Claire Shields has more than 25 years of experience in leading and executing major transformation initiatives, leveraging her global expertise in program management, change management and professional coaching. Her experience spans Fortune 500 organizations as well as major public sector and non-profit entities in three continents, driving programs and business objectives to successful outcomes in the Retail, Financial, Energy, Government, Manufacturing, and Services industry sectors.

Claire’s strong foundation includes certifications in Project Management and Professional Coaching, and she has held leadership roles in Customer Success and Program Management. She has led large teams integrating new technology solutions via Agile approaches, and has facilitated measurably successful project and program outcomes. Claire prides herself on fostering collaboration with partners and cross-functional teams to implement solutions and speed adoption, leaning into her coaching skills to optimize team successes.

PROJECT EXPERIENCE:

• Verizon
• MCI
• British Telecom
• Technology Industry Services Association
• Executive Women’s Forum
• Alzheimer’s Association
• New Jersey State Career Network

EXPERTISE:

• Project and Program Management
• Business Consulting & Strategy
• Professional & Executive Coaching
• Organizational Engagement & Development
• Organizational Change Management
• Customer Success & Satisfaction Programs
• Agile technology transformation projects
• Organizational Engagement & Development
• Communications Management
• M&A/ Business Development

SAMPLE PROJECTS:

At Verizon, Claire led an internal initiative driving new technology processes, outsourcing, and machine learning software into business delivery for Verizon’s Business Markets organization. This was a three-year project of redefining work for either a new machine learning automation capability or for outsourcing with third party providers. Claire had to develop teams and comprehensive project plans to ensure collaboration internally and externally on execution. She planned organizational change of roles and skills, as well as developing new work processes in alignment with IT requirements and with third party teams. Claire coached work teams on the changes and defined leadership programs to enable organizational alignment and support for new operating models.

At MCI, Claire was brought in at senior executive levels (“C-suite”) to remediate an underperforming business unit that was delivering revenue loss and facing potential legal impacts. Claire assessed the situation and developed a remediation plan, including interviews with key stakeholders and clients to do root cause analysis, and employee roundtables to gather front-line feedback. Claire created new project plans and approaches, as well as new communication tools to help coach managers and supervisors in specific remediation steps as well as redefining how business processes were performed.

For Executive Women’s Forum (EWF), Claire developed an assessment of the organization’s opportunities for growth, then defined a strategic plan for 2022. This included an assessment of their entire membership community, encompassing a member satisfaction survey and member engagement interviews. The assessment and plan development were a 9-month project that included competitive assessment, growth strategies, and development of digital tools to increase membership and expand revenue opportunities.

EDUCATION:

Claire holds a degree in Economics/Statistics from Rutgers University and Executive Education Certificates from NYUStern School of Business, Duke-Fuqua School of Business, and UVA Darden. She holds a Leadership Coaching certification from Rutgers University and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation from the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMI Institute).