Expert Trainers

Please feel free to take a look at a few of our sample trainer bios. While this is not a comprehensive list of the trainers we work with, it should give you a better understanding of our global presence and the quality of cross-cultural experts we work with on a regular basis.

Expert Trainer/Cross-Cultural Specialist – US/South America/Asia

This expert trainer is a native of the United States with more than 25 years of experience working in various countries, including Brazil, China, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States.  She holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in International Management from the world-renowned Thunderbird School of Global Management. She has earned certificates from the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication for attending the workshops “Teaching Intercultural Communication” and “Methods of Intercultural Training”, and has participated in the Sophia University Tokyo Summer Session of Asian Studies courses “Foundations of East Asian Culture” and “Japanese Business and Management”. She has also completed the Cultural Detective^® Facilitator Certification Course in San Marcos, California; the Kozai Group’s Global Competencies Inventory Certification Seminar in Portland, Oregon; Edward Tufte’s Presenting Data and Information Certification Course in Chicago, Illinois; and Karrass’ Effective Negotiating Seminar in Lisle, Illinois.

Author of the chapter “Doing Business with Brazilians” in the textbook Managing Cultural Differences, sixth, seventh, and eighth editions (authors Philip R. Harris and Robert T. Moran), she has taught in the English and International Relations departments of the University of São Paulo in Brazil, as well as in its Executive MBA program.  She has also served as a trainer and resource for various intercultural communication companies. This expert provides consulting, coaching, and training focusing on global inclusion for multinational corporations, government entities, and executives who live, travel, and work abroad. She has been involved with preparations for the United States Olympic Committee and the Pan American Games, and has worked as a consultant with the United Nations Development Program. She is a member of SIETAR Brasil, and recently presented the session. “The Risk of Ignoring Brazil:  A Sleeping Giant Awakens” at the 2011 SIETAR U.S.A. Conference in Denver, Colorado. Born in Texas and educated in the United States and Spain, she has called Brazil home since 1992 but recently relocated back to Chicago.

Expert Trainer/Cross-Cultural Specialist – US

Another expert trainer and cross-cultural specialist we work with, this Ph.D. has conducted research and offered publications, cross-cultural training, training of trainers, and consulting on the process of moving from one culture to another. She is also a licensed psychologist with expertise in cultural transition and has worked as an Associate Professor at Boston University for 19 years. She has written several books on families, US culture, and transition, including:

• Understanding American Schools (The Interchange Institute, 2011, with Georgia Bennett), a guide for newcomers to the education system of the United States; and
• In Their Own Voice: Intercultural Meaning in Everyday Stories (The Interchange Institute, 2012, with Marissa Lombardi), intercultural examination of newcomers’ cultural surprises
• Global Baby (The Interchange Institute, 2004), for parents of expatriate infants.

She has completed extensive research pertaining to expatriate adjustment; and has authored over 90 research articles, chapters, and professional presentations. She directed several funded research projects on the family and personal side of international relocation:

• Close Neighbors: US-Canada Moves, a study of moving to a culture that is deceptively similar
• At Home Abroad, a study of how a homes influence a global assignment
• Voices from the Road and Voices from Home (underwritten by Dwellworks), a study of the family and personal side of international short-term assignments;
• Moving Matters (underwritten by Graebel International), a study of settling in practices;
• Many Expatriates, Many Voices (2004) and Many Women, Many Voices project (underwritten by Prudential Financial); studies of accompanying spouses on international assignments.

Additionally, she is editor of the Newcomer’s Almanac™, a newsletter for international newcomers to the United States, used by individuals and by corporations bringing foreign nationals into the U.S. to work.

Expert Trainer/Cross-Cultural Specialist – US/Asia

A cultural trainer and consultant this expert trainer graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with minors in French and Business from John Carroll University and was the first woman to give the Millor Orator address to the graduating class. She continued her education at the Hiroshima Nihongo Gakko studying Japanese language and culture.

She spent 14 years in the television broadcasting industry producing evening news programs, live talk shows, documentaries, commercials and marketing videos.  She also created a consumer investigation unit and edited both news programs and documentaries. She received three Emmy Awards for her work in television. In addition, one of her documentaries received awards from the International TV and Film Festival of New York and from Women in Communications.

She lived in Japan for six years and traveled extensively in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe. While living in Japan, she presented seminars on cultural sensitivity to the Japanese and American media and presented cross-cultural programs to the Suzugamine Women’s College, the Hiroshima Castle, the Signpost Magazine and the Hiroshima Fire Department.

In addition to her language and culture studies, she acted as a consultant between the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce developing business opportunities for Michigan based companies. She also worked to establish an agreement of cooperation between WXYZ-TV and Hiroshima Home TV and facilitated an alliance to share exhibitions and explore future joint cultural endeavors between the Detroit Institute of Art and the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.

For the past fourteen years, she has designed and facilitated programs on Multi-Cultural Diversity, Cultural Adjustment and Cross-Cultural Effectiveness in the Global Workplace for corporations worldwide. She has conducted cross-cultural and intercultural training for international executives and relocating families for many multinational companies including General Motors, Ford Motor, Dow, Daimler, Chrysler, ArvinMeritor, Continental Automotive, Delphi Automotive, Yazaki, Toyota, Nissan, Lexmark, Amway and Cathay Pacific Airlines.

Expert Trainer/Cross-Cultural Specialist – UK