About Me

Welcome.

I am an experienced senior executive who found my purpose as a leadership and communication coach plus thought partner. Supporting individuals, teams and organizations to transform their leadership and scale their impact is my passion. I will champion and advocate for your best self.

Working primarily with physicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and other academic, medical and life science leaders, I guide highly-accomplished individuals and teams who want to improve both their excellence and ease.

Encouraging self-empathy with a dash of humor, I help clients explore options while quieting their inner critic. Illuminating blind spots, I support my clients to navigate decisions from their core values. My clients are energized to take action and move forward with courage, clarity and a sense of connection.

Fortunate to live in the lovely San Francisco Bay Area, I coach both in person and via Zoom with clients in multiple states and Canada. Married for twenty-six years, I have two college-aged kids, am an avid reader, an equestrian and a cancer survivor. You can learn more about my work experience below.

If you'd like to talk, email me: susan@schultzleadership.com to schedule a free consultation.

Summary

My experience as an executive in academic medical and biotech administration provided me myriad opportunities to coach, mentor and develop talent. My focus is with people, encouraging individuals and teams to build organizational cultures that play to strengths and support employees - including themselves - to be their most effective.

The Parker Institute

As Vice President of Business Operations for the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI), I grew the institute from ten to 75 employees while engaging our partner sites. I led HR, finance, administration, facilities, project management and organizational development and focused on developing PICI into an organization with soul. I understand the challenges of start-ups and the importance of organizational culture to recruit and retain talent.

UCLA+UCSF

With over two decades of experience with the University of California at the Los Angeles and San Francisco campuses, I know how to navigate complex organizations and advocate for employees. As a division manager, department manager and then Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, I focused on employee engagement while overseeing budget, human resources, clinics, student & faculty services, space, marketing and special projects. My accomplishments were recognized with the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional University Management.

Degrees

My undergraduate degree is in Communication from UC Santa Barbara. My MBA, in Strategic Leadership, is from Dominican University where I serve as Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Business School and lecture in Organizational Communication and Leadership courses.

Training

My formal coaching training is through the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), the gold standard for coach training. I’ve completed additional coursework in Positive Intelligence and Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead. I also have extensive mediation and facilitation training. I am a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and comply with the ICF Code of Conduct for professional coaches.