People of Gestalt Center for Organization & Systems Development

Leadership Group

John D. Carter, PhD, Center President, OSD BBI Training Program
Email: carterjdc@gestaltosd.org

Marcella Benson-Quaziena, PhD, OSD Training Program
Email: mbquaziena@gestaltosd.org

Veronica Hopper Carter, PhD, OSD Group Intensive Training Program
Email: vhcarter@gestaltosd.org

Duncan Coombe, PhD, OSD International Training Program
Email: dcoombe@gestaltosd.org

Monika Moss-Gransberry, MFA, OSD Weekend Training Program
Email: mmoss@gestaltosd.org

Administrative Staff

John D. Carter, PhD, Center President
Email: carterjdc@gestaltosd.org

Fannie Wright Dixon, Registrar
Email: osdregistrar@gestaltosd.org
Phone: 440.205.8606
Fax: 440.205.8606

Gigi Maganja, Payments Officer & Accountant
Email: osdpayments@gestaltosd.org
Phone: 440.205.8606
Fax: 440.205.8606
Mail: 7665 Mentor Avenue #316, Mentor, OH 44060

Philip Alberhasky, Technical Consultant
Email: osdtechnician@gestaltosd.org

Board of Directors

Board of Directors of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland Organization & Systems Development Integrative Studies Center

John D. Carter
Edith Fresh, Chair
Anne Marie Taylor

Board of Directors of the Gestalt Center for Organization & Systems Development

Howard Jackson, Emeritus
Rachel Ciporen, Chair
Marcella Benson–Quaziena
John D. Carter

Founders

The founders of the original Gestalt OSD Center program are John D. Carter, Leonard Hirsch, Elaine Kepner, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, and Edwin C. Nevis.

Included in the OSD Center Founders Circle are the program’s founders and the following faculty: Charles Bates, Marcella Benson-Quaziena, Veronica Hopper Carter, Jonno Hanafin, John Nkum, Claire Stratford, Mary Ann Rainey Tolbert, Jeffrey Voorhees, and Gwen Gibbs Wade.

Faculty Members

Stephanie Backman, MSSA, LISW is a social worker in private practice specializing in intimate systems. She is an approved supervisor of AAMFT and a member of the American Family Therapy Academy. She has given workshops in the US, England, and Sweden. She co-edited On Intimate Ground: A Gestalt Approach to Working with Couples.
M. Frances Baldwin, PhD has more than 25 years' experience working at all levels of large and small systems in the public and private sectors. In addition to helping organizations address the demands of change, manage projects, and develop leadership, she is interested in executive coaching and mentoring.
Marcella Benson-Quaziena, PhD is principal of The Benson-Quaziena Group. She consults for public and non-profit sectors in the areas of organization development, coaching, leadership, strategic planning, group process, group facilitation, and diversity. She is a faculty member at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and adjunct faculty for the Master's Degree Program in Organization Development at the Fielding Graduate Institute.
Sandra A. Bergsten, MA is an educator and curriculum designer. She is the Curriculum Coach for the OSD International Gestalt Coaching Program and the Eleventh Grade Dean and Fine Arts Department Chair at Hathaway Brown School in Cleveland, Ohio. As a curriculum designer, she has experience writing curricula for schools and non-school settings. She has designed programs, projects, workshops, and seminars, and has done short- and long-range planning for organizations. She is investigating ways to implement Gestalt OSD methodology in secondary schools, and plans to launch a series of workshops for educators and school administrators.
Photo of Rosemary A. Bova Rosemary A. Bova, MS is passionate about women, leadership, and transforming the workplace. A highly skilled consultant and public speaker, she works with senior executives of Fortune 500 companies on how to be more effective leaders and team builders. She has extensive experience in the areas of organization design, restructuring, and talent pool development. She serves on the Board of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the New York Women's Agenda (NYWA), and is a recent past President of NAWBO-NYC. She has spent the last 10 years studying the development of female leadership.
John D. Carter, PhD is an international organizational consultant with 35 years' experience. He is currently the Center President for both Gestalt Center for Organization & Systems Development (Gestalt OSD Center) and Gestalt Institute of Cleveland Organization & Systems Development Integrative Studies Center, Inc. (GISOSDISC). He has served on the Executive Boards of GIC, NTL, and the Fielding Institute, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the OD Network. Themes in his work include managing complex systems change, merger integration, the management of professional organizations, and the personal and professional development of minorities. John is one of the OSD training program founders of the OSD Center in 1974, received Emeritus status from NTL, and was presented with the Organization Development Network's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
Veronica Hopper Carter, PhD brings experience as a psychotherapist to her work as a trainer of organizational consultants, emphasizing all levels of system. With over 20 years' experience in the practice of Raj Yoga, she integrates spiritual principles, Gestalt theory and practice, and systems thinking into a base for her teaching. She is an associate of John D. Carter & Associates.
Rachel Ciporen, EdD is an educator, coach and organizational development consultant. Rachel draws on over 15 years of experience in adult learning, conflict resolution, leadership development, and team building to help individuals and organizations maximize their potential. As a coach she works with executives across multiple industries and specializes in helping leaders stretch beyond their habitual thinking, relating, and problem solving patterns. She is an adjunct professor in the department of Adult Learning and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University and a core faculty member in the Columbia Coaching Certification Program. She has worked in Columbia Business School’s Executive Education Programs since 2004.
Duncan Coombe, PhD is the Chairperson of IOSD. I express my work as a teacher, author, researcher and advisor. The central theme of my work is human well-being. I am deeply committed to being a voice for humanity in the workplace and am particularly focused on the topic of love in organizations. As a teacher, I am Associate Faculty of Ashridge Business School and faculty of the Gestalt Center for Organization and Systems Development. Previously I worked on leadership programs at IMD. My teaching includes topics of leadership and personal development, organization development, culture and change management. As an author, I co-authored the book “Care to Dare: Unleashing the Astonishing Power of Secure Base Leadership” with George Kohlrieser and Susan Goldsworthy. As a researcher, research topics include Love in Organizations, Leadership, Sustainability and Corporate Citizenship. As an advisor I have served clients in many sectors including financial services, hotels, poverty alleviation and FMCG. Currently I am a student at the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. In addition, I obtained the Investment Management Certificate and trained as a Lifeline crisis counselor. I have lived and worked in the US, Switzerland, the UK and South Africa. Finally, and of most importantly, I am married to an amazing person, Linda.
Photo of Jennifer Corlett Jennifer Corlett, PhD is Program Director for Ursuline Sophia Center, a wholistic spirituality and wellness center located in Pepper Pike, Ohio. She is the co-coordinator for the Sophia Center Healing Arts Clinic, and maintains a private practice in psychology. She has practiced mind-body healing for over 20 years, and has a special interest in integrative medicine. Her work integrates her experience and study in spirituality, body/mind methodologies, and human capacities development.
Dost Can Deniz, MBA is an international executive coach and consultant based in Istanbul. He is the founder of MareFidelis Coaching & Consulting, the premier coaching and organizational consulting company in Turkey. He specializes in supporting top leaders and leadership teams, and has delivered several thousands of hours of coaching and training to C-Suite executive clients. He is the author of the best selling Cesur Sorular (Courageous Questions). He designs and delivers training programs to create coaching capacity and coaching-friendly cultures in organizations. Dost is a faculty member of the International Gestalt Coaching Program.
Tanya Faude-Koivisto, PhD, PCC is an international executive coach and organization development consultant based in New York. Her work supports individuals and organizations to discover and realize their fullest potential. Tanya has fifteen years of experience in human development including internal and external work as executive coach and consultant. She works with executives across multiple industries and specializes in intercultural competence and family-owned businesses. She is a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation, as well as a faculty member in the Columbia Coaching Certification Program at Columbia University, NY and the Institute for Self-Management and Motivation in Zurich, Switzerland.
Seán Gaffney, PhD is a Gestalt therapist, OSD consultant, and university lecturer in cross-cultural management. His work in all areas is bilingual, multicultural, and international. He is on the faculties of the Gestalt Academy, Scandinavia; the Gestalt Trust, Scotland/North of Ireland; the GIC/IGOR International OSD Programme; the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden; and The Masters Division, Universitá Bocconi (Milan, Italy). Irish by birth, culture, and conviction, he has lived in Sweden since 1975.
Sally Higginbotham, BA is a mediator and a mediation trainer and facilitator in private practice in Amesbury, MA. For over 12 years she has assisted individuals, groups, and organizations in resolving conflict. She sits on mediation panels for Boston Municipal Court, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution (provisional), United States Postal Service REDRESS program, and U.S. District Court (Boston). As a facilitator, she works primarily on organizational change initiatives. As a trainer, she has worked with attorneys, managers, consultants, and mental health professionals. She currently integrates Gestalt theory and methods in her practice.
Harold L. Hill, MBA is an independent organization development consultant. He provides services in the areas of strategic planning, change management, group process and facilitation, team building, and performance management. Experimental learning theory serves as the theoretical foundation of his work. He has over 15 years' corporate experience, and has consulted to such notable organizations as ComEd, the Illinois Facilities Fund, and the Chicago Youth Center. He is an OSD faculty member and a member of NTL. Currently, he is an internal consultant with Walt Disney World in Orlando.
Joseph J. Hsu , MBA, MSSA, LSW is a licensed social worker and a certified Appreciative Inquiry practitioner. His educations include Master of Science in Social Administration, Master in Business Administration and advance level trainings in the Gestalt Theory in working with individuals, groups and intervention designs. His interests include working with Asian adolescents who are first generation immigrants to the US and multinational businesses to bridge cultural gaps to support successful integrations.
Mary Ann Huckabay, PhD is a lecturer at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and a member of NTL. She maintains a private practice in the San Francisco Bay area consulting to individuals, couples, groups, and organizations, and specializing in issues of interpersonal power and effectiveness.
Frances Johnston, PhD is co-chair of the Teleos Leadership Institute, LLC. Her professional expertise spans leadership development, emotional intelligence, transformational change, and organizational renewal. The transfer of knowledge and skills in managing change and generating interest in growth is a central theme in her approach. She helps clients use development-oriented programs and practices, including executive coaching, action learning, and integrated organization development. Recent global clients have been Merck, Nike, Merrill Lynch, Unilever, and SE Johnson. A current project she has passion for is with the United Nations, focusing on mobilizing leadership in a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Brenda B. Jones, MS is an organizational consultant based in Columbia, MD, with over 20 years' experience. Her national and international consulting work focuses on organization strategic and culture change, leadership development, individual and group effectiveness, the development of consultants, and managing culturally diverse organizations. She directs her energy towards integrating both the human and business sides of an organization, with applications at all levels of system. She is a past Board of Trustees member of the OD Network, and a member of NTL Institute and IODA. Former faculty of the American University/NTL Graduate Program for Organization Development.
Ann S. Leonard, EdD has held various leadership positions in HR since 1997. Currently, she is worldwide human resources director and vice president of Entertainment Imaging, Eastman Kodak Company, in Rochester, New York. She works with all levels of the organization, particularly leadership levels, focusing on strategic human resource planning, leadership development, and organization development. Issues of organization and culture change, compensation, communications, organization structure, team and leadership development, and executive coaching are underpinnings of this work. Her doctorate is in education, specializing in learning strategies in special education.
Leta Letize, BSBA is an international organizational consultant. She has worked for over 20 years with individuals and groups within organizations undergoing complex change. She is managing partner of PDS, Inc., recognized internationally for its work in creating high-performance, team-based cultures.
lim Charlotte Lim is an Asia Pacific Training advisor for ExxonMobil and advisor to the Singapore Training and Development Association (STADA). She is junior faculty on the Gestalt OSD/GISC International OSD Training Program.
Photo of Ollie Malone Ollie Malone, PhD, MBA is president and principal consultant of Olive Tree Associates. He has headed training and OD functions within Pennzoil-Quaker State, Sprint, and The Mead Corporation. In addition, he has worked as an external consultant with a number of Fortune 500 companies. His more than 20 years' corporate experience also include key roles in marketing, finance, and operations.
Margareta Marmgren of Sweden has conducted executive development programs with firms such as Volvo, AstraZeneca and Ericcsson, in Europe, the US and in the People's Republic of China. She is also co-chair of the GISC Leadership Development Program.
Shirley M. Ebel Meeker, PhD is an experienced strategic management and change consultant. She is a senior consultant with The Centre for Strategic Management, a consulting firm known for its work in Reinventing Strategic Planning. Her approach is driven by systems thinking and a Gestalt orientation. She is particularly skilled at designing and delivering programs and interventions that assist organizational members in developing new skills and ways of thinking that result in business strategy achievement.
Monika K. Moss-Gransberry, MFA has dedicated her talents to helping hundreds of organizations and individuals in mapping their future for over 15 years. As a founder of MKM Management Consulting, she provides a full range of custom-designed services in capacity building, planning, meeting facilitation, and training to both private, public, and nonprofit organizations.
Sally Parker is the founding principal of Currere, Inc. an organizational development consulting firm that is helping build the human and social infrastructure for vital and sustainable organizations, communities, and regions. Currere works with corporate, governmental, academic, and non-profit organizations to enhance whole-systems integration, effectiveness, performance, and sustainability. Sally’s passion is social process innovations that release the authentic power of the human spirit - the outcomes of which are inventive strategies and designs, culture change, social capital – and fulfillment. Prior to forming Currere, Sally was a founding partner and President of The Arris Group, an architectural firm that worked with Fortune 100 and 500 companies to assess changing organizational and physical space needs and develop plans to maximize organizational and facility effectiveness.
Mauricio Puerta, PhD, LIC is an organizational development scholar and practitioner with over 15 years’ experience in the areas of organizational transformation, adult education, experiential learning, group facilitation, and coaching in Latin America, the US, and Europe. Through his work, he seeks to support organizations to become life-giving systems for their members and for the world at large. Some of the organizations he has worked with include the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Peruvian Ministry of Education, Unilever, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He currently teaches at the Weatherhead School of Management and the AU/NTL Master Program in Organizational Development.
Linda Robson, MA, MPH has more than 15 years experience working with organizations, groups, and individuals in higher education and the non-profit sectors. The theme of Linda's work centers on building healthier, happier systems, with many projects focused on sustainability. She is interested in group development and systems change, as well as coaching, organizational development, and adult learning.
Michael Rynex, MA is an organization development consultant living in the Chicago area. His work has focused on senior team development, executive coaching, merger integration, and change management. Before working as an OD consultant, he worked as a psychotherapist specializing in work with men, families, and addictions.
Neil Sklarew, MS, MBA is a Senior Consultant for the Georgia Center for Nonprofits in Atlanta. His organization development consulting and management experience, as both internal and external consultant, spans 25 years with nonprofit and government agencies and in the private sector. His experience has included organization assessment, large system organization change, inter-organizational partnering and collaboration, strategic planning, leadership and executive coaching, conflict resolution, and group processes such as role negotiation, team building, and group facilitation.
Johnnie W. Smith, Jr., MBA is president of J. W. Smith & Associates, a leadership and organization consulting firm. Current themes in his work are executive coaching, team development, valuing diversity, shadow consulting, managing multi-directed energy, and the personal and professional development of consultants and managers.
Jeffry M. Voorhees, PhD is a consultant in assessment, coaching, team building, and planning to public and private organizations. He uses a whole-system perspective to help clients broaden their understanding of organizational dynamics, including individual, group, and organizational behavior. His theoretical background includes literature, psychology, management science, and Gestalt methodology.
Gwen Gibbs Wade, PhD is in private practice as an applied behavioral scientist and social/clinical psychologist. She applies a holistic perspective, integrating systems thinking, yoga, and Gestalt, Jungian, and body/mind methodologies. Her work involves managing complex system changes in health systems, governmental agencies, cross-cultural contacts, and international relations.
James R. Willis, Ph.D. . is currently serving in the U.S. Peace Corps to develop and conduct Community Development training in two National Institutions. For over thirty years, he wrote grant proposals for federal funding and designed and operated student support programs in high schools, community colleges and universities. As a graduate teaching assistant at Purdue University he won "outstanding teacher" awards several times and was recently recognized as an “outstanding graduate” of the Gestalt OSD program. Twenty-seven years later, his OSD Program (VI) experiences continue to motivate and focus his intent to develop ever higher qualities of intellectual and spiritual development in service of the larger whole.
Isabel Wong, MS is an adult educator with experience working with corporate groups, executives, and university teachers and students in leadership and change programs. She is interested in coaching, group facilitation, organizational development, adult learning, and experiential education. She is a consultant for the Leadership Institute for Organizational Change of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

Visiting Staff

Tanara Bowie
Eeke Chew
Anne Gordon
Charles Hathorn
Joelle Pfeiffer
Judit Revesz
Binwa Sethi
Sharon Thompson
Abigail Toner