ICW Consulting Group is an affiliation of experts and thought leaders in the field of organization development, leadership, team development and strategic processes. We have similar values and viewpoints regarding how we work with clients, and have complementary strengths. Founded in 1998 by Ilene Wasserman, ICW serves our clients by bringing together the best resources for their particular needs.
When you engage with us on a project, we bring together the right subset of our team based on your unique needs and desires.
Ilene Wasserman | MSW, PhD | Founder & President
Ilene has over 30 years of experience in organizational consulting, leadership development, and executive coaching. She helps private- and public-sector organizations achieve their goals through building and strengthening diverse leadership teams, collaborative relationships, and effective communication strategies.
Throughout her career, Ilene has worked on the cutting edge of research and practice in strength-based methodologies, capacity building, and relational leadership. Her action learning approach integrates learning and development with her clients’ everyday work and builds internal capacity at each step of the process. She is deeply committed to providing the foundation and motivation for senior leaders, teams, and staff to sustain their learnings long after the consulting relationship has ended, and her approach centers intercultural diversity, equity, and inclusion as integral to every aspect of leadership and team development.
Ilene has taught graduate courses on organization development and leadership, organization communication, and diversity and inclusion. She is a Senior Fellow in the McNulty Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is the lead coach for the Advanced Management Program and coaches within various initiatives including Women’s Executive Leadership, the MBA programs, and custom clients. She also serves on several professional boards, including the CMM Institute, The Taos Institute, and The Lewin Center; was a member of the Diversity Collegium; and is a founding member of the Inclusion Allies Coalition.
Ilene holds a PhD in Human and Organizational Development, a master’s degree in both Counseling Psychology and Social Work, and a Bachelor’s in Human Development. She is the author of several publications, including two books: Communicating Possibilities: A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning and Peer Coaching at Work: Principles and Practices. Ilene is active in her community, having served on the Lower Merion Human Relations Commission and the Support Center for Child Advocates.
Jeffrey Branch | EdD | Principal
Jeff has over 30 years of experience advising corporations and nonprofits on strategic business issues. He specializes in organization development and effectiveness, executive coaching, and adult education, utilizing inquiry, dialogue, and systems thinking to help organizations achieve and sustain high performance.
His leadership experience includes serving as a Senior Leader for Organization Development and Competency Systems with a community-based healthcare system. In this role, he designed and facilitated an action learning curriculum engaging the clinical and non-clinical leadership groups within the system and developed, implemented, and integrated Diversity and Inclusion learning modules for all levels of leadership and clinical and non-clinical professionals. These strategic initiatives assessed and aligned the behavioral and engagement practices of the institution with its mission as it experienced a rapid change in patient and professional staff demographics.
Jeff is also a part of the Global Citizens Network (GCN), an organization focused on preserving the culture of Indigenous peoples around the world. Through this program, he has worked with Indigenous peoples across the Northwest region of the United States and multiple Latin American countries. This work enriches his consulting approach, providing valuable intercultural insights and learnings.
Jeff serves as the Chair of the Organization Development and Leadership Graduate Programs under the School of Professional and Applied Psychology at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He holds a Doctorate in Education, a Master’s in Organization Development and Leadership, and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. He is a member of the NTL Institute and the Organization Development Network. Jeff is also certified to administer individual and group assessment instruments.
Elisa Carletti | MOP | Associate
Elisa is an organizational psychologist with consulting and training experience in Italy and the US. She is passionate about DEI, group dynamics, and empowering leadership. She holds a Master’s in Organizational Psychology from Università Cattolica di Milano and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Università di Bologna.
Elisa’s strength is project management and holding the complexities of large-scale networking projects that bring together thought leaders in the field of Organizational Development. She also serves as a Teaching Assistant at Teachers College, Columbia University, in the Department of Organization and Leadership. the Lower Merion Human Relations Commission and the Support Center for Child Advocates.
Bernardo M. Ferdman | PhD | Consultant
Bernardo is a professor, Board Certified Coach, and principal of Ferdman Consulting, with a passion for supporting diversity and inclusion, organization development, cross-cultural management/ leadership, and Latinos/as in the workplace. He works with individuals, groups, and organizations to focus on assessment, coaching, dialogue, facilitation, and learning in the context of diversity.
Bernardo is published extensively and regularly offers presentations and workshops for a wide range of audiences. Drawing from his decades of work and his extensive international experience, Bernardo combines theory, research, and practice to collaborate with clients on improving performance, honing leadership skills, and enhancing inclusion initiatives.
Dawn Holden Woods | CPA | Strategic Partner
Dawn co-creates effective operational and leadership development programs and serves as a trusted advisor for private foundations, social impact organizations, and governmental agencies. With over 20 years of experience, Dawn offers a unique blend of business practicality and a “people first” approach as she provides organizations with concrete technical assistance, including executive coaching, strategic planning, board development, establishing strategies to comply with contract regulatory requirements, systematizing accounting, and fundraising best practices.
Previously, Dawn served as the Chief Executive Officer of Turning Points for Children and Chief Social Services Officer of Public Health Management Corporation, where she managed a $100M portfolio and a team of 1,000 employees.
Dawn is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Organization Development and Leadership Program at PCOM and sits on a diverse range of nonprofit boards. She received her Bachelor’s in Accounting from Lincoln University and her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the recipient of many awards, including 40 under 40 and Minority Business Development Leader of the Year (2020).
Danielle Horn | MSODL | Associate
Danielle seeks to foster relationships and empower individuals. Skilled in community organizing, management, and facilitation, her commitment to social justice permeates everything she does. As an experienced consultant with a Master’s in Organizational Development and Leadership and a Bachelor’s in Education, Danielle designs and implements innovative, socially impactful programs.
Kathy E. Kram | PhD | Consultant
Kathy is a thought leader in the areas of mentoring and developing relationships. Her areas of focus are adult development, relational learning, mentoring and developmental networks, gender and leadership development, and change processes in individuals, groups, and organizations of various sectors.
Kathy is the R.C. Shipley Professor in Management Emerita at Boston University and received her bachelor’s from MIT, her Master’s in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management, and her Master’s and PhD in Organizational Psychology at Yale University. In addition to publications in academic and professional journals, Kathy’s published books include: Mentoring at Work (author), Strategic Relationships at Work: Creating your Circle of Mentors, Sponsors and Peers for Success in Business and Life and Peer Coaching at Work: Principles and Practices (co-author), and The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research and Practice (co-editor). She is a founding member of the Center for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations (CREIO) and from 2002–2009, served on the Center for Creative Leadership Board of Governors.
Her forthcoming book Retiring: Creating a life that works for you (August 2024) documents the personal stories of individuals from three corporate settings as they transition into retirement, offering a practical guide on how to navigate this major life transition.
Mandy Martin | PMP | Chief of Staff
Mandy supports all areas related to business planning and execution, steering strategic initiatives from genesis to fruition. Through her process-oriented perspective and project management expertise, she aids the ICW team and their clients in reaching their goals.
Mandy began her career in the healthcare world, where she gained experience in planning and execution within a global organization. Following a passion for creating inclusive environments, Mandy recently shifted her focus to the world of Organizational Development. She is a creative thinker and practicing artist, skilled in visualizing data and information to inform decision-making. She is also experienced in process improvement and change management.
Mandy holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Gwynedd Mercy University.
Marlene Ogawa | Strategic Partner
Marlene is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she works with cross- and multi-sectoral leaders on the Bridging Leadership project, building collaborative and purpose-driven servant leadership principles. Her work centers on relational leadership and social connectedness, emphasizing personal change, common purpose, and collaborative action.
Marlene partners with clients to design and facilitate processes around compassionate leadership and foster effective intercultural diversity, equity, and inclusion (ICDEI) environments. She designs strategic development processes, leads courses, and consults on and facilitates various ICDEI and organizational development initiatives around themes like race, gender, and social transformation. Marlene’s approach encourages impactful dialogue spaces and focuses on building the capacity of leaders to hold space, lead teams, and model the institution’s vision. She is the author of several publications, including the book, Thriving Women, Thriving World: An Invitation to Dialogue, Healing and Inspired Actions.
Marlene has a degree from the University of Johannesburg and various certificates in project management and ICT. Her experience working with decision makers across diverse sectors, including philanthropy, children/youth services, academia, local governance, and the broader business and development sector, has enriched her work, equipping her with tools from cutting-edge methodologies, including World Café, Open Space Technology, and Appreciative Inquiry.
Jose Vicuna-Castillo | MA, MBA | Strategic Partner
Jose serves as an advisor to senior executives and leadership teams, focusing on enhancing team/organizational effectiveness and overall performance. He has also worked as an executive in the global energy sector specializing in people, culture, and transformation. His expertise is designing, orchestrating, and implementing complex global change and transformation programs and strategies for multi-billion-dollar business segments. Using a collaborative approach, Jose actively embeds himself in senior leadership teams, focusing on their dynamics and work culture to co-create successful strategic change plans for the team and organization.
Jose holds an Executive Master’s in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, with an emphasis on Change Leadership, a Master’s in Business Administration from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Andres Bello Catholic University. Jose actively contributes to academia, supporting master’s and PhD programs at Teachers College.
Jose brings a global perspective to his work with international experience spanning North and South America, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, with intermediate proficiency in French and Italian, Jose is confident in navigating diverse cultural settings and landscapes. He lives in Houston with his family.