Team
Russ Allison focuses on helping leaders and organizations be more effective by finding ways to make already successful leaders even better, as fast as possible. He brings a business-minded grasp of psychology research to the table and partners with clients to take concrete steps that make a real difference for individuals, teams, and companies. Russ has specialized throughout his career in executive assessment and coaching, personally observing thousands of leaders from the best companies in the world and providing relevant and specific feedback for how those leaders can better achieve their goals. From small private companies to global multi-nationals, he has consulted with industries as diverse as consumer electronics, defense, biotech, retail, financial services, and energy.
By combining a background in assessment with a strong ability to talk holistically about executive effectiveness, Russ is able to provide an uncommon perspective to his work with clients. He specializes in helping them to not only think about how he/she can change to be stronger, but also the organizational system that leader interacts with every day – leadership never takes place in a vacuum and Russ’ coaching explicitly takes into account the specific challenges and obstacles of a given role. Further, he makes sure that there is always a focus on a clear payoff for both the individual client leader as well as the organization by discussing both short-term performance objectives as well as broader career ambitions. People who have worked with Russ describe him as simultaneously supportive and challenging, and consistently able to offer candid insights that lead to positive change.
Previously, Russ was a successful member of one of the world’s preeminent leadership consulting firms for nearly a decade, specializing in business development, leadership assessment, and integrated talent management initiatives. Most recently, Russ had an internal leadership role at a Fortune 10 multi-national where he was responsible for building and implementing the assessment and development strategy for the top 35,000 leaders of the company. He holds a M.S.Ed and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, SPHR certification, and is an active member of professional associations including the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and HR People & Strategy (HRPS, formerly the Human Resource Planning Society).
With a passion for business, innovation, and leadership, Mike has dedicated his career to transforming organizations through the power of people. He is an HR professional with a great deal of affinity for smart business. The experience of managing a P&L for eight years as a general manager, along with his early upbringing with family-owned businesses, has shaped Mike’s approach to HR: he always focuses on business performance as the starting point. Predictably, he has a progressive point of view on human resources.
Mike cares deeply about the personal success of his clients as well as the complexity and context of their roles. Inquisitive and creative, he works hard to understand unique problems in addition to the organizational system within which they sit. As an executive coach and talent management consultant, Mike can be counted on to co-investigate with his clients, ask thoughtful questions, listen deeply, offer provocative perspectives, and collaborate on innovative solutions.
A seasoned leader, Mike draws on over 20 years of experience as an executive in his consulting work. He has an established track record of quickly building exceptional teams, driving transformation, and implementing change, all of which he leverages as a consultant.
Previous to RAC Leadership, Mike has run talent organizations for several companies, including Hitachi Vantara as well as divisions of Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America. In these executive roles, he has led global teams of up to 50 professionals managing talent acquisition, talent management, performance management, leadership development, diversity, people analytics, and employee engagement. He was also a consultant and General Manager at a premier leadership development consulting firm, PDI Ninth House (now part of Korn Ferry).
Mike’s interest in the HR field started with a B.S. degree in Psychology from Penn State University and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. He also served on the board of the local chapter of HR People & Strategy (HRPS) for four years.
Scott Millward has built a career on delivering improved team and individual performance across wide-ranging contexts. Through a combination of academic rigor, technological savvy, and expertise in human behavior, Scott prides himself on helping organizations achieve measurable impact and repeatable success. A firm believer that individual and team behaviors are “contextual, coachable and contagious,” he brings a well-practiced methodology to helping his clients succeed.
Scott’s career includes two decades of work with the military, academic institutions, and corporations in a wide range of verticals. These include entertainment, defense, hospitality, financial services, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. He is currently an officer on the board for the Association for Talent Development, the world’s largest trade organization for learning professionals.
As a coach, Scott is most passionate about “leading with listening” and works diligently to help his clients achieve the most clarity possible at the outset of any engagement. Well-defined goals have been the cornerstone of his successful track record, coaching leaders ranging from board-level roles to front-line leaders. He specializes in improving executive communication by drawing on his experiences as a public speaking and collegiate debate coach. Scott is a published author and frequent conference speaker on his methods and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Communication Studies.
Scott is also an astute student of business and has a strong operator mindset, having held operational roles where he has managed large teams and been responsible for delivering a verifiable return on investment. He has applied his methodology to hundreds of teams and individual leaders while working as a senior executive at companies such as Health Net, Fox, Warner Bros., Farmers Insurance, and Panera Bread. This broad experience lends him tremendous flexibility in the approaches he takes to helping executives succeed.
When not helping others succeed, Scott is most likely to be found working on his latest construction project, playing guitar, and spending time with his family.
"My passion is guiding leaders on the journey from identifying their most compelling purpose to achieving meaningful, sustained results.”
Renata Hodges, Ph.D. partners with senior executives and high potentials who want to elevate their leadership and personal effectiveness and view coaching as an accelerator. Her clients want an impactful coach that appreciates the business challenges they face and the need for rapid, sustainable change. Combining deep inquiry and expertise in adult development, Renata fosters heightened awareness and perspective. Her coaching weaves together assessment, skill building, deliberate practice, metrics-based accountability, key stakeholder involvement, and support to create lasting change. Her coaching expertise includes aligning purpose with impact, navigating transitions, executive presence, women leaders, relationship management, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence.
Renata has coached and consulted across a breadth of companies and industries, including Arrow Electronics, Autodesk, Best Buy, BioMarin, BlackRock, Chevron, Cisco, CoreLogic, eBay, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Lockheed Martin, Medtronic, NerdWallet, Nike, Ross Stores, Stanford University, and Stryker Corporation.
Renata also spent nine years at Korn Ferry focused on coaching executives, assessing talent for development and selection purposes, and managing and delivering complex global coaching and leadership development projects. Previously, she was a change leadership consultant at McKesson Corporation, Accenture, and Deloitte Consulting, where she advised global Fortune 500 organizations and drove large scale change initiatives.
Renata graduated from UC Berkeley and Duke (Ph.D., Clinical Psychology). Her doctorate on work/life stress continues to define her work. She practices what she preaches and deliberately invests in expanding her coaching toolkit, perspectives, and experiences. With a lifetime spent traveling the globe and now as a parent, Renata loves exploring life’s big questions.
Tim Duggan is a consultant that specializes in leadership assessment and development, especially within large multi-national organizations. He joined RAC Leadership in 2013 and plays a critical role in the firm’s use of insight and personality tools including 360-degree surveys and the Hogan Leadership Suite.
Over the course of his 25-year career in various management and entrepreneurial roles, Tim has led teams and run projects in national sales and marketing, wine production, retail, wholesale, and account/client management. Leveraging his experiences with different leadership challenges and successes, he has become a valued contributor at RAC while offering insight on assessment, coaching, and client relations. Tim has a specific passion for working with high potential candidates as they form and articulate their leadership styles.
Tim holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Development and Change from Fielding Graduate University, and has completed all coursework as a Doctoral candidate, expecting to complete his Ph.D. in early 2022.
Donnell’s style is visionary and outcome-focused. She uses a lighthearted and creative approach to partner, design, and implement with organizations desiring to build a unique culture of leadership and transformation. Her data-driven insights combined with personal experience allow her to partner with leaders and HR organizations to envision the remarkable and create plans and structures to deliver.
Donnell has worked and consulted in many industries, most recently working at Blackrock in multiple roles, including Global Head of Talent and Head of Human Resources in Asia. Donnell designed BlackRock’s talent strategy and led the implementation of signature programs for leadership and management development. Donnell partnered with the CEO, executive team, and Blackrock’s board to build Blackrock’s business in China and across Asia.
In addition, Donnell led talent management in an asset management company and held roles such as Head of Organizational Design & Development and the Director of Leadership and Management Development for a Silicon Valley tech company. She consulted at Korn Ferry/PDI and began her coaching career in Australia, coaching and delivering executive team building and coaching programs for Fortune 500 firms. Donnell holds a B.A. in Psychology and is certified in Deep Coaching, is an Ontological coach and certified Somatic coach. She is a qualified practitioner of the Hogan Leadership Assessment, HBDI - Whole Brain Thinking Assessment, and the Enneagram iQ9. Donnell is married, loves underwater photography, skiing, and scuba diving, and regularly practices yoga and meditation.
Xavier Hernandez, PhD, is an Executive Consultant who integrates over 20 years of experience into his work: senior-level executive assessment, leadership and organization development, talent management, executive coaching, and team effectiveness. He facilitates the development of talent, teams and organizations by utilizing assessment, evaluation, measurement and data to initiate break- through thinking. In all areas of his work, clients appreciate his bottom-line analyses, discerning insights, and ability to translate key concepts into meaningful business outcomes.
Bringing breadth and depth of experience, Xavier has coached executive-level leaders and has led talent and organization development across a wide variety of industries both private and public sectors including global clients in: Automotive, Biopharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Bio- & Life-science, Data & Analytics, Energy, Financial & Investment, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Legal, Medical Device, Specialty Retail, Technology/High-tech, and Telecommunication.
As a consultative partner, Xavier’s extensive academic and professional background in talent management and organization development enables senior leaders to meet strategic business objectives. This includes being called upon to work with leadership teams to drive results and accelerate team development using action learning and cohort/team group coaching. Additionally, Organizations enlist Xavier to design and implement large scale human capital initiatives, such as aligning strategic goals with selection, development, performance and talent management processes, change management, and culture.
As a credentialed executive coach, Xavier uses a systems approach to reflect the power, players and politics inherent in navigating the leader’s reality. He integrates stakeholder feedback with real work experiences to guide leaders through self-awareness and goal setting toward exceptional results. His genuine interest in helping the leader reach his/her desired outcomes creates a learning environment that engenders trust and is safe to take risks needed for long term change. With a balance of support and challenge, he meets development areas with creative solutions and highlights strengths essential for sustainable impact.
Xavier received his Doctorate in Dual Clinical and Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology and the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant International University. His research and expertise are in the areas of the Positive Psychology, Character Strengths and Latino leadership. Xavier is currently exploring inclusiveness of high performing diverse talent.
Leah Pender, Ph.D., brings nearly a decade of experience as a management consultant and employee engagement practitioner to her work serving clients across the leadership development lifecycle. Throughout her career, Leah has focused on the cross-section of organizations and people. Leah uses a systems-thinking framework to partner with leaders looking to creatively explore ways to expand the positive impact they - and their organizations - have on the people around them.
With experiences ranging from designing custom organization-wide employee engagement assessments and strategies, developing and facilitating executive leadership meetings, and supporting individualized leadership development work, Leah is passionate about helping bring evidence-based leading practices into how organizations and leaders bring out the best in their people. Leah has partnered with leaders across industries, including financial services, healthcare, pharma, and non-profit.
Leah holds a Doctorate degree from Fielding Graduate University in Organizational Development and Change. As a self-proclaimed practitioner-scholar, Leah pursued her doctorate with the explicit goal of translating research into real-world outcomes. Leah’s research focused on how organizations and their leaders can more intentionally support employee engagement. Her research includes focuses on the specific impacts on millennial employees, the opportunities and challenges in flexible work arrangements, and how engagement strategies can support an employee population that is more diverse in thought, experience, and background.
When not serving clients, Leah enjoys taking reasonably moderate hikes, making homemade pasta, and trying not to be too disappointed by Philadelphia sports teams. Leah is based in Philadelphia with her husband and dog.
Before rising to divisional CIO at Farmers Insurance Company, Kim held multiple executive level roles at Fortune 250 companies over her 25-year career. She now coaches leaders to reach their highest professional potential, focusing on working with professional women seeking to rise in the leadership ranks. Kim also provides executive coaching to leaders looking to make greater impact through their work, is a speaker on core 21st century leadership skills and building inclusive cultures, and is a gender equity advisor to companies committed to fostering the advancement and wellbeing of women in work. Kim is a mentor to high potential women in IT, serves as faculty for the Women in Leadership – CIO Certification program sponsored by Irvine Technology Corporation, and is an instructor for UCLA Extension’s Technology Management Certificate Program (TMP), where she leads courses on building more engaged and inclusive STEM cultures.
Kim is credentialed through the International Coaching Federation and holds an MA in anthropology, an MBA, and a BA in psychology from California State University Northridge. She holds a certificate from the Yale School of Management, Women’s Leadership Program.
Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach, Founder & Principal Consultant at LumaGo LLC
With over 15 years of experience in Organization & Talent Strategy, Development, and Transformation, Rachel Ingel-Champion is a seasoned consultant known for delivering exceptional results that accelerate both performance and human experience.
Rachel has a proven track record of helping leaders and organizations realize their potential through the effectiveness of their people, specializing in:
Throughout her career, Rachel has worked with Fortune 500 companies in Media & Entertainment, Sporting Goods, Retail, Consumer Products, and Mobile Telecommunications. Her deep understanding of human behavior and organizational dynamics, combined with her ability to analyze and solve highly complex challenges, allows Rachel to develop future-forward, sustainable solutions that drive measurable outcomes.
Rachel has an innate passion for creating spaces where humans can be human. As a coach, Rachel empowers success through authenticity. As a consultant, Rachel drives performance through inclusive, human-centric solutions. She works closely with leaders and organizations to understand their unique needs, challenges, and aspirations to ensure that both people and organizations are equipped to thrive.
Rachel holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University. She earned her MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School and her BA in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California Irvine. Based in Portland, Oregon, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and culinary experiences with her husband, daughter, and rambunctious Cairn Terrier.