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For Claire, organisational success is rooted in individual performance, and the best way to transform this is through coaching whether she is working one-to-one or in groups. Claire’s approach combines creativity with commercial rigour. Her purpose is to inspire positive, practical outcomes for her coachees – and build social and commercial value for their organizations.

Claire was one of the first women graduates of Magdalen College, Oxford and the first graduate trainee in Blackwell Publishing, progressing to the main board. Working in Europe, the US and Japan, she helped transform Blackwell into one of the largest independent scholarly publishers in the world.

Now a senior-level executive coach, Claire coaches across a range of topics fundamental to business and personal development. She specialises in work with media, education and knowledge-based organizations.

Tom is an executive coach and organisational development consultant with over ten years experience working with leaders and their teams.

Passionate about people and behaviour, Tom has studied extensively in the field of organisational psychology. Tom qualified as an executive coach with Middlesex University and is also accredited in a variety of diagnostic profiling instruments. 

Areas of specialism include building leadership competencies, developing authority, presence and impact, handling conflict, performance coaching, creating a personal brand and career transition.

Tom leads mountaineering expeditions as a hobby and is also a keen Modern Jive and West Coast Swing dancer.

Neil Bennett’s background as journalist and broadcaster means he knows the power of clear, honest and straightforward communication. As a reporter with many years' experience, he has seen at firsthand how individuals and organizations can make, and sometimes ruin, their reputations by the way they write, speak and present themselves.

Neil delights in seeing people he works with blossom into strong performers once they understand what to improve and how to go about it. And he is a strong believer in practising for perfection. His wide ranging journalistic career has given him a solid insight into methods which work and those which don't. Neil works with senior executives in the public and private sector helping them to identify and express their key messages.

Neil was a front line reporter for the BBC for more than 30 years, specialising mainly in crime and the criminal justice system. He also worked regularly in Northern Ireland and covered sports news for five years, reporting on two Olympic Games and football, cricket and rugby World Cups.

Mary is fascinated by the power and richness of the English language and wants to enthuse others to make the most of their spoken and written communications. Her aim is to show people how to achieve what they want by closing the gaps between what they mean to say and what they actually say, and between what they say and what listeners or readers understand and remember.

With the first part of her career as a Lecturer in English, Media and Communication Studies, and the second as a leadership skills specialist, she is well placed to understand the demands of different audiences and business situations. Working and living outside the UK has given her a special interest in cross-cultural communication and how to build bridges between people and groups.

Mary also helps organizations by drafting and writing company reports, technical documents and proposals. She has wide experience with public and private sector organizations inside and outside the UK.

Jo brings fifteen years experience as a facilitator, and her aim is to provide practical and professional solutions that enable people to work to their strengths, engage fully with their organisations, and achieve their potential.  She is known for the energy and enthusiasm she brings to her workshops, and is passionate about the people and organisations she works with. 

Specialising in Learning and Development, Jo has worked on a diverse range of projects across industry sectors.  Her background in sales and customer service management brings a customer driven and commercially focused approach to her work, which is grounded in practical experience.

In addition to being qualified to Post Graduate level as a coach, Jo is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management.

Sarah’s international background in political science and mediation have driven her work in the private and public sector. Sarah is passionate about getting the best out of people whether on a strategic or personal level and she uses a coaching approach to do that. Her background in conflict management means she is highly skilled at understanding group dynamics. And it contributes to her skill in reading an individual’s state of readiness for personal change, growth and development.

Sarah’s work focuses on groups and individuals who have tough decisions to make as a result of a changing workplace environment. She knows that coaching provides the reflective space necessary for individuals to reach their full potential through recognising and building on their interests and strengths. But she also understands that it’s an opportunity in which coachees want to be challenged and supported in their development.

She works with a very diverse client base; these range from start-ups to national agencies and international institutions and organizations.

Martin Brooks has a dual role at iOpener: he contributes both to business growth as director of business development, and as a facilitator teaching others his valuable skills. He has wide experience in both B2B and B2C and is always fascinated by how much new skills can help an individual contribute to the bottom line. This has driven him to learn as much as possible about the link between leadership learning and profit maximization.

Martin first became interested in the learning-profit link when he himself was a leader; he now aims to bring the practical skills he learned to his work as a coach and facilitator. His aim is to enthuse and inspire others to behave differently while giving them the confidence and inspiration to do so.

In his capacity as facilitator and coach he has worked in sectors ranging from finance, to telcos, IT and education. And his work takes him regularly to the USA, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Erik Brown has more than  25 years experience of managing people, developing teams and coaching in international environments for UK, French, German and American corporations such as Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. The majority of that time has been spent in international roles while living as an expatriate. His passion is people and he has an impressive track record of hiring great people, pushing good performers to excellence and turning round problem performers.

Erik’s extensive business career has included marketing, sales, business development, strategy, organizational development and general management roles. Responsibilities have ranged from establishing businesses throughout Eastern Europe, leading major international product launches, to being in charge of a $2 billion software business in Western Europe.

A certified business coach, he is specialised in helping clients turn international and cultural diversity into competitive advantage. Originally from Scotland, Erik speaks fluent German and lives with his family near Munich.

Stephen is a coach and facilitator. His passion for this work is rooted in a deep satisfaction from seeing others exceed their own expectations. Stephen has made some radical shifts in his career and his varied experience as a leader, a teacher and a musician has shaped his approach to coaching and facilitation.

He coaches across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, working with board members, and senior and future leaders. Clients bring a wide range of issues encompassing leadership, career development, personal influence, confidence and authority.  His experience has taught him that real change comes from honest, robust and supportive conversations and that serious work can be done with lightness and humour.

As a facilitator Stephen relishes the challenge that comes from working with teams, delivering leadership programmes or leading conferences with large, diverse audiences. Stephen brings calmness, focus and a strong presence that leads people to engage and achieve the outcomes they need.

Before becoming a coach in 2002 Stephen worked in the public sector for over 20 years. He then spent 12 years as a senior civil servant providing policy advice to education ministers on diverse topics including inner city regeneration, capital investment, public-private partnerships, and qualifications.

Stephen has an MBA and PhD, and has studied widely in coaching, psychology and leadership.

Philippa Chapman has always been fascinated by the power of focus, effort and positivity to bring about change. In her role she is responsible for defining and delivering success across everything iOpener does and she applies this rigour to her coaching interventions too.

Philippa’s wide and deep experience as a facilitator and coach over the past 10 years means she has a through grasp of what’s relevant, practical and appropriate for organizations, teams and individuals. She has a fantastic ability to get the best out everyone she works with, quickly recognising what works best.

Her linguistic background provides her with powerful insights into what’s happening at a very granular level, often surprising people with the accuracy of her analysis.

Philippa has developed, managed and facilitated a wide variety of leadership skills and coaching interventions across many sectors. This is why she was selected as a workplace expert in the BBC series, ‘Making Slough Happy’. Along with Jessica she also took part in a CNN special on happiness.

She has a degree in French and lives near Winchester UK with her family.

As a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society, Jill works with senior management to create positive, motivated individuals and teams that excel at what they do. By increasing self-awareness and knowledge in her clients, she challenges them to create organisational cultures in which performance moves from good to excellent. Her style is open, informal and cordial; she takes a resourceful and innovative approach to get the very best out of the people she engages with.

Jill’s work is informed by a deep conviction that mature and grounded leadership, strong management practices and a work culture in which open communication and development are given pride of place, are essential to the growth in excellence and sustainability of any organisation.

Jill works with a range of professional skills including psychometrics, coaching, design and implementation of competency frameworks and performance management systems, workshops and master classes on management and leadership, as well as the use of Appreciative Inquiry to encourage team based conversations. She has also trained in a range of therapeutic models and has worked across a broad range of both public and private sectors.

John’s diverse career has provided him with a extensive learning and development expertise, applicable to very different organizations and commercial sectors. His passion is for training and development that meets the demands of the business whilst answering the individual’s need for development and career growth. And he works tirelessly to see that both these needs are met in any intervention he runs.

John has delivered solutions often as part of organizational development and change management programmes. Clients value John’s business breadth because it means he can connect right across the broad skills array that successful organizations and people have to deliver in a changing and challenging environment.

John’s strengths are a refined business and commercial awareness, the credibility to engage with people and unparalleled energy and enthusiasm for his work. The energy and enthusiasm for what he does is immense.

Gigi speaks and works in English, French and Italian: her multi-lingual and multi-cultural background gives her a unique insight into some of the challenges and complexities of working in a fast-moving global environment where misunderstanding can be a norm.

Gigi is passionate about developing individuals within a group context because she believes that there is no faster way to achieve your potential. For that reason working with groups and teams is what she relishes. She accelerates learning by using a wide range of personal development tools including board and computer-based business simulations.

Gigi draws on her experience in international corporate finance to excel in the executive development arena, which has been her specialty since 1995. She graduated from Cambridge University, gained an MBA from INSEAD and continues to work on executive education programmes with INSEAD, London Business School and IMD.

Lucy’s fifteen years of senior-level work experience -- including directing market services for a Taiwanese computer company, lecturing in international politics at the University of Hong Kong, and chairing a UK environmental charity -- have convinced her that the basics of effective communication transcend cultural and disciplinary divides.  For her, this is empowering news.  We can all benefit from continuing to strengthen our communication skills, regardless of our background, native language, or position. 

Having authored numerous publications, Lucy specializes in working with people to improve their written communications.  She believes strongly that even the most polished writers among us have plenty of room for improvement. She is tremendously inspired by her facilitation work and never leaves a session without learning something about how to improve her own writing.

Lucy earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Virginia, a master's in religious ethics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in international relations from Johns Hopkins University.  A Mandarin Chinese speaker, she lived in Hong Kong for 14 years before moving to London where she currently resides with her husband and two daughters.

Simon de Cintra is an expert in building and delivering sales & marketing strategy and in this capacity he led the EMEA sales force at GNS American Express.  He created and drove the Amex strategy in the Private Banking (High Net Worth) sector, which resulted in the signing of a series of key accounts and the launch of a ‘first of kind’ cobranded card with HSBC. 

Recently he devised the restructuring of the commercial card business at Swiss Card (the Credit Suisse/Amex joint  venture). In this role he used his complementary skills in development and training to create and lead high-profile sales development  courses across EMEA.

In 2004 Simon took a career turn and trained as a professional actor. Since then he has used performance-based skills as the basis for workshops, clinics and one-to-one coaching sessions. Doing this has taken him all over the world working for blue chip organizations.

Andrew’s philosophy when working with groups or one-to-one is to identify, expose and share others’ behaviours and surface for them the effect and implications of what they do. And then, if change is the desired outcome, to offer tools, models and feedback to achieve that change.

Andrew’s niche is organizational development work and his practice is supported by the hard and soft skills that he has learned over his career. He knows that clear communication and honest feedback is the key to all of this and Andrew is a practitioner of both. He is well aware that a single conversation can change someone’s life and success for him is making that happen.

Andrew has a background in financial services both in inside and outside the UK; he has led HR and operational management teams which inform his work as a consultant. Andrew continues to work consulting to HR teams, building management capacity and coaching across a wide range of sectors.

Katie Demain is a consultant, executive coach and facilitator based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She specializes in The Science of Happiness at Work as well as in diversity and inclusion development programs.

Katie has lived in 12 different countries over the past 20 years, and has developed a fascination for intercultural communications. In her previous role she was project director for a press agency producing special economic reports for print media such as BusinessWeek, The Economist and Investors’ Chronicle. In compiling these reports, she regularly interviewed presidents, ministers and successful entrepreneurs and thus gained insight into their communication expertise, vision and leadership styles.

Katie has a degree in European Business Management and a diploma in Corporate and Executive Coaching. She is also a coaching assessor for The Coaching Academy in the UK and an active member of ICF Gauteng Chapter. She speaks French & Spanish.

Elspeth represents iOpener in Central Africa and helps lead and develop new projects there.

She is a strong believer that clear communication releases and realises potential. She fully understands the power of language, words and meaning as she speaks and works in French, Italian and German. Her language skills bring deep insights and clarity for the people she helps to develop: her aim is to enable them to say what they mean and mean what they say thereby enhancing their leadership ability.

Her background in education and business development means she has a warmth and immediate understanding of individuals and group needs. She believes that her flexibility and adaptability adds a huge advantage to those she works with and are key drivers of her success.

Elspeth’s personal coaching and development work is based around communication and includes media training, writing and presenting. This is a special interest of hers as she has advised and led successful international PR campaigns.

Elspeth lives and works in Kampala, Uganda.

Kate is a passionate advocate of clear communication and is fascinated by the past, present and future of the English language as it adapts to meet its global challenges. Born and brought up in Kenya, and having lived and worked in Paris, Brussels and Luxembourg, she has a special interest in and a practical perspective on intercultural communication.

Her 15 years of experience in education encompass lecturing business English at university and further education level and individual language coaching for senior Eurocrats and business executives. She specialises in business writing for iOpener.

She has a degree in French and Russian and now lives in London.

Barbara represents iOpener in South Africa helping to lead and develop new projects there.

She is a well-known communications expert, believing in the fundamental role that positive communication has in all human achievement especially for business leaders. She’s inspired and motivated by helping everyone to deliver their best in whatever medium is appropriate. Barbara honed these skills as an international television correspondent and award winning documentary film maker.

Her experience as a Harvard Nieman Fellow, addressing political and business groups in the US and Europe, strengthened her belief in the essential role of effective personal communication for any global leader.

Through working in war zones and South Africa’s traumatic change to democracy, Barbara gained experience in negotiation, persuasion and conflict resolution. Her current affairs programmes were broadcast on the SABC, CNN World Report, PBS and various channels in Europe. More recently she has broadened her writing skills publishing a book of short stories and a novel.

She lives near Cape Town.

Rob Geraghty has a personal goal of achieving great things and helping others to achieve them too. Inspired by just how much can be done with motivation and technique, he now enables others to understand themselves better and deliver their best whatever situation they face.

Rob has a strong blue-chip background having worked for Vodafone, Accenture and Mars. In roles spanning sales, marketing, product management, strategy and HR, Rob has acquired broad business acumen. This means he has the skills to coach and facilitate people and teams from a wide variety of backgrounds and with a wide variety of needs. And it gives him the flexibility to adapt to every culture he works in.

Rob has delivered many learning interventions for sectors which include IT, engineering, telcos and education.

Natalie has been with iOpener since February 2010 as the Client Services Supervisor, and is primarily responsible for the administration and logistics of iOpener’s leadership skills offering.

Holding a first-class honours degree in Psychology and over 15 years work experience in a vast range of work sectors, Natalie applies all of her past skills and knowledge to her role. With plans to undertake a MSc in Psychological Research Methods in 2011, Natalie is also a casual Research Assistant for iOpener’s Research Department. Having a keen interest in positive psychology and personal development, Natalie is an enthusiastic and positive force within the iOpener office team.

Ian Hitchcock is iOpener's IT Manager. He coordinates the company's web and IT development.  

Ian joined iOpener as an Operations Administrator in June 2009, after previously working in administration and journalism. He has a wide range of responsibilities, including writing business proposals and tenders.

With a keen desire to know more about how to contribute to and manage a business, Ian is also more than willing to extend his practical skills in order to become even more effective in his role.

He is a passionate sports fan and holds a degree in the subject, and has written about it for various national and international newspapers and publications.

Simon joined iOpener in August 2010 to cover Audrina’s maternity leave. He is primarily responsible for looking after the Mansell account, but is also coordinating the ongoing content review.

Prior to joining iOpener, he pedalled around the UK for ten months, watching some terrible football and raising money for The Alzheimer’s Society. He used social media marketing to help spread the word and is looking forward to doing the same for iOpener.

Simon has a degree in French and Marketing and spends some of his spare time writing, cycling and learning Polish.

Rina has over 12 years senior level experience in the fields of change management, business process re-engineering, training and communication within both the commercial and public sectors. Her varied professional background has given her a powerful insight into the challenges for both individuals and organizations, enabling hundreds of individuals and teams across the globe to move away from feeling passive about change to participating in the challenge.

An ability to see connections and impacts across the bigger picture enables her to support organizations and leaders in working effectively; coaching has added to the repertoire of skills she brings to sustain people through change. She feels passionately about engaging individuals in the workplace, enabling them to take control of their situation, and giving them permission to fulfil their potential.

Rina holds degrees in computing and information management, post-graduate qualifications in business and personal coaching, and is a Licentiate Member of the National Council of Psychotherapists.

Russell is a passionate, driven and person-centered leadership development professional. His career has ranged from process re-engineering, sales channel development, customer experience programmes through to assessing leadership behaviours then developing and embedding leadership behavioural change programmes. His wealth of experience has given him a talent for understanding immediately what is and isn’t happening and then addressing those issues.

He has a wealth of experience as a developer of people, teams and leaders through his work as an internal and external consultant. Russell was Head of Learning and Development with Virgin Media and Talent Manager at Abbey where he developed programmes and processes that identified and coached high potential senior managers as they progressed through the organizations leadership pipeline.

Russell is a member of the International Coaching Federation and qualified in psychometric administration and testing.

Susie has more than 10 years’ experience in the corporate world and has enjoyed both its challenges and excitement. Her passion now is helping others to raise their self-awareness to find purpose and happiness both at work and in their personal life.

Through coaching she transformed her own life and this has given her an unwavering belief in the coaching process. She has a natural ability to engage with clients through her positive and energizing style and her open approach.

Susie’s background is as a solicitor, working in London, Paris and Hong Kong. Her experience of working within large commercial organizations gave her an insight into the importance of making the most of talent: her observation is that this is something that is often ignored about when implementing strategy.

Since leaving the legal profession and retraining as a coach and facilitator, Susie works with lawyers, management consultants and other professionals; she also works in the public sector.

She is passionate about helping people achieve their full potential and finding happiness both in their professional and personal lives.  She has an engaging, energetic and friendly style while being challenging and firm when necessary.

Andrea has a strong international background.  An American who has lived in the UK for over 25 years, she has worked in the US, Europe and the Far East and moves easily between those cultures.  She is currently working on improving her Russian (her first degree) and learning French.

Caroline Lees draws her strength in facilitating from a wealth of worldwide experiences as a journalist, correspondent and editor. Which is why her focus is on the written and spoken word.

Her talent for resourcefulness has played a key role in her work, whether in managing large teams of reporters to a daily deadline schedule or crossing the Afghan border undercover in order to visit Islamic training camps.

During her 26 years in the media, she has worked across Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. She has held senior editing positions in publications including The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Express and the Scotsman. She also worked for Australian Consolidated Press, in Australia.

Caroline specialises in media and communications and has an Msc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. She was highly commended at the British Press Awards 1996 in the category of ‘Foreign Correspondent of the Year’

Jonathan has had wide and deep experience over the last ten years delivering Personal Impact workshops, as well as team and leadership development sessions. His background as a professional actor and director inform and enliven what he does: he is passionate about getting people to work beyond their comfort zones and enjoy the experience. And this is how he enables others to bring out the best in themselves - fast..

Jonathan has a degree from Exeter University and is a graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has worked extensively as an actor, writer and director for twenty years. Recent theatre work includes playing opposite Rob Lowe in ‘A Few Good Men’ in London’s West End, and on the television he is best remembered for his roles in ‘London’s Burning,’ ‘Soldier, Soldier’ and ‘Coronation Street.’ He is an award winning playwright and has directed in theatres all over the UK.

His clients include organizations in the IT, pharmaceutical, marketing, publishing and finance sectors.

Julia Lindsay, Managing Director of iOpener, believes that the best measure of business success is delivering - both numbers and objectives. And that only happens when everyone is totally engaged with their mission, their team and their tasks. In other words when they are happy at work.

During the 15 years she spent working at senior and executive level in the financial services industry, she led teams in financial management and control, operations and change management. The key to her early success was realising that a strong people-focus would deliver global results and greatly impact the wider business too.

The results and feedback she gets both as a consultant and coach lie not only in her talent for developing new approaches and fresh ideas - but also in ensuring that people have the capability and enthusiasm to tackle tough challenges. Through this she has enabled organizations to deliver their strategy and goals efficiently and effectively. Julia’s professional training as an accountant means she has a strongly commercial approach to everything she does.

Julia has worked for Royal Bank of Scotland Financial Markets, NatWest markets and Bankers Trust.

She lives near Northampton UK with her family.

Dr. Simon J. Lutterbie is Director of Research at iOpener. His goal is to understand the drivers that allow individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve and maintain peak performance. His research spans the areas of positive psychology, social network analysis, and organizational scholarship. Simon leads the development of traditional and internet-based psychometrics and interventions to alter the way people think about what they do, to get them enthused, and to help them see their own potential. He received his doctorate from The University of Oxford.

Diane is Finance Director of iOpener. In her role she oversees the strategic implementation of the business, providing management accounts for the partners and managing all the suppliers.

Her passion for numbers and conservative approach means that she has helped steer the business through the recession, ensuring that numbers were delivered on time and to budget. She is particularly proud of her role in ensuring that year-on-year sales remained the same in 2008-9.

Nadia is a leadership coach and facilitator who focuses on communications with a particular interest in the power and process of influence. Nadia's aim is to build confidence and inspire others to try new and effective tools: she wants everyone she works with to be able to develop appropriate messages and then to deliver them to the best of their ability.

Nadia directed and produced BBC television programmes for 10 years including Blue Peter, Newsround, and foreign assignment documentaries. Favourite memories include interviewing a German undercover Stasi Agent, The French Minister for Rock and the Olympic Marseille Football team.

After the BBC, Nadia embarked on a career as a coach and facilitator: she particularly enjoys her work with not-for-profit organizations, publishers and in education.

David Maylor represents iOpener in Dubai

David Maylor has a wealth of business experience both operationally and as a coach and facilitator. He has an absolute passion for helping individuals and teams to recognise what they do and what they could do better in their business environments. All of his work is based around getting everyone to their next level – whatever that is.

In addition to his coaching practice, David designs and delivers bespoke programmes to improve sales performance, customer service, management and coaching. His industry experience is varied and includes, finance, IT, construction, healthcare, security, medical and manufacturing.

As well as being a qualified coach David has a degree in Sports Science which helps him with deep insights into effort and motivation.

Jane's primary focus and excellence is as a coach to senior executives. Her one-to-one executive coaching clients include directors, partners and senior management in financial, legal and accounting firms. Her wide and deep experience result in an exceptional coaching ability.

In the past she has coached and consulted with a range of businesses inside and outside the UK, including legal and accountancy partnerships, banks, manufacturers and charitable organizations.

Jane is recognised as one of the UK's most experienced developers and supervisors of coaches. In the last 12 years she has personally written or co-authored seven separate coach training programmes. She has appeared in two videos on coaching and has trained in MBTI, FIRO-B, Counselling, Psychosynthesis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Polly Newport is a highly-experienced performance improvement expert and is a highly-skilled trainer and executive coach.  She has an inspiring, positive presence so that when she is coaching she enables learners to think broadly and openly about their goals and their achievements and where they need to develop.  Her style is to engage and challenge individuals to really make a difference.  She is creative, positive and enthusiastic, but also rigorous when pursuing goals and setting up projects. 

Polly’s ability to take the strategic view, focusing on performance and using longer term goals to inform current action planning, is fundamental to her success with working with senior executives.  Working with a wide variety of middle management and senior clients she has experience of different sectors from manufacturing including Owens Illinois, Kerneos and Johnston Matthey to financial services including RBS, Citigroup and Norwich Union.  She has also worked with information businesses such as FTSE and Reuters as well as with very senior public sector figures. 

Adrian’s key skills are in grasping and grappling with problems then facilitating solutions with executives at every level. And he does this because of his wide experience delivering high profile, high value and high-end projects in telecommunications, infrastructure, organisational development and hospitality.

Adrian is passionate about people and this comes to life when he works with groups and teams, ensuring that he delivers a rewarding and valuable experience to everyone.

Over the past four years Adrian has been working as an organisational development consultant, designing and delivering change management solutions. These include organisational change programmes, marketing approaches and leadership interventions.

Adrian has a degree in hospitality management from Brighton University and an MBA Diploma from the Open University.

Marien specialises in coaching and developing individuals and teams. She achieves this by assessing individuals’ strengths and weaknesses, so that they can build on the strengths and manage their weaknesses. As a result, their performance increases and they become more engaged and satisfied in their jobs. Fundamentally, this makes them happier at work.

Marien has studied and worked out of Spain, her native country, most of her life. Her international experience has led to a fascination about how we adapt and learn. She uses this understanding to help her clients acquire new skills and behaviours, so they can develop and cope with change in the corporate environment.

Marien is a Senior Consultant within iOpener. Her clients range from IT service providers to industry, education and engineering. She holds degrees in Science and Humanities, plus Postgraduate studies in Education and Educational Psychology.

Liz Pike has 25 years experience as a journalist in TV, radio and newspapers. As a TV news anchor on the BBC’s 24 hour news channel and on BBC World, she has presented major breaking news stories, including the Iraq war, the London bombings and the fall of Milosevic’s Belgrade government.

She has recently been working as an editorial consultant to the BBC to help establish BBC Persian TV a news channel which was launched in March 2009 and broadcasts into Iran and Afghanistan. Amongst other tasks she helped select and train all the TV anchors.

Liz also facilitates and coaches senior executives who want to improve and deliver potentially difficult media messages. This has led her to extend her work into business writing, presenting and creating impact as a leader.

Candida has particular flair and aptitude for organisation. She listens to peoples’ specific needs, addresses detail and has applied such skills to the organisation of numerous successful events: from single workshops to international conferences broadcast live on TV.

The majority of her experience lies in fixing, arranging, producing and directing; so her expertise is broad, as are her project management skills. She has discovered that close partnerships and keeping everyone in the loop makes things run smoothly - a philosophy that gives her great satisfaction.

Her career started as a BBC production trainee. There she learned that perfecting the finer details was key. She was a producer, director and series manager with the BBC for 10 years, which involved work spanning both film-making and leadership roles.

Jessica Pryce-Jones, CEO of iOpener, a human asset management consultancy, is the world’s leading expert in raising productivity through the Science of Happiness at Work.  She and  iOpener work with organisations, teams and individuals to achieve a sustainable and positive change in performance.  Her new book, ‘Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital For Success’ was published by Wiley Blackwell in February in the UK and in the USA in April. It outlines what iOpener’s approach is all about in a practical and easy-to-read way.

Jessica founded iOpener to help people to recognise and extend their capabilities. She believes that everyone has the ability to do more: the secret lies in inner momentum and formulating practical solutions.  She is a frequent speaker and media commentator, having taken part as an expert in the BBC series ‘Making Slough Happy’, featured in a CNN special and written many articles about iOpener’s work. 

She lectures and teaches senior executives at London Business School, Chicago Booth, Oxford (Saïd) and Judge Business Schools.  She also coaches senior executives and leadership teams.  Her career started at Rothschild's Bank in Paris and she then spent seven years in the insurance market before starting working as a consultant.

Jessica has degrees in Classics (Latin and Greek) and Psychology. She works all over the world but is based in Oxford, UK with her family.

Jim is a keynote speaker, executive coach and author. He is interested in what’s possible. Having flown around the world competing in some of the toughest races on the planet, Jim has a very clear idea of what is possible.

Drawing from his personal, sporting and professional career, Jim has seen and experienced perceived impossibilities turn into reality. From this, he absolutely knows that the majority of us are barely scratching the surface of our potential.

On a one-to-one level, Jim has an uncanny way of getting to the core of who an individual is. He works with people to uncover those beliefs that may well be preventing them from achieving their absolute max in all that they do. His sessions are deep and challenging - this reflects his philosophy that “everyone is built for greatness”.

He has competed in numerous Ironman Triathlons around the world and recently competed in The Race Across America (a 3000 mile cycle race). He is the only British solo rider to finish the race more than once.

Sian has combined her instinctive aptitude for understanding others with a fascination for the world of work to become a talented coach and facilitator. Her 15 years’ experience of leadership in both private and public sectors has developed a wide interest which ranges from strategic thinking to dealing with loneliness to organisational change. She is drawn to issues around personal confidence and impact in which she enjoys working creatively and dynamically.

The other key area for Sian is ‘work wilderness’, getting great joy from helping those who feel ‘lost’ at work or with their working life to find a way through to meaning again.

Sian’s robust but compassionate style means she thrives on working with senior individuals and teams, often using a more emergent approach to follow what is ‘in the room;’ which she believes will lead to where the real work lies.

She has great energy and enthusiasm and as a keen amateur musician she works creatively wherever she can, fascinated by the development opportunities provided by the arts/business mix.

Nigel Roberts had a distinguished career as a business journalist and broadcaster. He anchored and edited business programmes for CNBC Europe, the BBC and CNN. He has also written extensively about business and finance for publications like the Wall Street Journal Europe and the  Independent. He is a Media Fellow of the World Economic Forum and has worked extensively with Social Entrepreneurs and not for profit organisations. He has moderated and chaired WEF events  in Europe, America and the Middle East.

He now provides high level strategic counsel, communication consultancy  and media coaching to senior executives in Europe, the Middle East  and the US. He has particular expertise in financial services, food and retail, insurance, chemicals, technology and the credit card sector. He was head of the strategic media group at PR agency Weber Shandwick and was also worked as a corporate MD for Burson Marsteller where he advised clients like  DeBeers, Doha 2016 Olympic bid, Hewlett Packard, Bacardi and Philip Morris.

He teaches communications skills with iOpener at London Business School and has media trained CEO’s and senior board members at companies in Europe and the US. These include: MasterCard, Kraft,  Microsoft, Oracle, Dow Chemical,  Royal bank of Canada, Unilever and XL Capital. He also has extensive experience in crisis management.

Diane represents iOpener in the USA.

Diane Scott, MSN, is a nationally recognized expert in the field of leadership development and organizational conflict, skills which she has honed over 20 years as a leader herself.

Her background as a healthcare professional means she has an acute understanding of the consequences of being happy at work. And she has observed the serious consequences that unhappiness can bring both for individuals, their teams and their organizations too. She knows that dealing with small things can lead to great changes and this is what she wants to bring about at a micro level.

At a macro level Diane has deep expertise in the development of strategic initiatives for a wide range of organizations including academic institutions, healthcare organizations, architecture design firms, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

As the Program Director for Conflict Engagement at a national organization based near Washington D.C, Diane has provided development, learning interventions, workshops and coaching throughout the United States. She is the author of over 50 articles in the fields of conflict, leadership and workforce issues and a faculty member of Loyola University, New Orleans where she teaches graduate studies in advanced finances.

Diane lives near Washington, USA with her family.

Jackie Smith has had a diverse global career, as a psychologist, line manager, facilitator and consultant. Her particular expertise and interests lie in executive coaching, values based culture change, psychological aspects of change management and leadership skills development.

Jackie has a passion to make a difference and understands organisational challenges. She uses a wide-ranging toolkit of models and approaches. Jackie works to transform the way leaders operate and improve the confidence, skills, productivity and relationships in individuals and organizations. She brings pragmatism, creativity and fun into all her working partnerships.

Jackie has BA degrees in Russian and Psychology and an MSc in HR Management. She has worked in Further Education, the building industry, with a Big 4 management consultancy and a niche Organisational Development consultancy. She has a wealth of experience across many sectors, and has lived and/or worked in Europe, Asia, Australasia, South America and the USA.

Malcolm Smith has always believed in the power of people above systems, and that true leadership is about developing business environments that create wealth. His prime focus is on how energy is used in a transaction, whether this be a presentation, sales pitch or negotiation.

His background of science and marketing within industrial groups gives him unique insights into how businesses transact and develop. Today he employs this considerable expertise through a portfolio of non-executive directorships and three owned businesses.

Malcolm mentors senior managers on a one-to-one basis, and develops, coaches and speaks to more formal groups around the emotional issues of running a business. Robust and pragmatic in his approach Malcolm always ensures that people he works with have the right level of challenge and support to make changes and deliver more than they thought they could both for themselves and their organizations.

Malcolm won the Best Speaker award for Vistage International in 2007.

David's experiences in business working with all levels of management, coupled with his background in theatre and television, provide a powerful resource to help people improve their confidence and leadership skills.

Having studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he spent 8 years working in the theatre with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. David then worked in business development and sales roles in the corporate video communications, multimedia and eLearning sectors for clients in energy, banking and IT.

In addition to his business development and marketing experience, David designs and delivers interventions and training programmes in a host of interpersonal leadership skills.

David has a degree in Mathematics & Statistics from Exeter University. He lives in London with his family.

Bridget’s strength lies in raising people’s awareness of their own resources and those of their colleagues. She then works to maximize the efficacy and value of these resources in the people she coaches. She has broad experience working as a facilitator and coach having done so most of her professional life.

Bridget started her career as an interpreter. This is where she first nurtured her interest in how certain people communicate better with others - both because of and despite the language they use. Bridget has lived in Germany, France and Spain, working as a manager of projects and teams both locally and internationally. She feels that the cultural diversity she has encountered has allowed her to develop a particularly innovative and flexible approach to her work.

Bridget has degrees in languages and psychology. She has also completed post-graduate work, involving research into self and peer assessment for the development of communication skills.

David Trevaskis is a facilitator, actor and director. The strength of David’s experience comes from its diversity; and this diversity brings his facilitation to life. His experience encompasses ten years in a multinational blue-chip company and five years as a professional actor and director. David has also worked on a commission only sales basis for five years and understands the need to get the most out of every opportunity.

David is passionate about communication and all aspects of human interaction. He combines the skills of an actor and director with his knowledge of the commercial world to offer a unique insight into all aspects of human interaction.

Caroline is passionate about inspiring others to change and grow; to believe in themselves and to achieve their best.  She has a talent for rapidly understanding people’s needs, then forging motivating environments which maximize learning experiences. Goal-oriented and flexible, her energy and enthusiasm engage leaders in rewarding and fulfilling processes which provide them with concrete and practical outcomes.

Caroline has a deep understanding of the needs of organizations and their people, from senior executives to factory-floor workers. Her experience in design and delivery of tailor-made business and leadership skills interventions spans sectors and structures: From finance and education, to retail and manufacturing; encompassing start ups, large corporates, national agencies, multinationals and international institutions.

Author of publications on creative thinking, business growth, language and communication skills for international business, Caroline has degrees in Anthropology from UCL and Marketing from London University.  Currently based in Greece, Caroline’s work takes her all over the world.

Diane Wilkinson is a senior facilitator at iOpener and her aim is to empower others to achieve their potential - whatever their level. So she is very goal-focused, outcomes-oriented and practical in her approach - because she believes that this catalyses realistic choices.

Diane uses both formal and informal methodologies when she works and is well-known for the high quality results she delivers. These results are built on the energy and enthusiasm for what she does; and she is certain that these attributes help others engage in the development process. Diane is particularly committed to helping people use their self-knowledge and empathy to connect across functional and cultural borders.

Diane has a degree in Statistics and Psychology and a post-graduate degree in Organisational Psychology. She is originally from South Africa and currently lives in Oxford, UK with her family.