Melinda Stephenson brings over 22 years of experience in human development on an individual, team and organization level. She provides an excellent balance of strategic vision, coaching and operational execution abilities. Melinda provides in-depth coaching to senior teams and senior executives. She helps her clients see their patterns of behavior, identify their skill gaps, understand the root cause and then build the capacity to effectively manage their own development and improvement process. She draws on her knowledge of integral coaching, neuroscience, positive psychology, emotional intelligence and cognitive behavior therapy to help leaders and teams to improve their skills in areas such as strategic thinking, active listening, decision-making, presentation/communication and coaching direct reports. Melinda has also built human resource and change strategies for high-growth, global clients and she has completed extensive work in the creation of talent development strategies and leadership development program design. She is curriculum designer and co-founder of The Leadership Room _ a one-year learning experience for high potential executives. Recent clients include: Levi Strauss & Co., Applied Materials, BabyCenter, Adobe Systems, American Express, JCrew, Razorfish, and Design Within Reach. Prior to her career as an external coach and consultant, Melinda served as Gap, Inc. Sr. Director of Organization Development. She provided direct consulting support to the CEO and leadership team and helped to redefine the culture and implement large-scale change. Melinda managed a team of internal and contract organization development consultants focused on facilitating strategic change in areas such as product development, HR, Communication and Leadership Development. As Vice President of Human Resources for Gap Brand she led a product development life cycle improvement project that reduced cycle time by 20%. She supported the merger of the Gap Kids and Adult field organizations in the U.S. and reduced store operational costs by 12%. She also managed the design and execution of human capital strategies to expand the talent pipeline and build global general management skills. Melinda holds a BachelorÍs of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is certified as an executive coach by New Ventures West and is a certified facilitator for MBTI, Lominger Voices & Career Architect, 5 Dynamics and PDI Profilor tools.