Shelly Bennett, M.A.
United States
English
Organizational Leadership & Change Coach
Transformational leaders are shaped by reflection, awareness, and the willingness to learn their way forward.
6+ yr(s)
Coaching Experience
25+ yr(s)
Work Experience
Consultancy, Facilitation, Leadership Coaching
Book Session
Coaching Reflective Action Conversation
Zoom
60 Minutes
I help leaders name the constraints they've stopped noticing. Roles, dynamics, and patterns quietly shaping decisions. Name what's actually going on out loud in a safe confidential space. No pitch,...
Initial Consultation
Zoom
30 Minutes
You already know something needs to shift. Thirty minutes to figure out if I'm the right person to help you do it. Come with the actual problem.
Interpersonal Leadership Styles (ILS)
Zoom
30 Minutes
A four-session virtual engagement built on the Interpersonal Leadership Style (ILS) framework: emotional intelligence, flexible leadership, stress behaviors, and the adaptive behavior that moves people and projects forward. Learn more...
Bio
Shelly Bennett is a certified leadership coach and IDI® Qualified Administrator who helps leaders step into who they're becoming. Her emancipatory coaching approach has guided teams across for profit, nonprofit and diverse team settings toward clarity, confidence, and change.
"I have a combination of experience, rigor, and expertise that produces results — from needs analysis and purpose articulation to facilitation design and evaluative measurement. I build, innovate, and execute on playbooks, working through changes in real time."
"I have a combination of experience, rigor, and expertise that produces results — from needs analysis and purpose articulation to facilitation design and evaluative measurement. I build, innovate, and execute on playbooks, working through changes in real time."
My Focus Areas include
CommunicationCultureHealthLeadershipManaging PeoplePersonal EffectivenessTeam
My clients work in departments such as
AdministrationFinanceHuman ResourcesInformation TechnologyLearning & DevelopmentOperations
I have worked with clients at the following levels
BoardC SuiteDirectorPresidentLeaderEmerging LeaderTeam ManagerManager
My clients work in the following industries
Education / AcademiaExecutiveGovernmentHealth Care - GeneralHospitalityInformation TechnologyNot for ProfitSportsA/VLive Events
Client Testimonials
“Thank you for helping bring a laser-like focus to my needs for defining space for my creativity.”
Julie B.
"Shelly is really good at what she does. I have learned so much about myself. The tools she has provided me I will continue to use even after our sessions are done."
Danielle J.
Julie B.
"Shelly is really good at what she does. I have learned so much about myself. The tools she has provided me I will continue to use even after our sessions are done."
Danielle J.
Professional Experience
Shelly designs the architecture underneath experiences that work — sessions, programs, and leadership development that hold up in the room, not just on paper.
She holds an MA in Organizational Innovation and Change from Benerd College, University of the Pacific, where her graduate research centered on the RESET Coach Model™, her original framework for reducing variance in coaching outcomes. She is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®), a certified Interpersonal Leadership Styles (ILS) facilitator through the Stratton Index, and a professional coach trained through UC Davis's ICF-accredited coaching program.
Shelly's work draws on more than twenty years designing and producing learning experiences — from full-scale program architecture to live technical execution — for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations navigating change. Her approach is rooted in emancipatory coaching practice: helping individuals and organizations build the judgment and self-authorship to navigate complexity on their own terms, rather than depending on a facilitator in the room.
She works with clients individually and organizationally, bringing coaching, consulting, facilitation, and data analysis to bear on whatever the work requires.
She holds an MA in Organizational Innovation and Change from Benerd College, University of the Pacific, where her graduate research centered on the RESET Coach Model™, her original framework for reducing variance in coaching outcomes. She is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®), a certified Interpersonal Leadership Styles (ILS) facilitator through the Stratton Index, and a professional coach trained through UC Davis's ICF-accredited coaching program.
Shelly's work draws on more than twenty years designing and producing learning experiences — from full-scale program architecture to live technical execution — for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations navigating change. Her approach is rooted in emancipatory coaching practice: helping individuals and organizations build the judgment and self-authorship to navigate complexity on their own terms, rather than depending on a facilitator in the room.
She works with clients individually and organizationally, bringing coaching, consulting, facilitation, and data analysis to bear on whatever the work requires.
Education
Master of Arts in Leadership, Concentration in Organizational Innovation and Change
University of the Pacific — May 2026
Developed the skills to lead as an inclusive, transformative change agent.
University of the Pacific — May 2026
Developed the skills to lead as an inclusive, transformative change agent.
Professional Coaching for Life and Work Certificate Program
University of California, Davis — June 2023
Applied toward ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) accreditation, in progress.
University of California, Davis — June 2023
Applied toward ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) accreditation, in progress.
Bachelor of Arts, Radio, Television and Film
San Jose State University — June 1996
Recipient of the John Kerr Award for Outstanding Service.
San Jose State University — June 1996
Recipient of the John Kerr Award for Outstanding Service.
Certification & Accreditation
Professional Coaching for Life and Work Certificate
University of California, Davis — ICF accredited coaching education program
View credential
University of California, Davis — ICF accredited coaching education program
View credential
Interpersonal Leadership Styles (ILS)
Certified Facilitator, Stratton Index
Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation — in progress
Certified Facilitator, Stratton Index
Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation — in progress
Memberships
- International Coaching Federation (ICF)
- Sacramento Charter Chapter, ICF
- Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA)
- Berkeley Communicators — UC Berkeley, Office of Strategic Communications