Executive Coach

Alison Godfrey is a dynamic, highly effective, and goal-oriented professional change agent with a diverse background directing various leadership development and growth initiatives. She has consistently leveraged her skills in the advancement, implementation, and administration of sustainable improvement strategies delivering enhanced efficiency, performance, and effectiveness. Her talent for providing transformational leadership to drive the accomplishment of operational excellence has served as a consistent catalyst to her success. Alison is recognized as a highly effective communicator capable of cultivating partnerships across all lines of business to promote cohesive business practice and high-impact outcomes.

Over the past 45 years, she has been both an entrepreneur and an experienced corporate C-suite executive. Her background includes founding and successfully leading international start-ups in various fields ranging from health, metallurgy, and condensed matter physics. As CEO for Concentric Advisors, TX she developed and led a team of top physicists, electrochemists, and material scientists to create the premier research laboratory in the field, worldwide. She founded and was CEO for Energetics Technologies in Israel where she established highly successful cooperative research projects with Italy’s nuclear research laboratory (ENEA) as well as SRI in CA, funded by grants from DARPA (U.S. Defense Projects Research Agency). Alison has worked closely with some of the world’s most influential individuals in technology, business leadership, and philanthropy.

Her vast corporate experience has led her to executive coaching and innovative leadership development. Alison’s warmth and personal approach facilitates individuals to shift their thinking, challenge paradigms, remove blocks, and ultimately change behaviors which leads to self-awareness, confidence, a positive impact on community, and success.

Alison obtained her Certificate of Business Excellence from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and her certification as an Executive Coach from the Berkeley Coaching Institute. She is an Assistant Lecturer at the Haas School of Business teaching Executive Leadership and Communication to Executive MBA candidates.

"Alison knows how to communicate and push folks to do the best possible work they can. She helps me to understand how I can affect and control my environment."

Executive Coach

Samuel Hon is a CEO, lecturer and certified executive coach who brings over 17 years of marketing and C-level management experience to his coaching practice. He has provided executive coaching and leadership program facilitation to multi-cultural and international executives from organizations such as Apple and Google. He also taught leadership communications MBA classes as an Assistant Lecturer at UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business.

Currently, he serves as CEO of a 30-year-old risk management and regulatory technology compliance firm, where he led the company to achieve the highest revenue and EBITA growth in company history. Samuel was appointed as CEO to transform company culture and to oversee all business functions including finance, technology, operations, marketing, sales and product management. He was named to the Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and Sacramento Magazine’s Top 100 Notable Business Leaders. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the Pacific Leadership Group.

Samuel served two terms as President of the American Advertising Federation - Sacramento and he has been honored with over a dozen marketing and design awards. Samuel is a Stanford Certified Project Manager, Pragmatic Management Certified, ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and Berkeley Certified Executive Coach. He holds a B.S. in Journalism - Strategic Communication with honors and distinction from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He has also completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and The Wharton School.

Born and raised in Hong Kong and now based in California, Samuel brings his diverse, cross-cultural and C-level management experience to help individuals unlock their potential and become authentic leaders.

"Samuel played a remarkable role in my career and personal development during a relatively challenging time, in a relatively short time. Samuel's energy met me where I was, kept holding a mirror to my mindset and actions, kept moving me gently but firmly on the path to working on the right, tough stuff, and helped me see and experience some big insights about myself. I am so grateful to Samuel."

Facilitator & Executive Coach

Valerie Hope, a distinguished leadership coach and dynamic speaker, stands out with her insatiable curiosity and creative spirit. With a remarkable travel history to over 30 countries and living with 400+ host families, Valerie's global experiences fuel her unique coaching approach.

For 25 years, she has dedicated her career to supporting leaders worldwide, to foster consciousness, connection, and creativity by delving into the powerful realm of subconscious beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. Clients gain purpose, authentic self-expression, and a renewed sense of aliveness that support them in overcoming challenges and manage stress, create harmony in their relationships, and unleash problem-solving and innovation. In both workshops and one-on-one sessions, she goes beyond data, shining a light on what truly matters.

With a rich client portfolio spanning technology, education, government, hospitality, and finance, Valerie pivoted to entrepreneurship in 2018, now is the CEO of her own company, Connect to Joy, LLC. She received her executive coaching certification at UC Berkeley and has the certifications to work with the inner world of her clients as a facilitator of the HeartMath® Institute and PSYCH-K® methodologies.

A native Spanish speaker from Panama, her playfulness shines on the tennis court, improv stage, and in her community choir. Valerie Hope's passion empowers leaders to new heights, igniting positive change and lasting legacies. Her dynamic and joyous approach continues to inspire leaders globally, guiding transformative journeys with a mere touch of her creativity.

"Valerie always brings a calm and authoritative sense of presence to our meetings while being deeply caring. Her style is grounded, clear, practical, and really holds the space for you to understand yourself and your intents and actions at work more clearly."

Executive Coach

Linda is a certified executive coach, an entrepreneur, and a trusted business advisor, who brings a rich set of insights from her 30+ years in leading, managing, developing, and coaching cross-functional teams at both Fortune 500 and privately held companies.

Her extensive business experience spans C-level roles in a range of disciplines including leadership, sales & marketing, business development, strategic planning, partner relationships, and M&A, across industries that include High Tech, HealthCare & Life Sciences.

Linda has considerable global experience managing global teams, having been tapped for an International Assignment in Tokyo, Japan, and lived in Australia for 8 years during her youth. These experiences provide her with insights that are central to appreciating and navigating cultural differences in the business world.

As a certified executive coach, Linda partners with her clients to equip them realize their goals, whether transitioning into new roles, managing the challenges of stress and burnout, improving self-confidence, or embracing new possibilities. Her clients include CEOs of start-ups and new ventures, and leadership at F1000 companies, academic institutions, and non-profits.

As a co-founder of a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, Linda appreciates first-hand the myriad set of challenges that come with launching and sustaining a new business venture.

Her entrepreneurial spirit has led her to be a mentor, advisor, and coach to over 60 startups and non-profits. She sits on the board of multiple startups and is on the board of directors for the Better Business Bureau Educational Foundation of Eastern NC.

Linda holds two degrees, a BA in Architecture, Trinity University, and an MBA, UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School, and her certifications include Certified Executive Coach from UC Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute, Certified Professional Coach from NC State University, and ICF credentialed as an Associate Certified Coach.

As a Rotarian, Linda shares the unwavering commitment of “service above self” and can often be seen in the mornings picking up litter around Chapel Hill with her husband Brian.

Executive Coach

Corbin has over 38 years of broad industry experience in engineering and manufacturing within the public, private and government sectors. He has over 15 years of senior executive experience in multiple companies including multi-national, Fortune 500 and privately held firms. Corbin’s technical expertise was strategically focused on product and process development, scale-up, and optimization. His extensive business expertise included mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, organizational change management, restructuring and reorganization.

In addition to past professional successes Corbin has always been dedicated to a life of service to his community where he served on Boards and worked extensively one-on-one with disadvantaged youth. His passion of mentoring underrepresented youth, college students, entrepreneurs and emerging professionals continues to this day in his role as an Executive Coach and Managerial Consultant. Corbin believes that through the advanced techniques of Executive Coaching people are empowered with an enhanced self-efficacy to accelerate towards their goals with vigor and focused intention. He believes that an unencumbered mind with a clear objective vision is the direct pathway to success.

In addition to Executive Coaching, Corbin currently serves as a consultant with the Executive Services Corps of the Triangle providing consultative services to Boards of Directors of Non-Profit Organizations. Corbin also serves on the Board of Directors of the GBS/CIDP Foundation International and as President of the Board of Directors of the JA Grifols Foundation.

Corbin has a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from North Carolina A&T University, as well as an M.S. Degree in Engineering Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He holds several certifications from the University of California at Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is a Certified Executive Coach from UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.

"Wise, informative, capable, reliable, trustworthy, interesting, inspiring, effective voice, and great to learn from."