Our Contributors

Suzanne is Managing Director of BTS Boston, and Founder of Bates, a BTS company. She is an internationally recognized thought leader in communicative leadership, and the author of four bestselling business books with McGraw Hill including Speak Like a CEO and All the Leader You Can Be. After a 20+ year career as an award winning television journalist, Suzanne founded Bates in 2000 with a mission to help leaders shape the world by engaging, aligning, and inspiring people to act. In 2013, Suzanne and her team developed and launched the Bates ExPI^TM, the first research-based, scientifically validated assessment to measure executive presence. She and her team also developed the Leadership Team Performance Index (LTPI^TM), a groundbreaking model of team performance. She is a sought after speaker and has been featured on the TODAY Show and in the Wall St. Journal, Fortune Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and The Huffington Post, among other publications.

Andy Atkins is Bates Practice Leader for BTS Boston, where he leads the development of innovative solutions that drive client value. Through advisory, coaching, and facilitation, Andy helps leaders and teams develop communicative leadership to drive business performance. As a nationally recognized thought leader in trust and leadership, he brings a particular focus on how to increase engagement through strategic communications and effective individual and group interactions. Prior to joining Bates, Andy was the Chief Innovation Officer with Interaction Associates where he led the firm’s development of products and next generation services. He has been published or quoted in Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Rotman Magazine, Entrepreneur, Training Industry Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Globe and Mail.

Sarah Woods Is Head of Office for BTS Boston, a practice that helps leaders drive business success through executive presence and communicative leadership. In her current role, Sarah leads major client relationships and provides advisory and consulting to boards, CEOs and their teams, and provides oversight for the office and our business targets. A dynamic keynote speaker and thought leader, Sarah has been quoted in dozens of publications including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, Business Review USA and The Standard.

Roanne Neuwirth is Head of Marketing at Bates, now BTS Boston, where she leads the team responsible for developing and deploying the firm’s marketing strategy. She brings over 20 years of experience driving business value through client-focused marketing in business-to-business environments. Prior to joining Bates, Roanne was Senior Vice President of Client Services at the Farland Group, an executive relationship marketing consulting company, and has held marketing leadership roles in various organizations, including Boston Consulting Group and Balanced Scorecard Collaborative.

Meghan McGrath is the Director of Marketing for Bates, now BTS Boston, where she executes the firm's strategic marketing and public relations initiatives. She leads the firm's web strategy, content marketing, event marketing, speaking engagements, social media, video strategy, and branding. She is passionate about generational studies and multi-generational interactions and communication in the workplace. Meghan is responsible for oversight of the firms blogging and much of the content development and content branding. 

Meghan joined the firm in 2012 after graduating from Fairfield University with a BA in English, Journalism and Philosophy. 

Scott Weighart is Consultant and Executive Coach, Director of Leadership Programs for Bates, now BTS Boston, where he is at the forefront of creating the firm’s innovative tools and content for executive coaching, consulting, and leadership programs. As a certified Bates ExPI feedback provider, Scott provides executive clients with valuable and actionable feedback on their executive presence and influence. Prior to joining Bates, Scott spent over two decades in roles within the education and private sectors, helping adult and student learners reach their full professional potential through books, articles, workshops, and integrated learning systems.

Michael Seitchik is Consultant and Executive Coach and Director of Research and Assessment for Bates, now BTS Boston, where he helps senior executives succeed by providing valuable feedback and guidance on executive presence and influence. Michael is a certified Bates ExPI feedback provider, and contributes to the firm’s thought leadership and client experience innovations. For over 30 years, Michael has been helping successful senior executives through coaching and custom executive education workshops. Prior to joining Bates, Michael operated a successful firm specializing in executive education, coaching and team development, and was previously Managing Director of Executive Education Services at RHR International, where he developed unique and powerful approaches to executive development.

Elizabeth Freedman, MBA, CSP, is an Executive Advisor and Consultant at BTS Boston who advises C-level leaders and teams to strengthen business performance through outstanding leadership.  Elizabeth works with some of the most recognized companies in the world and is valued for her ability to develop trusted partnerships with senior leaders who want practical, concrete strategies that help them accelerate results, grow their people, and enhance their ability to influence and make a positive difference in the world.

Elizabeth specializes in working with C-level executives and teams who are leading enterprise-wide initiatives focused on change, growth, and transformation.  Through coaching, consulting and facilitation, her work supports leaders who want to foster environments where strong collaboration, alignment, and shared accountability are the norm.  Her work includes a deep assessment of individual and team performance to create a strong approach that is grounded in data and integrates the needs of key stakeholders into the process, including the Board, executive team, employees, customers, and peers.

Margery Myers is an Executive Advisor and Consultant who helps leaders drive business performance by increasing their influence and engaging their stakeholders. Through one-on-one coaching, advisory, and team programs, she guides executives to lead through transformational change, enables leadership teams to align around a common strategy, and develops leaders to transition to executive roles and represent the organization to important stakeholders. Prior to joining Bates, she was Senior Vice President of Communications for Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company to Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins. Earlier, she was head of communications at Talbots.  In these roles, she built and led high-performing communications organizations that expanded the companies’ brand awareness, drove employee engagement, and positioned them as industry leaders. She has played key roles in acquisitions and divestitures, brand launches, global expansion, crisis mitigation as well as regular reporting of financial results. 

Jacqueline Brodnitzki is Consultant and Executive Coach and Director of Leadership Coaching. She partners with corporate executives to accelerate performance and drive business execution. Jacqueline helps senior leaders elevate their executive presence and inspire and engage their important stakeholders. Prior to joining Bates, Jacqueline was the President of Conscious Success, offering executive coaching and consulting, and spent fifteen years in corporate and management roles with Hewitt and New York Life Retirement Plan Services. She is the author of Conscious Success: The 5 Step Process to Dissolve Stress, Increase Productivity and Find Your Flow At Work, a guest blogger for organizations such as the Center for Coaching Certification, and was the host of a regular radio show called “She’s Got It” where female executives shared their top leadership tips and stories.

Kevin is a seasoned leader with over 30 years of experience in the human capital space. He has coached hundreds of executives, worked with executive teams to gain greater alignment and productivity and has designed and implemented award-winning leadership learning processes and organization change initiatives. Kevin has worked across most major industries around the globe and brings significant experience with due diligence and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Sean Costa is Senior Director, Sales, for BTS Boston. Sean has built and led successful sales and marketing teams/programs for the past 20+ years at Digital Consulting Institute (DCI), Linkage Inc., Palladium Group, and Corporater Inc. covering a wide range of marketplaces including Human Capital/Leadership & Organizational Development, Strategy & Performance Management, and IT/Business Software.

Damon Bates is an Executive Advisor and Consultant at Bates, a BTS Company. He is passionate about partnering with senior executives to become exceptional leaders that inspire and align. In his work coaching and advising executives and their teams, he brings his deep experience in executive leadership roles to help his clients accelerate their performance and deliver results.

Laura Fay is an Executive Advisor and Consultant at Bates, a BTS Company. Her passion is empowering leaders to inspire their teams, better execute on strategy, and transform their business. Laura has over 20 years of experience in corporate leadership with deep expertise in executive communication, serving as counsel, coach and advisor to senior leaders during times of crisis and change management, and helping executives find compelling ways to share their stories and connect with stakeholders. Over her career, she has served as chief advisor to the CEO and management teams on internal and external communication strategies and oversaw public relations activities and served as chief media spokesperson. Her experience includes significant tenure at Wells Fargo, Wachovia, and Scudder Investments where she held leadership positions in corporate communications, content marketing, and thought leadership.

Chris Goodnow is a Marketing Associate for Bates, now BTS Boston. He joined the firm in 2016 after graduating from Framingham State University with a BS in Marketing. Chris helps execute strategic marketing and public relations initiatives including the firm's web strategy, content marketing, event marketing, speaking engagements, social media, and branding.

Gisèle, the Director of Administration and Project Management for BTS Boston, has primary responsibility for the development and execution of project plans related to large multi-service client engagements. Gisele, a Professional Certified Coach, is also certified in the Hogan Assessment Inventory, MBTI and Lominger 360 Assessment.

David Atkins is a Research Associate. He began working with the firm after he graduated from Amherst College in 2017 with a BA in Economics and Psychology. There, his senior thesis in Psychology focused on topics in organizations with diverse workgroups. David works to identify, analyze, and describe patterns in data collected from the Bates ExPI^TM worldwide.

Mary Lou Andre is a nationally renowned executive image consultant and the author of Ready to Wear:  An Expert’s Guide to Choosing & Using Your Wardrobe. She is a sought after corporate advisor and expert on professional dress codes and corporate image issues, is frequently quoted in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post, and has appeared on ABC World News Now, CBS, The Early Show, and CNN. As an affiliate of Bates, Mary Lou works with our executive clients to guide them in developing an overall presence and physical demeanor aligned with their position, using wardrobe as a strategic tool that influences others.