Our Leadership Coaching Team

Dr. Pam Patterson is Associate Vice President of University Life at George Mason University with combined experience in leadership and university administration. She is also the Senior Coaching Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.

At Mason, Pam was a member of a team that created and implemented a leader development curriculum for executive education and a separate program for faculty and staff. She is a co-founder and co-chair of MasonLeads, the Leadership Legacy Program, and serves as co-director of Mason’s Strengths Academy.

Her professional interests are in the science and application of individual and organizational well-being, leadership, and coaching. Pam received her Strengths Specialist Certification through The Gallup Organization and is also licensed and certified by the Institute of HeartMath as a Resilience Advantage Trainer.

Pam earned her doctorate in higher education from George Mason University. She received her M.S. in sport administration and B.S. in community health, both from Eastern Illinois University. She is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program. She holds a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Ellen is the Director of Training for the Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program. She ensures the curriculum is cohesive and meets the standards set by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She also serves as a consistent presence and support for students across coaching modules.

Ellen has served as co-director for Mason’s Advanced Coaching Program and as a past director of executive education for the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. She is thrilled to serve as the MCC Director of Training in this coach certification program.

In her own coaching practice, Ellen works with people to improve their intellectual and emotional flexibility while increasing awareness around leadership presence. Ellen challenges clients and coaching students to reflect on their strengths, areas for growth, values, and interpersonal skills to help them align action plans that maximize strategic goals providing sustainable change. Ellen has extensive experience working with leaders in government, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and universities. Ellen has worked with over 1,000 individuals and teams across all levels of leadership to include C-Suite, SES, VP, mid-level managers, and individual contributors.

Ellen has an M.S. in education from Old Dominion University. She is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program. Her Master Certified Coach (MCC) accreditation is the highest level of coach accreditation assigned by ICF.

Melissa Schreibstein is Director of Well-Being Programs for the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being (CWB) at George Mason University. As Director, Melissa leads signature well-being initiatives at Mason and consults on the science and application of well-being across the university and in the larger community. She is also responsible for overseeing CWB’s executive education programs and leadership development programs. She contributes to curriculum development and instruction as a faculty member for CWB courses.

Prior to joining CWB, Melissa worked as a consultant to U.S. Army soldiers and leaders and served as Primary Instructor for the Master Resilience Training Course. She founded The Leadership Project, LLC, a leadership coaching and consulting practice that serves hardworking leaders and athletes in the D.C. metro area and across the country. Melissa has more than a decade of experience as a skilled coach and passionate facilitator, helping clients develop a mental edge, conquer obstacles, and thrive personally and professionally.

Melissa completed a coaching certification at Mason in CWB’s Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program. She holds ACC coach credentials from the International Coaching Federation. Melissa studied positive psychology and resilience at the University of Pennsylvania, when she became certified as a Level 4 Master Resilience Trainer for the U.S. Army. She received a master’s degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro school of Health and Human Sciences. Her bachelor’s degree in psychology is from the George Washington University, where she captained the women’s soccer team.

Karen Boskemper is an ICF mentor coach and a coaching observer for the Mason coaching program. Her coaching philosophy is to coach leaders to upgrade their “inner operating system.” Einstein said: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were when we created them.” Her focus is to support leaders in a self- development process to build new competencies, navigate old habits, notice limiting narratives, make identities visible, and to let go of old frameworks that no longer serve to produce the individual’s desired results.

Karen’s background is in HR and Leadership Development working with large global companies in finance, insurance, technology, and healthcare, providing executive coaching, group/team coaching, culture change management, and HIPO development. She currently works with national and international consulting companies and brings extensive cross-cultural and work place diversity experience having delivered leadership development programs and executive coaching services in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. A few of her clients include Dell, Microsoft, CISCO, CIGNA, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Axa Insurance.

Prior to being an independent consultant, Karen was responsible for leadership development and enterprise learning in a large financial institution. In that role, she collaborated with leaders to develop learning strategies that addressed specific business unit needs, and designed, developed, and delivered customized learning opportunities via small groups, virtual learning, and one-on-one coaching. During that time, Karen played an integral part in the enterprise wide culture change management initiatives for senior leaders, corporate managers, and sales and servicing associates.

Karen studied Language and Business Commerce in Germany and France and is a Professional Certified Coach and Coaching Assessor through the International Coach Federation (ICF). She is a lifelong learner and has been passionate about self and professional development for over 20 years.

Virginia Diamond is a Coaching Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University and is the founder of Diamond Insight. Virginia specializes in helping executives and their teams lead in the face of the ever-increasing demands of today’s world.

Virginia has more than 20 years of experience working with executives and teams across the public and private sectors. Her clients are highly analytical and committed to their mission. Clients include start-ups, small businesses, and well-established organizations, spanning the professional services firms, IT, the Federal Government, and health care industries. Prior to founding Diamond Insight in 2004, Virginia worked for more than ten years in the corporate world for Accenture, AMS (now CGI), and Booz Allen Hamilton. She served on the faculty of Booz Allen Hamilton’s award-winning corporate university, where she taught and supported the design of several of the firm’s core management and leadership courses.

A certified leadership coach and consultant, Virginia combines practical experience with rigorous training. Virginia holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Chicago and a certificate in organizational development and change management from Georgetown University. Virginia graduated from New Ventures West coach training program. She received a PCC accreditation from ICF and received her Master Somatic Coach (MSC) accreditation from the Strozzi Institute.

Sarah Happel is known for creating thought-provoking curricula that spark personal and professional transformation. Her particular expertise is in what leaders co-create with the language they use in conversations.

Sarah is the founder of Spectrum Leadership Solutions, whose mission is to cultivate leadership excellence in individuals, teams and organizations. She is an alumna of Mason’s Advanced Coaching program and is currently the Board President of Washington Women’s Leadership Initiative.  Formerly an internationally competitive athlete, Sarah helps leaders and executive teams determine winning strategies for their organizations through her work as a coach and facilitator. With a background in the field of communication and transition management, Sarah has worked with leaders from five continents in four languages: German, Spanish, Italian and Finnish.

Sarah is a graduate of Kansas State University with a B.A. and B.S. in Journalism and Communications respectively. She was a Fulbright Grantee at the University of Helsinki, has taught Human Communication at Lasell College in Boston, and spent three years as a freelance journalist in Europe.  She is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching program and a PCC accredited coach.

Cliff Kayser draws upon his considerable expertise as an executive coach, organization development consultant, and leadership trainer/facilitator who specializes in Polarity Approach for Continuity and Transformation (“PACT”).

Cliff is Vice President of Polarity Partnerships, LLC and President and Founder of XPERIENCE, LLC. He designs and delivers PACT programs worldwide for leadership, team, and organization well-being and has experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Prior to launching XPERIENCE, LLC in 2007 and joining Polarity Partnerships in 2012, he was Vice President of Organizational Development and Training for The National Cooperative Bank (NCB) and spent nearly a decade serving The Washington Post newspaper as Corporate Manager of Human Resources and Training. Cliff is also adjunct faculty in American University¹s Organization Development graduate program, KEY Executive Leadership certificate program, the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and The Federal Executive Institute under the Office of Personnel Management. He also serves as dean and lead faculty for the two-year Mastery Program in Polarity Thinking.

Cliff holds dual masters degrees from American University in human resource management and organizational development. His B.S. is in history and business from Lenoir-Rhyne University, and he completed his coach training with Georgetown’s Leadership Coaching program. He is a PCC accredited coach.

Daphne Miller is a Mason Coaching Fellow and Learning Lab Advisor in the Mason coach certification program. She is a leadership coach whose expertise is in working with individuals and groups with an emphasis on leadership development and developing strong cross discipline partnerships. Her experience lies in sales and marketing in both the federal and for-profit arenas.

Before becoming a coach, Daphne was part of the quality team during her tenure with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company during their successful bid for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. This effort provided the foundation for her view on the importance of how self-awareness, communication and open exchange within all areas of an organization foster resilient relationships. In her leadership roles with Ritz-Carlton and later Kinko’s Corporate she started her own practices around creating new habits and behaviors that supported sustainable improvement. She discovered coaching when she engaged her own coach and came to understand the power that a coaching relationship brings to one’s learning and development.

In 2003, she started her own coaching company, DDM Consulting. Since that time, she has worked with hundreds of clients as they create their own paths at work, in leadership and at home. Daphne respects the coaching relationship and how it can offer new perspectives for clients and open doors that they may not have ever noticed before. Daphne challenges and supports her clients to meet their goals through finding new paths in meeting challenges and opportunities.

Daphne is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in communications and business administration. She received her coach training from Newfield. Daphne is also a graduate of the Mason Advanced Coaching Program and is a PCC accredited coach.

Shernita Rochelle Parker is the Director of Organizational Development, Learning and Coaching in Mason’s Office of Human Resources and Payroll and is also serving as Interim Vice President for HR, Payroll and Faculty/Staff Life. As a member of Mason’s organizational development team she works to provide learning and development opportunities for faculty and staff that help them thrive professionally and personally.

Some of her areas of interest include: conflict resolution, performance management, interpersonal communication, mindfulness, coaching, and individual and organizational well-being. She received certification as a leadership coach from the George Mason University/Philosophy IB Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance program. She is a member of MasonLeads and serves on the Strengths Academy executive committee. In addition to Mason, her work in higher education includes William & Mary Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and American University. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston College and her law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.   

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Michael Rochelle is a Coaching Fellow at George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. Mike calls upon his considerable active duty military leadership in the U.S. Army, where he headed its Human Capital Office.

Since retiring from military service, Mike has leveraged his #1 strength: Learner.  He graduated from Mason’s certified coach program and completed certifications in team coaching and is a certified SOAR trainer.  He puts his learning into practice In his coaching and consulting practice.  Mike’s clients include George Mason University Leadership Legacy Program, Mercaris, Inc., Playa Resorts International, MTCI Consulting, Leadership Arlington and the PAC-12 NCAA Conference.

Mike holds a masters of public administration degree (MPA) from Shippensburg University. He is an ICF PCC accredited coach.