Elisabeth Anne Gegner, Masters in Organizational Behavior

Elisabeth Gegner is passionate about empowering people and companies to succeed and thrive by tapping into their full potential. Since unleashing potential - or “potentialyzing” - almost always involves transformation and is often birthed out of turbulence, Elisabeth specializes in working with organizations going through major change. Her expertise lies in how to successfully plan, navigate and leverage organizational change, so as to achieve the desired business results by harnessing the heart, energy and talents of people.

Over the past 20 years, Elisabeth has led and advised on the successful implementation of business transformation initiatives, such as outsourcing, M&A, restructuring, technology implementations, rebranding and globalization for mid-size and Fortune 100 companies. With extensive experience in the fields of strategy execution, leadership and team development, organizational alignment, talent management, as well as change management and business transformation, she balances a solid business approach with a consideration for human factors — leadership enablement, execution capability, culture, ownership, and the strategic alignment of peoples' skills and passions with their work - which often get in the way of successful transformation.

Her specific areas of expertise include:

• Strategy development and execution
• Organizational design and process optimization (lean)
• Change management and culture transformation
• Strategic talent management (selection, workforce planning, development, performance management, learning and development, succession planning)
• Employee engagement and branding
• Leadership and team development

As Founder of and Managing Partner at POTENTIALYZE, Elisabeth helps clients successfully execute business and cultural transformation. Results include costs reduction of $5.6 million, revenue increases of $50 million, sales growth of 25% with cost savings of 20%, acquisition of a $21 million contract, the successful implementation of multiple outsourcing projects through strategic talent and change management to secure not only cost savings but also long term performance improvement. Elisabeth has held positions as Managing Director at Price Waterhouse Coopers in the People and Change Practice, Senior Manager in Accenture's Organization and Human Performance Practice in Europe, and Director of European Operations for two learning and development companies - Blanchard Training and J.M. Perry Corporation — as well as Training Director at the Southern California Training Council. Elisabeth began her career at Berlitz International, as Director of the Language and Culture Center in Chicago.

With over 25 years of living and working in Europe, Elisabeth brings extensive global experience and a unique cross-cultural perspective to her clients. Born in Switzerland and raised in France, she earned her Bachelor in Foreign Languages and Masters in Organizational Behavior in the United States. She has worked in the US and in Europe on many global initiatives. She is fluent in English, French and German, and conversational in Spanish and Italian.

Besides work, Elisabeth enjoys building homes in Mexico for the poor, mentoring women in shelters to help them get back on their feet financially and emotionally, as well as coaching leaders of non-profits. She is also an avid cyclist, runner and a lover of the outdoors, with a passion for diverse languages and cultures.