We named our firm Bamboo Partners because bamboo is strong, yet flexible; fast growing, yet sustainable. We strive to emulate these characteristics with powerful business acumen, flexibility to create unique common-sense solutions for our clients, and an unrelenting focus on results that last.
In some cultures, bamboo is a symbol of uprightness and friendship — we aim to become our clients’ trusted advisor and friend. We believe that:
- Solutions to problems and challenges cannot be “one size fits all”
- Effective organizations focus on executing a few critical priorities
- Everyone needs to align how they work to the bigger strategy
- The people closest to the work are the best ones to design the work
- People achieve their best when they are challenged to think differently
Susan Heinlein
Partner and Co-Founder of Bamboo Partners
“When I have a difficult problem to solve I hire Susan. She is a true partner who gets us focused on the most important things; she owns the output and works to make sure we are able to execute after she leaves.”
Susan has over 25 years experience working with companies to develop customer focused growth strategies by aligning resources across organizations, simplifying and improving business processes, and identifying critical actions to improve business results. She is the leading expert in the newest thinking about how to make internal partnering a trainable, repeatable, and measurable process. Susan believes that better collaboration will deliver the next level of business performance.
Susan combines real life experience in business planning, business performance reporting, pricing, value proposition development and communication, change management and process design and improvement with a down to earth style that draws attention to what is critical and helps organizations take the actions needed to be successful. Leaders who are implementing change value her genuine, thought provoking and results focused approach.
Previous to founding Bamboo Partners, Susan was a partner at Korn Consulting Group and spent 10 years at Ameriprise and GE in senior roles in finance, pricing and operations. Prior to GE, Susan spent 10 years at Honeywell in a broad range of Finance roles including international roles in Asia.
Susan holds an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from the Carlson School of Management and a BA in Business Administration from St. Catherine University. She is a Six Sigma Certified Master Black Belt.
Marian Powell
Partner and Co-Founder of Bamboo Partners
“Marian gets us all moving in the same direction. She is dynamic in her thinking, uses simple approaches, and facilitates with a lot of energy that motivates us to get things done.”
With over three decades of experience working with some of the world’s greatest companies and top business leaders in the world, Marian is an expert at helping people work together on exciting ideas that drive results. She believes that how people work together is as critical to success as what they work on.
Marian fuses real life experience and business knowledge with a conversational style and probing questions to draw out the best thinking of your organization. Leaders who want to drive change rely on her to help align their organization and build needed performance capabilities. Marian also coaches executives and managers to enhance their leadership and performance.
Prior to founding Bamboo Partners, Marian was a partner at Korn Consulting Group Inc. She also spent 17 years at GE where her last role was Officer of GE Capital and the SVP Global Sales and Marketing for GE Equipment Services. Other senior roles she held at GE were in product management, communications, operations, quality, and human resources.
Marian’s industry-leading Client Advisory Boards, new techniques in customer loyalty research, and application of Six Sigma to the selling process were adopted across GE. Her innovative approach to developing on-line customer work-flow tools was honored with awards from CIO Magazine and the Data Warehouse Institute. She is a Six Sigma Certified Black Belt with deep expertise in change management. Marian holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art and an MBA from De Paul University.
Our Team
While we are involved with every project we do for our clients, we deploy a team of the best of the best to bring specific expertise when needed:
Bruce Alfred
Bruce is a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths consultant, resilience coach, trainer, and facilitator. He guides clients in overcoming challenges, working at peak performance, and more efficiently reaching goals, while increasing joy and decreasing burnout.
Bruce specializes in helping teams work better together and managers to lead more effectively through better partnering, communication, and understanding. He coaches internationally, focusing on professional development, resilience, and well-being.
Bruce received his bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado College, and in addition to being a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths coach, is a registered yoga and mindfulness teacher.
Katja Jeanneret
Katja is a process improvement expert with over 15 years experience helping companies effectively streamline and simplify processes. She partners with key stakeholders to reduce waste and complexity while enhancing the client experience. Katja has led marketing, operations, and e-commerce teams in technology, financial services, and retail organizations including GE and Best Buy.
Katja holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management, and is a Six Sigma Certified Black Belt.
Sandra J. Marshall, PhD
Dr. Sandra Marshall is a recognized expert in helping private and public sector clients manage their talent pipeline by enhancing their selection, performance appraisal, development, engagement and succession-planning practices. Her 25 years of experience include the creation of managerial-level selection, appraisal and development programs, multi-rater (360) feedback, succession planning, executive assessments and executive coaching.
Sandra holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from New York University and a BA in Psychology from Queens College. She is a licensed psychologist, a member of the American Psychological Association and is past-president of the Metropolitan New York Association for Applied Psychology.
Candyce Penteado
Candyce is a highly regarded leadership development facilitator and executive coach. She has deep experience in staffing, training, and employee development. Her areas of expertise include developing leaders, coaching executives, leading large-scale change initiatives, and solving HR challenges. She is a member of GE’s faculty at their Crotonville Leadership Institute, where she teaches and coaches hundreds of their top business leaders each year.
Candyce earned Bachelor’s Degrees in Communication and Education. She is certified in Emergenetics, the EQi 360 and EQ-I 2.0, DiSC, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and other leadership assessments.
Deb Seidman
Deb has global expertise in organizational change management, group facilitation, organization design, executive and leadership development, and HR process improvement. She has worked in the areas of performance management, talent management, and team effectiveness as both a consultant and in corporate HR roles for over 25 years.
She is an IAF Certified TM Professional Facilitator and is also certified to deliver and interpret the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Hogan Personality Inventory, Development Survey, and Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory. Deb holds a MA from New York University in Politics with a concentration in International Politics and Business and a BS from Cornell University in Industrial and Labor Relations.
Tana DeBoer
Tana is an accomplished public relations and marketing communications consultant with 25 years’ experience in developing and executing projects to increase revenues and strengthen market positioning. She has a proven track record in quickly understanding complex business situations and developing easily understood messages to communicate to client stakeholders.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and political science (magna cum laude) from the University of North Dakota.
Celia Kirwan
Celia is an experienced business and change consultant with 25 years experience serving corporate, healthcare and not for profit clients across the US and Europe. Celia partners with clients to help them translate strategy into results. In her work with clients she leverages her background of results-driven change combined with project leadership, coaching and delivery. She has co-authored two book chapters: Active Facilitation: How to Help Groups Break Through Mutual Stalemate’ in Working with Difficult Groups (Jossey Bass, 2010) and the ‘Rapid Results’ chapter in the second edition of The Change Handbook (Berrett Koehler 2007).
Celia holds a BA Honours in Geography, German and European Studies from the University of Sussex and an MA in Geography from Boston University. She is currently training to be a mindfulness meditation teacher and has completed training in recovery coaching and mediation.
Lisa Kline
Lisa is an expert in all areas of financial planning and analysis including capital evaluation, shareholder value optimization, portfolio management and customer profitability. Her 28 years of finance leadership experience spans business unit management, marketing, sales, manufacturing, logistics, engineering and corporate planning functions, both domestically and internationally.
Lisa received her MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, where she later served on the Alumni Board. She received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from the University of Kentucky.
Vasanthi Sekhar
Vasanthi works with organizations to leverage technology that drives growth and differentiation, improves the customer experience and drives internal and external efficiencies. Her over 25 years of expertise include technology strategy and roadmap creation, program management and metrics, technology investment planning (including talent upgrading), driving business engagement in digital transformations, and improving outcomes experience.
Vasanthi holds an MBA in Finance and Information Systems from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta) and a Bachelor of Commerce from St. Francis College, India.
Tamara K. Nemo
Tamara is an expert facilitator with over 20 years experience working with clients to formulate and execute their business, learning, and talent development strategies. She specializes in strategic planning, HR transformation, and people development. Tamara has expertise in project management, communications, organization alignment, change management, and facilitation and training.
Tamara holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business with a major in Finance and Management and a BA in Political Science from the University of Rochester. She is also certified as a Six Sigma Greenbelt and in MBTI (Meyers Briggs) and HBDI (Hermann Brain) diagnostics.
John W. Pancoast
John is an accomplished consultant with over 20 years’ experience helping executives and teams lead change, with specific expertise in guiding successful acquisition integrations. He has guided numerous transformational initiatives and has extensive experience working to increase the strategic contribution of corporate functions.
John earned his MBA degree from Harvard and holds an AB with Distinction in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Vicki Rossetti
Vicki is a certified and ICF credentialed coach with over 30 years experience as an executive coach, leadership development consultant, human resources executive, career counselor, professional trainer and facilitator. She works with individuals and teams to find new meaning and even greater success in their work and personal lives.
Vicki holds a BA from Douglass College, Rutgers University, an MA from American University and a Coaching Certificate from Fielding Graduate University.
Kate Hendershott
Kate is a seasoned sales and marketing consultant with 30 years’ experience who focuses on increasing revenue via classical marketing practices. She excels in developing strategic business development and marketing programs for organizations that are growing, evolving, or exhibiting symptoms of stress.
She has a Masters of Marketing degree with a Finance Emphasis from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management and a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Yankton College.