizational communication, emotional intelligence and cultural competence, and group dynamics at the graduate level.

Ilene received her PhD from the Fielding Graduate University in Human and Organizational Development. She also holds Masters degrees both in Counseling Psychology and Social Work from Washington University and a B.S. from Cornell University in Human Development. In addition to her formal education, Ilene is trained in Future Search, Gestalt, and Appreciative Inquiry. has conducted foundational and advanced workshops in Appreciative Inquiry.

Ilene is a Senior Fellow of the Wharton Leadership Institute, a Fellow of both the Taos Institute and serves on the Board of the Lewin Center, serves on the Boards of the CMM Institute and is a Member of NTL. Ilene is active in her community, serving as Chair of the Lower Merion Township Human Relations Commission.

ICW at Global Social Witnessing_Conference.Lab 2021

“The GSW_Conference.Lab 2021 will provide a space where diverse perspectives/experiences from artists, scientists, spiritual practitioners, and political activists will inspire participants to better understand and embody GSW within their mind, heart, and body. Throughout the lab, we will co-create new ideas, strategies, tools, and energy to help us become mature global citizens in our times of disruption and transformation.” (https://www.globalsocialwitnessing.org/#row_gswlab)

Now through March 18, recorded dialogues are available for all conference participants. Listen in as Ilene Wasserman discusses “GSW and Inclusion: How do we go on together?”

Click HERE to learn more and register.

See you at the Academy of Management’s 2020 Annual Meeting

The 80th annual Meeting of the Academy of Management is happening virtually this year, from August 7th to 11th. Ilene Wasserman will be presenting as part of two different sessions, and we’d love to see you for either or both. Register for the meeting and explore the whole program here.

Find us at the following sessions:

From Founders to the Future: A 20/20 Look at Organization Development | Friday August 7th | 10am-12pm EST

In the mid-2000s, scholars were concerned that organization development may have become a dying field. Since then, others have studied a number of developments associated with OD, including discourse analysis, agility, coaching, appreciative inquiry, complexity theory, and dialogic OD, to name a few that surfaced in the late 2000s and 2010s. The emergence of these practices created for practitioners a tension between the legacy of the founders of OD focused on interpersonal relationships, groups and teams, and internal organization relationships, and the requests of clients for assistance in these new areas. Further, practices once part of OD work, such as organization design, coaching, project management, and change management, became the purview of other professionals. Last, the role of human resource professionals was changing from transactional to more strategic engagements in organizations that at times closely resembled OD work.

Both the extension of practices within the field of OD and the wide array of historic OD work now performed by HR and other professionals led to a sense of fragmentation in the OD field. This PDW presents the results of work by OD scholars and professionals during the Founders to the Future Project to both honor the past and recommend a coherent future for the field of OD. In an interactive setting, participants will provide feedback on reports in four areas provided to registrants prior to the conference: vision for the OD field, values for the future, competencies that will be needed, and a dynamic definition of OD.

Bridging Positive Organizational Scholarship and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | Friday August 7th | 4pm-6pm EST

This session is targeted to scholars interested in the study of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from strengths-based approaches. The aim of this innovative PDW is to provide a forum for researchers to discover new forms of inquiry that will advance research on DEI within positive organizational scholarship (POS). Part of the workshop will include empirical research puzzles presented by DEI experts known for their work in this area. We will feature current empirical and theoretical work that explores positive processes and outcomes associated with diversity in organizations. We will then encourage participation from participants through roundtable discussions and report-outs.

Ideally, participants will be required to pre-register for the session and provide a brief summary on their interests at the nexus of DEI and POS, so that the organizers can assign them to an initial table based on the similarity of their interests of other participants and our facilitators. Participants will be asked to rotate to a new table following each panel presentation to allow cross-fertilization of ideas during the session. We will provide discussion questions for participants to reflect on theoretical, methodological, and practical puzzles they face in their own research and practice in DEI. Further, they will focus on collaboratively brainstorming how adopting a POS lens enhances their study of DEI topics, and how DEI research expands the study of POS. Participants will also consider the implications of empirical research on POS and DEI for individuals and organizations. The session will conclude with a report out on from each table and a summary of future directions presented by the organizing committee.

When does a critical moment become an inflection point?

One significant way we make sense of our worlds is through the structure of stories. And our stories are understood through our frames of reference from family, community, and history. These stories influence what we hear and what we don’t hear, what we tell or don’t tell, and what we chose to edit. Stories are constituted by episodes. And we find grounding in those episodes having a beginning, middle, and end.

We find ourselves now in the middle of a number of powerful episodes that contain critical moments and how we chose to respond is especially consequential to the future we are creating. One of these episodes is the global pandemic and how different geographic regions are dealing with it. Another episode has been ignited by the outrage in response to the murder of George Floyd. How we frame the beginning, middle and end of the episodes that constitute each of these stories continues to shift as the beginnings or roots continue to unfold and the future we are creating is uncertain…

Read the rest of Ilene Wasserman’s post on the CMM Institute blog here

Our Team

ICW Consulting Group is an affiliation of experts and thought leaders in the field of organization development, leadership, team development and strategic processes. We have similar values and viewpoints regarding how we work with clients, and have complementary strengths. Founded in 1998 by Ilene Wasserman, ICW serves our clients by bringing together the best resources for their particular needs.

When you engage with us on a project, we bring together the right subset of our team based on your unique needs and desires.

Ilene Wasserman | MSW, Ph.D. | Founder & President

Ilene has over 30 years of experience in Organizational Consulting, Strategic Planning, Change Management, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching. As Vice-President of a major consulting firm and founder and President of ICW Consulting, Ilene helps leaders and teams throughout organizations leverage multiple dimensions of domestic and global diversity by enhancing communication and collaboration. Ilene’s approach is appreciative, based on the principles that we transform organizational cultures through engaging the whole system.

Jeffrey Branch | Ed.D.

Jeff Branch, Ed.D. is a Principal with ICW Consulting Group. Jeff has over 25 years of experience as an organization development and effectiveness consultant, executive coach and adult education practitioner. He also serves as Program Director of two Higher Education Graduate Programs at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in: 1) Organization Development and Leadership and, 2) Public Health Management and Administration.

Becca Bartholomew | MS

Becca Bartholomew, MS is an Associate with ICW Consulting Group. A facilitator and coach with expertise in organization development, Becca has extensive experience working with groups and individuals to foster communication and effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Becca helps her clients implement strategies that increase their emotional intelligence and efficacy. She works with leaders of all types and has a special passion for those newer to leadership as well as those who hold societal privilege and want to address their roles in upholding and then dismantling systems of oppression.

Bernardo M. Ferdman | Ph.D.

Bernardo M. Ferdman is a Consultant with ICW Consulting Group and also the principal of Ferdman Consulting. Bernardo, a Board Certified Coach and native Spanish speaker, has extensive international experience. As a university professor since 1986, Bernardo has broad knowledge of theory, research, and practice in diversity and inclusion, organization development, cross-cultural management/leadership, and Latinos/as in the workplace. He has published extensively and regularly makes presentations and conducts workshops for a range of audiences on these topics.

As a practitioner, Bernardo works with organizations, groups, and individuals to improve performance and leadership and to increase inclusion, focusing on assessment, coaching, dialogue, facilitation, and learning in the context of diversity.

Placida Gallegos | Ph.D.

Placida Gallegos, a Consultant with ICW Consulting group, has over 30 years experiencing supporting individuals from all backgrounds, groups and organizations in thriving and achieving optimal outcomes. As a researcher, she has emphasized organizational high performance, leadership development, cultural assessment and strategic change initiatives. In addition to her work with ICW, Dr. Gallegos is the founder of her own firm.

Norm Jones | MBA, PhD

Norm Jones is an Associate with ICW Consulting Group and is President of Strategic Solutions Group, Int’l., LLC. He has particular expertise in diversity and inclusion, having served in several senior diversity officer roles in higher education since 2001. Norm has managed multi-million dollar budgets and consulted with HR and Finance executives on increasing strategic diversity, and articulating the bottom line around inclusive workplace practices. He has remarkable expertise in mid-management coaching and has worked one-on-one with dozens of high-potential employees who have been identified in the talent pipeline as “ready” for more senior positions within the organization.

Kathy E. Kram | Ph.D.

Kathy E. Kram, a Consultant with ICW Consulting Group, is the Shipley Professor in Management Emerita at the Boston University Questrom School of Business. Her primary interests are in the areas of mentoring, relational learning, the transition in to retirement, and diversity issues in executive development and leadership. She is a founding member of the Center for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations (CREIO), and served as a visiting scholar at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) 2000-2001.

CONNIE ROSE | MBA, PCC, CAPP

Connie Rose, an Associate with the ICW Consulting Group, specializes in executive and leadership coaching services. Her coaching supports her clients in gaining a new sense of clarity around what they want and how to pursue it. Connie has over 20 years of experience as a trusted advisor to senior executives, top talent and emerging leaders. She is also an executive coach at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and with the Bryn Mawr Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute. She helps leaders expand the scope of their thinking, communicate more effectively, manage difficult conversations successfully, and hold people accountable in a clear, collaborative way.

Erin Taylor | MAT

Erin Taylor is ICW’s Client Relationship Manager and a Consultant. With grounding in the tools of formal organizations, anti-oppression movements, and both school-based and outdoor education, Erin’s work and interests focus on using land, food, and facilitation to build and heal people’s relationships with place, identity, and human systems. In addition to her work with ICW she consults independently to nonprofits on both organizational and curriculum development.

Jess Wass | MSOP

Jess Wass, an Associate with ICW Consulting Group, is an Organizational Development Consultant, Executive Coach, Facilitator, and Speaker. Her focus is on helping people reach their full potential at work by getting to the heart of what truly drives them and helping ordinary managers become extraordinary leaders. Jess holds a Master’s degree in Social-Organizational Psychology with a focus in Change Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University. She participated in the Executive Masters program where she pursued her degree while working full-time. She has a BSBA in Finance and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis where she was also an Ervin Scholar.