MOLLY D. SHEPARD, MS, MSM, founder and president of The Leader’s Edge, is a dynamic speaker, author, and community leader. Her Philadelphia-based organization is the foremost leadership development and coaching practice committed to the advancement of senior executive women. Previously, Molly was chairman, president and co-founder of Manchester Inc., one of the world’s largest career development consulting firms. While leading Manchester, she designed an executive format for leaders in transition that became the standard model for the industry. She is the recipient of many industry and community awards and serves on numerous public and nonprofit boards of directors. She is a trailblazer in women’s leadership and in navigating the upper echelons of senior management. In 2006, Molly received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from West Chester University.
JANE K. STIMMLER, MLS, has over twenty-five years of experience in business, specifically in strategic marketing planning and communications. She is co-founder and president of The Marketing Edge, a Philadelphia-based marketing consulting and communications firm that has pioneered marketing strategies for financial companies and professional services firms. She has held executive positions in the banking, accounting, and legal industries. She is a university instructor and teaches on the subjects of business communication, organizational politics, and gender differences in the workplace. She frequently writes and speaks on marketing and management subjects, and about women in business. Jane is a recognized thought leader on the topic of women’s advancement. She and her husband make their home in the Philadelphia area.
PETER J. DEAN, MS, PhD, is founder and president of Leaders By Design, an international leadership development coaching firm for senior executive men. He has authored nine books, published numerous articles, consulted, coached, and lectured in thirteen countries, and is a sought-after speaker by Fortune 50 companies on the topics of leadership, ethics, change management, performance improvement, and communication. For fifteen years, Peter was a lecturer at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Also, he has been on faculty at the University of Iowa, Penn State University, University of Tennessee, and Fordham University. He held the O. Alfred Granum Chair in management at The American College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he designed the master of science in management program with an emphasis in leadership in 2004.
Peter Dean and Molly Shepard are married to each other and are partners in business. They are parents of four children, two of whom live with them in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.