Managing Partner
Ellen Kumata
Less-experienced C-level leaders are consistently surprised at how much time and skill is required of them to deal with relationship and people issues that have a direct impact on the overall success of the business.
Ellen is Cambria’s managing partner and the founder of Cambria’s executive coaching practice. She has over 25 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies to ensure their leadership strategy, governance, and organizational structure support their business strategies. Her engagements have spanned the strategic talent management field, with a specialty in working with the CEOs and senior leadership of complex global organizations. This work has included succession planning, executive and high-potential development, leadership team effectiveness, performance management, and selection. A recognized thought leader in the field of executive coaching, Ellen coaches board members, CEOs, C-level succession candidates, and other high-potential leaders. Her clients represent a wide range of industries, from financial services to manufacturing, from biotech startups to major federal agencies.
Background
In addition to her leadership role at Cambria, Ellen has served on the boards of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Before joining Cambria in 1988, Ellen was a principal of McBer and Company (now part of the Hay Group). Prior to that, she was an associate professor at California State University, Stanislaus, and earlier, an assistant professor at Michigan State University. Ellen has been admitted to the State Bars of Michigan and California.
Education, Professional Activities
Ellen holds an MSc in industrial relations and personnel management from the London School of Economics and Political Science; a JD from Wayne State University Law School; and a BA in psychology from the University of Michigan. Among Ellen’s numerous publications, presentations, and speaking engagements are “Managing Coaching Practices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP) annual conference 2011; and co-author of “The Coaching Impact Study: Measuring the Value of Executive Coaching,” International Journal of Coaching in Organizations (Volume 4, Issue 3, 2006). In 2013, Ellen received the Founding Fellow Award from the Harvard Institute of Coaching.