Adena Johnston

As Vice President and Practice Leader, Talent Development, Adena brings over 20 years of corporate experience as a recognized leader, trainer, mentor and developer of top talent. Adena works with companies in the areas of organizational effectiveness, strategy, and executive and team coaching. She guides her clients to become more effective and navigate the complexity of today’s business challenges.

Prior to joining CCI, Adena was the principal of a robust independent consulting practice. Prior to that, she had a successful corporate career as the regional president of an educational institution (corporate division) with full P&L responsibility across three profit centers. Throughout her career, Adena has been involved in start-up and turn-around situations, championed employee engagement, launched sales and change initiatives, and was responsible for all areas of regulatory compliance.

Adena’s signature strength is helping organizations become agile and build the internal capacity needed to realize stellar results. She specializes in building collaborative environments that value transparency and high levels of ownership. She works with leaders to get unstuck and unleash the managerial strength and courage necessary to drive the business while maintaining healthy work relationships with teams and key stakeholders throughout the organization.

In addition to her corporate leadership and coaching background, Adena brings a broad lens to learning and development. She has had over 15 years of experience working with adult learners, and creates comprehensive, high-impact learning strategies that are employee-centered, business-driven, culturally aligned, and immediately applicable to work.

Adena holds her D. Mgt. in Strategic Leadership from Thomas Jefferson University, her Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania with a graduate certificate in Organizational Consulting and Executive Coaching, and she received her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. In addition to her credentials she is an adjunct professor teaching Sociology, Culture in the Workplace, Psychology, Leadership, and Organizational Development.

She maintains numerous professional credentials, including certifications as a Master Corporate Executive Coach (MCEC), Career Transition Coach, a Presence-Based Coach, and a trainer in Workplace Mediation. Additionally, she is certified in several assessments that include: Hogan, Voices/KF360, Leadership Architect, LIFO, Retirement Success Profile (RSP) and Life Options (LOP), Change Navigator and Hardiness Resilience Gauge, Birkman Method, and is experienced in Profilor, EQi, DiSC, and MBTI.

Adena is a 2016 Fellow of the Systems Wisdom Institute and a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and the Organizational Development Network (ODN). She is also a member of the Association for Corporate Executive Coaches (ACEC) and the Forbes Coaches Council, an invitation-only community of top business and career coaches.