Meet the Team
Grayson helps senior executives and their teams to rapidly expand their collaborative performance, solve complex organizational problems, and skillfully manage major change initiatives built on shared trust, straight talk and mutual accountability.
Based in Northern California, Grayson and his firm has worked with organizational leaders throughout the U.S. and internationally (Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Russia). For more than 25 years he has coached executives and their teams, facilitated organizational change initiatives, and designed and led cutting edge educational programs including the widely acclaimed Full Contact Collaboration® programs.
Grayson is recognized for his potent and unique multidisciplinary approach to executive and team performance improvement which draws upon his personal experience as an organizational leader, alternative dispute professional, martial artist, ontological coach and social entrepreneur.
In the 1980s Grayson was CEO of a multi-campus private school system in the San Francisco Bay Area that was profiled as a model school for the future in Esquire Magazine and the updated edition of the groundbreaking educational reform book "Education and Ecstasy.” In addition to serving on several non-profit boards, he was founding Executive Director from 2005-2010 of a nonprofit focused on building a sustainable regional food system that received the prestigious Leadership in Sustainability Award and recognition by the California State Senate and State Assembly. In the 1990s he served as the first Executive Director of a regional homeless services and advocacy agency that has gone on to national recognition for its innovative and successful programs.
Founding Executive Director of a regional nonprofit that received the prestigious Leadership in Sustainability Award and was recognized by the California State Senate and State Assembly, Grayson (many years prior) served as Executive Director of a homeless services and advocacy agency that has gone on to national recognition for its innovative and successful programs.
Reflecting his life-long interest in collaboration, Grayson has worked as a professional mediator specializing in resolving complex, multi-party litigations within the California court system, taught programs on negotiation and alternative dispute resolution, and co-founded the Victim-Youth Offender Reconciliation Program for Sonoma County Legal Services Foundation.
Grayson holds a 6th Degree Black Belt in Aikido, is a senior instructor at Two Rock Aikido, and long-time practitioner of Chi Gong, Vipassana Meditation and other mind-body disciplines (which he refers to as “performance practices”).
He is one of two worldwide trainers and certifying professionals for The Samurai Game®, an internationally recognized leadership, team-building and personal development simulation developed by author, lecturer and human potential pioneer George Leonard.
Grayson lives in Sonoma County, California with his wife, dog, and numerous pet gophers.
Grayson James
Dorene coaches executives and consults to businesses in building collaborative leadership practices that produce superior individual and collective performance. Her specialty is helping organizations in the midst of profound change and uncertainty. Combining strong business acumen with an understanding of the creativity that exists untapped in each of us, Dorene helps clients bring forth new confidence and innovative possibilities for action.
Dorene’s business experience includes executive-level roles in human resources and customer service in financial services and healthcare; management consulting in HR and OD projects; as a director on non-profit boards; and as a veteran seminar presenter throughout the United States. Advanced education in psychology has given her an understanding of human behavior and the growing need in each of us for meaning and authenticity in our work.
As a coach and consultant, Dorene employs her expert listening and observation skills to reveal hidden misalignments of values and action that often underlie complex business issues and rob organizations and individuals of success.
Dorene Mahoney
Stephanie is an executive coach, leadership development consultant and educator who specializes in developing powerful executive presence, influence and team engagement in leaders and teams. Her customized coaching is informed by neuroscience research, evidence-based practices and systems science – proven development strategies that enable her clients to cultivate exemplary leadership skills. As an expert in self-mastery and relationship-management, her clients become more effective communicators, build alliances more easily and collaboratively, and increase their impact with greater clarity, purpose and achievement.
Stephanie coaches executives and leaders in mid-level to Fortune 500 companies in the energy, IT, biotech and financial services industries, among others. Her corporate background includes roles leading acquisition teams, managing HR enterprise initiatives, and designing transformative culture change.
Stephanie considers single parenting her two children into adulthood one of her greatest leadership accomplishments and she is a passionate practitioner of Aikido, mindfulness and embodied leadership.
Stephanie Barbour
Barry specializes in promoting organization effectiveness and accountability by focusing on building leadership teams capable of high performance under pressure, trust, and full engagement.
Barry has thirty years of experience in leadership development, conflict resolution, individual coaching, stress management, and group facilitation. He helps senior leaders and their teams to develop optimal teamwork through strategic dialogue and decisive collaboration. His approach is pragmatic, results-oriented, and encourages innovation in difficult circumstances.
Barry holds a black belt in the martial art of Aikido, and is an experienced white water wilderness guide. He is the father of three children and lives with his family in Point Reyes, California.
Barry Smith
Since 1995, Merle has devoted herself to helping businesses improve performance through executive coaching and consulting in the areas of process redesign and implementation strategies. She has worked with call center teams around the world to improve sales, reduce cycle time and improve functionality, specifically by focusing on front-end client interactions, internal processes, and execution practices. She has worked with organizations in financial services, manufacturing, biotech and municipalities.
Previous business experience includes designing large scale educational programs for corporate clients and over ten years in operational management with P/L responsibility. She is expert at observing misalignment in team and organizational structures and assisting leaders to redesign their teams and improve their collaboration.
She has done extensive training in commitment-based management, leadership and performance improvement and held officer positions on non-profit boards. Merle holds a brown belt in Aikido, and is an avid gardener and reader.
Merle McKinley
Kathy James helps individuals and groups improve their performance and well-being by harnessing the power of somatic learning ("soma" - a Greek word reflecting the unity of the human mind-body). She draws upon her training and experience in diverse disciplines, including the Feldenkrais Method, Biology, Ontology of Language, Aikido, Dance, Pilates, Yoga, and the industrial health and safety field This background gives Kathy a unique perspective and powerful tools for bringing about meaningful change.
Kathy trained directly under Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in the early 1980′s and has been a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner since 1983. She has been on the adjunct faculty in Holistic Studies at John F. Kennedy University and teaches throughout the U.S. in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, universities, businesses, and professional development companies
Kathy holds a third degree black belt in the martial art of Aikido and lives in Sonoma County, California where she teaches and has a private practice.
Kathy James
Roger’s background is steeped in corporate management and business leadership consulting, on both large and small scales.
Early on, Roger earned IBM‘s highest sales award as #1 salesman nationally in his product group. Another year he was named IBM’s leading sales manager. Later, as a founding vice president of ITEL Corporation, an international computer leasing company, Roger built a U.S. sales force from the ground up. Since then, he has started and managed many start-ups, re-starts, and turnarounds, both high-tech and low-tech. He has arranged numerous acquisitions and technology licenses, and has personally overseen a number of successful patent infringement actions resulting in significant recovery settlements for the technology owners.
For many years, he led highly acclaimed personal effectiveness and collaboration seminars throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, and India, all the while continuing his focus on personal and business leadership coaching.
In his own words--"My sizzling interest is being an effective catalyst in co-creating real success stories with entrepreneurial businesses and individuals who can be inspiring examples for others."
For further information, please see www.rogerdillan.com