Our Team
Julian Chender
Founder + Principal Consultant
Julian became a consultant and coach in order to help work toward a healthier society. His work focuses on facilitating human connection and shaping behavior at scale. In his early years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Julian’s portfolio included leadership and team development and enterprise strategy, all focused on the agency’s response to the global Ebola and Zika crises. From there, he moved to external consulting, eventually joining Accenture’s Operating Model & Organization Design practice shortly after its acquisition of Kates Kesler.
Over his career, Julian has consulted to purpose-driven organizations across sectors, from the Fortune 10 to nonprofits in education, arts, and public health, from intergovernmental European agencies to New York City public offices. He is a Certified Organization Design Practitioner and an ICF-Certified Coach who holds a master’s degree in Organization Development from American University and a B.A. in History from Swarthmore College. In 2020, he received the Emerging Practitioner Award from the Organization Development Network (ODN). He has served on the Board of Trustees of ODN and currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Organization Design Forum.
Jessica Phillips
Consultant, Arts + Culture
Jessica focuses on the power of collaboration in the arts to forge deeper community connections. She consults to arts organizations on issues of organization change, leadership and culture development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is an experienced performer and dedicated educator in the field with firsthand experience in nonprofit management, labor relations and negotiations, communications, and, strategic planning.
When not consulting, Jessica plays clarinet in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and serves on the graduate studies faculties of The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music where she teaches career and business skills. Jessica also has a long history of arts advocacy, having served on numerous boards, and she is a sought after speaker on a wide range of issues facing arts organizations today.
Jessica received her MBA in Arts Innovation & Entrepreneurship from the Global Leaders Institute and holds certificates in Nonprofit Arts Management from NYU, Labor Relations from Cornell, and Negotiation and Leadership from Harvard’s Program on Negotiation. She graduated cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, with a BA in Political Science and Music.
