Jacqueline Advani
Consultant

Jacqueline Advani is a Trainer and Consultant with The Madison Consulting Group with over 20 years of sales, management and training experience in a number of industries, including Telecommunications.

Jacqueline is a dynamic presenter who brings both energy and insight to the learning experience. She has the ability to engage various personality styles and empowers participants to positively effect behavioral change to reach new levels of personal and professional growth. Jacqueline enjoys challenging teams to think beyond the current situation to enhance performance and increase confidence.

She has enjoyed consulting and training with a diverse group of clients (domestic and international) over the years including: Citigroup, Carnegie Corporation, Campbell & Company, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Cigna, Sprint, Verizon, Global Crossing and the YWCA.

Over the years, Jacqueline has always looked for ways to enhance her facilitation skills. This has led to certifications in a variety of programs, including: Achieve Global's Customer Service series, DDI's Skills for an Interactive Workforce, OD&D's Team Power and Negotiating by Design, Senn Delaney's Leadership Program, Integrity Selling and Smart Choice, an Interviewing Workshop by Paradigm Group. Jacqueline is a member of the American Society for Training and Development.

When she is not training you will find Jacqueline spending time with her family outdoors - on the golf course, at the beach, biking or skiing.

Amy Barnouw
Consultant

Amy joins The Madison Consulting Group after 15 years working as an environmental activist throughout New England and the Pacific Northwest. Most recently, Amy served as the Assistant Regional Director for The Wilderness Society's Northwest office in Seattle, Washington, where, additionally, she also served on numerous regional and national non-profit Boards. Through her work in creating, building, and maintaining profitable and effective relationships with members of the national Board of Directors and funding community, Amy developed, and now utilizes, strong skills in client management.

Additionally, as a frequent presenter at press conferences and public events, Amy further honed her skills as a public speaker and media spokesperson, ultimately offering activist and lobby training. Amy is excited to bring her passion and enthusiasm to The Madison Consulting Group and embraces the opportunity to empower people to feel comfortable with public speaking, building and maintaining client relationships, and both formal and informal business interactions throughout the non-profit industry.

After giving birth to her first child in Seattle in 2003, Amy and her family returned home to Connecticut where she now resides with her husband and 3 children.

Susan Dorman-Berardi
Consultant

Susan Dorman-Berardi has more than twenty years experience in corporate business development, management, and business consulting and training.

As a business professional, she held senior management positions including Vice President of Business Development and Relationship Management within two of the leading global financial institutions. Susan translated that experience into training and corporate consulting here in the United States, and recently has increased her international presence as the London representative of The Madison Consulting Group, Inc.

Susan feels that, at the heart of all training, stands two factors, inspiration and communication. This unique approach to human interaction and training has led to an increasing demand for her skills in facilitation in a variety of industries which include financial services, telecommunications, information technology, and human resources.

She is adept in delivering highly interactive workshops and her professional business experience allows her to incorporate targeted, creative concepts and real-life experiences into each and every workshop that she facilitates.

Susan has been a member of the National Women's Economic Development Corporation and The Professional Women's Network for Advanced Corporate Training. She has also been a member of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). During her career, Susan was the Eastern Region recipient of the Golden Circle Award, an award that recognizes excellence in sales achievement.

Susan's key areas of expertise include Management and strategic leadership, high impact communication and presentation skills, consultative selling and sales management, coaching and motivational initiatives, diversity and professionalism in the workplace, and team building.

Susan graduated from Fordham University and holds a B.A. in Business and Psychology. Moving from New York City to London with her husband, she enjoys traveling and exploring the bucolic English countryside.

Nancy Fulford
Consultant

Nancy Fulford is a globally experienced leadership and professional development consultant, trainer, and coach who has worked with a diverse client base developed throughout 20 years in human resources management, organizational development, and management and workforce training and development. Some of her clients include Genzyme, the Gillette Company, Biogen Idec, WGBH, Hewlett Packard, BOSE Corporation, Dynamics Research Corporation, Amnesty International, G. D. Searle, and Tufts University.

With a Masters Degree in Communication Theory from Ohio State University, Nancy has applied her education to work with clients in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Nancy is the author of several trainer guides and audio programs on supervising, managing, training and career management. Certified on a range of widely recognized programs and instruments, Nancy served on the faculty of the University of Rhode Island and has held management and individual contributor positions in banking, retail, and insurance.

Nancy works closely with multi-level management and individual contributor populations to cultivate relationships throughout the enterprise and to develop and execute programs and initiatives that support business objectives. Nancy's corporate HR/HRD background, as well as a wide range of consulting projects, provides experience that includes executive and management recruitment and selection; employee relations; performance management systems; competency models and assessment; management training, coaching, 360° feedback; curriculum design and materials development; and meeting process design and facilitation.

When not engaged with clients, Nancy can be found boating, beaching, dining, playing tennis, or text messaging her kids from her home in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, on Boston's north shore, where she and her husband are involved in a wide range of community activities.

Anne Galinsky
Consultant

Anne E. Galinsky, a training consultant for The Madison Consulting Group, has been in the training arena for over 15 years.

Upon attaining a BS degree in Marketing from Fairfield University, Anne began a successful sales career at a telecommunications company. It was during those years as a sales manager that she realized her real love was the development of her sales associates. Through that realization she made the transition to sales training and never looked back.

After a 12 year career in sales and sales training with the same corporation, Anne made the switch to management training. Some of her clients include Hewlett Packard, AT&T, Sears, Calvin Klein, and Yale University.

Her enthusiasm and natural ability to develop relationships enable her to facilitate various training programs.

Bridgitt Haarsgaard
Consultant

Bridgitt has more than 12 years of experience in business development, marketing and organizational training. Her training background includes both designing and delivering programs on such topics as leadership, teamwork, customer service, virtual teams, professional presentations and communication. Bridgitt also has extensive experience managing large e-learning and LMS implementation projects. Bridgitt brings high energy and enthusiasm to each and every project and is dedicated to the success of her clients.

Prior to joining The Madison Consulting Group, Bridgitt held consulting and business development positions in the technology and e-learning space. In these roles, Bridgitt sold, designed and managed the delivery of global training initiatives and change management initiatives for Fortune 500 clients.

Her clients have included JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, American Express, AXA Financial, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Maersk Sealand, Playtex, A&E Television Networks, Bear Sterns, The Church Pension Group, Houlihan Loukey, Howard & Zukin, Phillip Morris and Cigna.

Bridgitt's first love is working with children. She has been dedicated to the Big Brother's Big Sister's program since 1996 and has been partnered with her little brother, Octavius for 9 years. Her long term goal is to create interactive programs for children designed to foster self-confidence and build respect for one's self and for the community.

Bridgitt lives in New York City with her husband and beautiful daughter. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling whenever possible and exploring and photographing her adopted hometown.

Bridgitt received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Houston.

Karen Kirchner
Consultant

Karen Kirchner is a training consultant and executive coach who has worked with leaders in a wide range of fields and industries, helping individuals and teams to leverage strengths and increase effectiveness. Specializing in the areas of communication, influence and leadership skills, she has had significant success in helping organizations develop and retain internal talent.

Karen has more than 15 years of experience as an internal and external consultant to organizations ranging from large multinational institutions to entrepreneurial start-ups. Her clients have included The New York Times Company, Deutsche Bank, Con Edison, Cadbury Schweppes and Gartner.

Karen's background includes managing Human Resources for Reader's Digest, Citicorp and The Boston Stock Exchange. Her corporate responsibilities have encompassed training and development, organizational restructuring, international and domestic recruiting and employee relations. Karen's most recent assignment at Reader's Digest included responsibility for human resources initiatives at four subsidiaries, including offices in the UK and Canada.

Karen holds a Master's degree in Human Resources Management from the New School for Social Research and a Bachelor's degree in Education from Boston College. She has also completed post-graduate coursework in assessment and executive coaching at New York University. She is an adjunct professor at Fairfield University's Graduate School of Business. Karen is qualified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, The DISC and Hogan Assessments, as well as the Clark Wilson and Conflict Dynamics 360-degree instruments.

Karen is on the board of the Southern Connecticut chapters of the Society for Human Resources Management and the American Society for Training and Development. She is delighted to be affiliated with The Madison Consulting Group.

Kim Lemon
Consultant

As a coach, Kim partners with executives to support awareness and growth. She acts as an effective sounding board by presenting both needed complementary and/or contrarian's perspectives. Kim's extensive business experience is demonstrated by the pragmatic development action planning - aligning business needs and individual development to ensure results that make sense for the organization and its leadership. Her focus is on increasing leadership capability and changing leadership behaviors to help executives better manage diverse management teams and organizational challenges. Clients find her trademark style "thoughtful, strength based and person-centered".

As a consultant to organizations, Kim works with businesses to enhance their organizational performance at the team, functional and enterprise levels by aligning people, structure and culture. She has provided thought leadership and vision in the wake of large scale change necessitated by near and off-shoring, outsourcing, mergers and other business strategies. Over the course of her career she has been successful in helping leadership teams overcome the stress driven by rapid change so the business can move forward with clearer intent and greater speed.

Prior to her work as an executive coach, Kim was a Vice President of Human Resources at JP Morgan Chase, where she served as a Senior Business Partner on executive development, organization performance, change management, and other human capital issues for 20 years. Her expertise is built on a foundation of practical business experience that traversed numerous areas of the firm such as Home Loan, Auto Finance, and Treasury Services businesses as well as business units including Technology, Banking Operations, Finance, Risk Management and Strategic Planning.

Kim holds a B.S. in Business Management from Hampton University. She obtained a Certificate in Professional Coaching from iCoach New York in association with the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch University and has also completed courses towards a Certificate in Career & Life Planning at New York University School of Continuing Professional Studies. Kim is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, the New York HR Planning Society and International Coach Federation - the New Jersey Professional Coaches Association.

Lindsey Pollak
Consultant

Lindsey Pollak is a writer, speaker and trainer with seven years of experience working with corporations, universities and professional associations. She is passionate about helping people achieve their career dreams.

Lindsey is the author of Getting From College to Career: 99 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World (HarperCollins, April 2007), co-writer of Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring and Fulfilled Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2006) and a co-author of Women For Hire: The Ultimate Guide to Getting a Job (Penguin Putnam, 2002). Her freelance articles have appeared in such publications as Marie Claire magazine, Metro New York newspaper and New York Moves magazine. She is also the newsletter editor for DowntownWomensClub.com, a social and professional network for young women.

Lindsey's professional speaking audiences have included Amherst College, Barnard College, Pace University, the University of Michigan, The New York Times Job Market Career Series, American Association of University Women, American Business Women's Association, New York Life Investment Management and Time Inc.

A graduate of Yale University, Lindsey received a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where she completed a Master's degree in Women's Studies. She is a former Director of Business Development for WorkingWoman.com (2000-2001) and served as Director of Special Projects for the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE).

Lindsey is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and is certified as a woman-owned business by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She lives in New York City.

Tracie Samuelson
Consultant

For the past decade, Tracie Samuelson has served as a coach, facilitator, consultant and trainer, helping leaders and teams in corporate, non-profit and faith-based organizations improve their effectiveness. She joins the Madison Consulting Group with over 21 years of diversified experience within a premier financial services company.

In her most recent role, Tracie designed and delivered numerous programs and processes that supported this organization's growth, talent retention, executive and leadership development strategies. This work, combined with her prior work experiences as a commercial loan officer and portfolio manager, reflects Tracie's ability to drive change, think strategically, and build partnerships with her clients. In addition to her corporate work, Tracie has played a number of volunteer teaching, coaching, mentoring, and development roles within non-profit and faith-based organizations.

Tracie's passion is to see leaders and organizations live out their calling and achieve their mission. She brings a relational approach to her consulting as she helps her clients to leverage their strengths and increase their impact. She is excited to be affiliated with the Madison Consulting Group.

Tracie holds a Master's degree in Human Resource Education from Fordham University and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Boston College. She has completed professional studies with National Training Labs and Corporate Coach University, and holds certifications from Achieve Global, FIRO-B, and ClientSkills. She resides in Connecticut with her husband Kris and their two children, Emily and Justin.

Robyn Stratton Berkessel
Consultant

With 23 years organizational development, executive coaching, facilitating and corporate training within Fortune 500 companies globally, Robyn specializes in strength-based approaches to innovation, leadership, and change. Working in partnership with executives and their teams, Robyn collaboratively designs ways to energize people and their enterprise by uncovering their existing strengths and leveraging the system's positive attributes. Outcomes are extraordinary personal breakthroughs, unleashing the best in individuals delivering results that include more mindful employee engagement, increased productivity, and caring relationships.

Prior to joining The Madison Consulting Group Robyn's roles included: developing and leading sales teams (Estee Lauder Corp.); managing a training and development consultancy practice serving global clients (KPMG); teaching communications at university. Clients include financial services (Deutsche Bank, ANZ,) telecommunications (Telstra); professional services firms (Accenture), health and consumer goods organizations (Pfizer). Robyn has presented at thought - leadership conferences internationally on the subject of leading change and strength-based approaches to innovation and leadership.

Partnering with senior executives, managers and teams across functional, political, cultural, and geographic boundaries, she is committed to sharing knowledge and contributing in creative, innovative, and compassionate ways to allow her professional and personal growth to develop alongside that of her clients and colleagues.

Robyn received her Master of Management (Organizational Systems) from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and is certified in many developmental tools and methodologies.

Kevin Toomer
Consultant

High energy and compassion characterize Kevin Toomer's approach to helping clients reach their goals.

Kevin's successful track record is a direct result of his genuine interest in identifying and fulfilling client needs, and his uncanny ability to connect with people.

Prior to joining The Madison Consulting Group, Kevin enjoyed a successful career in the corporate relocation industry. Most recently, he served as Vice President of New Business Development for New York City's largest temporary corporate housing provider: Furnished Quarters LLP. While there, Kevin forged successful relationships with a wide range of companies including: HSBC, AIG, Avon Products, Foot Locker, The Associated Press and Commerce Bank.

Throughout his career, Kevin has served as both a participant and facilitator of several sales management, service and communication skills training programs. As a result, Kevin truly understands the importance of coaching and training as key contributors to professional development.

An avid surf fisherman in his spare time, Kevin can often be found with rod and reel, prowling area beaches in search of monster striped bass. In fact, several of his trophy catches appear on popular fishing web sites such as Shakespeare Fishing Tackle; America's leading rod manufacturer.

Cindy Weissman
Consultant

Cindy Weissman has been involved in various aspects of training and development since 1989. Her background includes designing and delivering sales and customer service programs, conducting needs assessments and providing process redesign and documentation support. Cindy's creativity and exceptional project management skills consistently produce quality implementations that help organizations grow and retain business.

Cindy has had extensive experience with organizations in many industries, including heath care. Her work at Health Net of the Northeast (formerly PHS Health Plans) won her an outstanding service award.

Before working with Health Net, Cindy was a Program Manager with Learning International (now Achieve Global) responsible for developing products to enhance their service portfolio.

Cindy is an avid horseback rider and gardener. She has her undergraduate degree from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and a master's degree from the University of Connecticut.

Michael Yurchak
Consultant

Creating an environment where risk-taking and innovative thinking are not only possible but probably is as simple as "YES, AND!"

Michael Yurchak comes to us with over twelve years of experience in both the education and entertainment fields. His extensive theater and improvisational training adds depth and color to his facilitating and consulting skills, and his experience as a writer makes him an ideal fit for our full suite of professional writing programs.

Michael's experience includes leading and facilitating workshops in business writing, creativity & innovation, professional presentation skills, business etiquette, conflict resolution, sensitivity training and effective management practice. Recent clients include Citigroup, American Express, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and WebMD.

In addition to his consulting work, Michael has guest lectured and lead workshops at several colleges and universities, including Vassar College, NYU, and Cooper Union. He received a BA in English from Colgate University and an MA in Educational Theater from New York University.