Our Story

A few years ago, we put our heads together and asked: What’s been missing in leadership development? Extraordinary amounts of effort and money are poured into developing leaders every year. When we Googled leadership development we got 33.5 million entries. A major bookseller’s search engine revealed 60,000 books on leadership. We discovered that $533 to $3,000 is spent per leader participating in training and leadership programs annually.

According to a December 2009 Harvard Publishing study[1]:

  • Spending for leadership development is on the rise.
  • Developing leaders who can anticipate, and then execute on changes when they appear, continues to be a top priority.
  • Performance management, coaching, and succession planning are top priorities for leadership development.
  • More than 91% rated ‘develop talent’ as a very important or important capability. “But we continue to see a capability gap in this area at many organizations. When asked what capability their organization needs to focus on developing among senior-level leaders, ‘develop talent’ topped the list, with 55.7% of respondents indicating development was needed in this area. Not all leaders are equipped to develop and coach talent. There’s a real opportunity here – the organizations that engage their leaders in developing others see big returns.”

All of the effort and budget expended, by and large, has not produced the intended results. So we set out to see if we could create something new, something transformational, something very much out-of-the-ordinary, something that could truly take leaders to the next level.

This Integral Intelligence® work is the product of our endeavors. The leaders we work with have experienced personal transformation in their Way-of-Being. Their organizations and their families have reaped significant rewards. Our journey with them has been profound, joyful and uplifting.

  1. 1. E-survey to learning and leadership development professionals across North America–400 respondents. ↩



Who We Are

Donna Stoneham Donna Stoneham, Ph.D., Co-founder and Principal of Integral Intelligence, is an executive coach and leadership/organization development consultant. Since beginning her coaching and consulting practice in 1991, Donna has helped hundreds of leaders to develop values-driven organizations and deeper engagement and effectiveness in work and life. With a passion for unleashing potential, she is a well-respected coach and facilitator who seeks to model what she teaches. Over the course of her career, she has worked in a broad cross-section of industries including entertainment, technology, telecommunications, government, education, health care, bio-technology, manufacturing and publishing. After spending ten years in leadership roles in managed health care companies, Donna saw an opportunity to support leaders in creating more collaborative workplaces. Through her company, Positive Impact, LLC, she has developed a reputation for designing and facilitating break-through development and change programs with a focus on whole-person learning.

Using an integral approach, combined with expertise in Appreciative Inquiry and Transformative Learning, Donna brings over twenty-five years practical experience in developing powerful, effective leaders. Known for a spirit of candor and compassion, she inspires those she serves to create transformational results in their work and lives.

  • Ph.D. in Humanities with a concentration in Learning and Change in Human Systems from the California Institute of Integral Studies
  • Author of Changing Practices, Transforming Paradigms: An Appreciative Approach to Developing Integral Leaders
  • Adjunct Professor, Leadership Development, MBA Program, Holy Names University
  • Advanced studies in Appreciative Inquiry at the Taos Institute
  • Board Service: Professional Coaches & Mentors Association, Sales & Marketing Executives
  • Certified Integral Coach, speaker and conference presenter

Why I Value this Work

I am a firm believer in the “ripple effect,” and how, as we grow and transform, we inspire others to do the same. When people feel valued and aligned with what they are doing, amazing things happen! My purpose as a leader is to serve as a catalyst and guide in helping people unleash their unique talents and aspirations in ways that create a ripple effect in their families, teams and organizations. Every day I am humbled and inspired by the courageous leaders who embark in the work of self-development and the legacies they create that make a difference in the world.

Pat Weger Pat Weger, Co-founder of Integral Intelligence, is an executive coach and team/organizational facilitator. In 2002, Pat left her position as Vice President of Learning &Development at AT&T Broadband in order to form her own business. She has extensive leadership development and organizational experience spanning work in high technology, entertainment and communications, retail, energy, financial services, and education. She has gained widespread respect as a leader of collaborative organizations, and a successful leader of large-scale organizational change, including strategy shifts, restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions.

Pat helps organizations and individuals achieve exceptional results through her expertise in executive and leadership development, coaching, change management, and team development. She is a versatile group facilitator who has designed and implemented a number of innovative strategies, including peer group coaching and action learning for leaders. Leaders who Pat has coached have achieved significant, positive shifts in leadership ability, many with life-changing results.

Pat uses an integral approach to support her clients in realizing their full potential. She believes in values-based leadership, and has demonstrated this as a strong, credible leader with over 20 years of corporate experience. She has a proven track record as an exceptional leader who can help others lead and contribute more powerfully.

  • MA in Adult Education and Instructional Design from the University of Wyoming
  • Advanced studies at the University of Iowa in Kodak’s Visual Scholars Program
  • Certified facilitator and integral executive coach
  • Pro bono work for Parent Pathways, the Urban League and the Rocky Mountain Institute in Denver, where she resides

Why I Value this Work

I’ve always been passionate about valuing the contribution of others, and helping them to maximize the value they bring to an organization. As I developed in my leadership, I saw my role primarily as a developer of talent and a builder of community. This guided me in my corporate roles and continues to guide me in this work. It is joyful to be a catalyst for positive transformations for leaders and their organizations, and it is a privilege to be a witness to the dramatic changes that people experience in their lives as a result of this work.


Karen Aznoian Karen Aznoian, an Integral Intelligence Associate, is an executive coach and consultant with 30 years experience leading individuals and organizations through significant change, combining skillful coaching with deep business competence. Karen has held senior HR positions working in diverse industries such as medical, pharmaceutical and communications. As a certified integral coach, she has coached hundreds of leaders who create sustainable results in their own lives and leadership by experiencing leadership as a life long practice and stepping on a path of mastery. Karen is committed to the advancement of the coaching profession and remains a faculty member of New Ventures West Coaching School where she teaches to deepen her own mastery and continually become a student again. Karen also holds a degree in business and psychology.

Why I Value this Work

After many years of working as a senior leader consulting to executives within organizations, I experienced my own turning point in 2001 when my business travels made me an eye-witness to the events of 9/11 that unfolded in NYC. This profound experience inspired me to pursue my own dream without delay. I began a consulting practice dedicated to partnering with leaders to create sustainable excellence in their organizations and in their personal leadership bringing meaning and purpose to their lives. Leadership is a practice that we engage in where we can bring new competence to our work, and our whole, authentic selves to our roles. The ultimate goal of this work is to get results and be more comfortable in one’s own skin. Inevitably, clients bring these new insights and practices to all aspects of their life. It is a great privilege to partner with a client to achieve this kind of change.

Dawn Brown Dawn Brown, an Integral Intelligence Associate, brings over 25 years of leadership, coaching and organizational consulting experience to leaders and teams in the private, public and non‐profit sectors. Prior to being an independent coach & consultant she worked for a large telecommunications company in various leadership roles and business units. She has done expansive work with executives and managers in a wide range of organizations including telecommunications, health care, biotech, financial institutions, residential & commercial builders and law firms. Her coaching approach is based on a developmental, integral methodology. Dawn’s coaching style, a blend of, inquiry, rigor, and compassion, supports clients to learn new competencies needed to be outstanding leaders. Together with her clients she builds measurable, behavioral outcomes. She is currently on faculty for New Ventures West Coaching School where she provides mentoring and coaching to future coaches. She is credentialed through the International Coach Federation and has served on the board for the Professional Coach & Mentors Association (PCMA)

Why I Value this Work

From a very early age I have been intrigued about how individuals are able to embrace change while others seem immune, what dynamic prevents us from changing. I have discovered so many important components that include clarity of vision, strong communication skills and the importance of being guided as we navigate the fast pace of change. I have dedicated much of my adult life to understanding the impact the conversations we engage in (or don’t) impact our effectiveness in life. How are the conversations we have with ourselves and others impacting how our life turns out? I believe through our conversations we can experience clarity of vision, allowing for increased possibilities, creativity and empowerment all of which are necessary skills for leaders today.

Greg Gillis Greg Gillis, an Integral Intelligence Associate, brings over twenty years of leadership experience in executive-level positions in Sales, Marketing and Business Development. His career has taken him from large corporations including Xerox and Silicon Graphics to smaller, entrepreneurial start-ups such as Netscape and CommerceOne. Over the course of his career, Greg has helped his clients significantly enhance their effectiveness in achieving their business and personal objectives. His client list includes Abbott, Allergan, AMD, Chevron, Cisco, CNET, Electronic Arts, Equity Residential, Facebook, GAP, Google, Intel, Metropolitan Life, Nuance, Rackable Systems, SAP, Secure Computing, SGI, Surfcontrol, Yahoo, and YouTube. Greg is a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF) where he serves on the Ethics and Standards Committee. Greg holds a B.S. Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in High Technology Management. He is a current member and former Board Member of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association.

Why I Value this Work

In my career I had the opportunity to see the inner workings of hundreds of corporations. I saw lots of suffering – and experienced it myself – some of it organizationally generated and some of it self-generated. I do what I do because I love helping people grow, develop and gain increased awareness that can help them operate more effectively within their organizational environments. I love making a positive difference in people’s lives and in the organizations they work in.

Sydney Parades Sydney A. Paredes, an Integral Intelligence Associate, is an experienced and masterful Executive Coach. Sydney draws upon 25+ years of broad leadership experience in Fortune 500 companies, specialized education, and her own challenges and success in work and life to help her clients thrive. She helps leaders and teams identify and break through barriers to achieve their full potential. Sydney is a certified Integral Coach® and holds an Executive MBA and an M.A. in Applied Behavioral Science. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Don Hansen. She enjoys ballroom dance and is President-elect of the Minnesota Coaches Association.

Why I Value this Work

My work with men and women leaders focuses on helping them relax into their own strengths, feel more comfortable in their own skin, and stay connected to what is most important to them. This reduces suffering! The individual client, their family, their organization and their community all benefit from this. I love being able to contribute to the world in this way.

Deborah Rocco Deborah Rocco, an Integral Intelligence Associate, brings over twenty years of experience helping individuals and organizations realize their full potential in the non-profit, higher education, and private sectors. In senior HR roles in the telecommunications and biopharmaceutical industries, she has led organizations to challenge their traditional views of leadership development and embrace a holistic, integral approach focused on sustainable leadership. She has deep experience in organizational effectiveness, team collaboration, and change management. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree, a Master of Education in Human Resource Development and a Senior Human Resource certification.

Why I Value this Work

The questions that drive my work are: How do we develop sustainable leaders who will shape and lead sustainable organizations, industries, and ultimately a sustainable planet? How do we help individuals and organizations develop the capacity to adapt to an ever changing environment, shift their world view, and open to the collaboration that leads to innovation? I believe in our collective wisdom we hold the answers.

Shoshana Rosenfeld Shoshana Rosenfeld, an Integral Intelligence Associate, has spent over 17 years in the field of learning and development, specializing in executive coaching and leadership development. She has partnered with a variety of organizations including: Johnson & Johnson, Gap Inc., Genentech, Cisco, eBay, Chevron, Chiron, Conor Medsystems, Harvard University, American Medical Association, Barclays Global Investors, Lotus Development, Sutter Health Systems, Boston Children’s Hospital, Gilead, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Pankow Builders, Strauss Communications and UC Berkeley. Shoshana earned her Masters degree at Boston University. She is certified as a professional coach through New Ventures West, where she also serves as an adjunct faculty member.

Why I Value this Work

I’ve been an outdoor enthusiast as far back as I can remember, and family legend has it that I swam before I walked. One of my favorite sports is high altitude mountaineering, which in my experience is as much an inner journey of courage, clarity and trust as it is an outer one of muscle, movement and forward momentum. I have noticed that in organizations there is often an overemphasis on the latter, resulting in exhaustion and dissatisfaction in the workplace. I do what I do to support individuals and teams to connect more fully with themselves and each other in the context of the bigger vision, so that they can enjoy more mastery, meaning and success.

Amiel Handelsman Amiel Handelsman, an Integral Intelligence Associate, brings 19 years of experience in developing leaders and helping organizations reach their potential. His clients have included Nike, Ernst & Young, Stryker, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American College of Healthcare Executives, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MultiCare Health Systems, University of California-San Francisco, and one of the worlds largest semiconductor companies. Amiel is a Certified Integral Coach and has an MBA from the University of Michigan, B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, and a Senior HR certification. He has served on the boards of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan and the Association of Coach Training Organizations. He co-authored an article about Integral Coaching published in the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations. Amiel lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and son.

Why I Value this Work

When I was a kid, I loved stringing words together into unusual combinations to make the adults around me laugh. After my parents got divorced, I started wondering what allows some people to get along better than others. This twin interest in what we say and how we relate to each other sparked my passion for leadership development. In the past two decades, Ive seen what a difference it can make for people in organizations to understand what makes them tick and translate these insights into powerful conversations, high quality decisions, and life habits (e.g. eating, sleeping, exercise) to sustain their energy.