Melinda Stephenson is a coach and consultant with over 22 years of experience in human development on an individual, team and organization level. She provides an excellent balance of strategic vision, coaching and operational execution abilities.
Melinda provides outcome-based coaching to senior teams and senior executives. Her coaching is a blend of pragmatic guidance and curious exploration into the underlying assumptions and thought patterns which support leadership performance. She draws on her knowledge of neuroscience, positive psychology, emotional intelligence and cognitive behavior change to help leaders and their teams expand possibilities and realize their potential. She has helped clients build new skills in areas such as strategic thinking, influence and persuasiveness, relationship and conflict management.
Melinda also builds human resource and change strategies for high-growth, global clients and she has completed extensive work in the creation of talent development strategies and leadership development program design. She is curriculum designer and co-founder of The Leadership Room – a one-year learning experience for high potential executives.
Prior to her career as a coach and consultant, Melinda held senior positions in Human Resources. She served as VP of HR and Sr. Director of Organization Development for Gap, Inc., providing consulting support to the CEO and leadership team. In these roles, she designed and executed human capital strategy to expand the talent pipeline and build global general manager skills. She also managed large-scale change efforts in product innovation, sourcing/inventory management, HR training strategy, and brand marketing. Melinda has also held HR business partner roles at American Express and Macy’s.
Melinda devotes significant time and energy to issues that touch her deeply. She is a facilitator for the Insight Prison Project and she mentors scholars through SHE-CAN, an organization dedicated to educating young women from post-conflict countries. Melinda loves to sing and travel the world. She makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area with her teenage son.