YOUR COACHES

A diverse, thoughtful team dedicated to your excellence and growth.

Noel BulgeR

Noel Bulger, Managing Director of Galánta Coaching

MANAGING DIRECTOR & COACH

Known for helping leaders intuitively navigate self development, Noel built Galánta as an intentional bridge across industries, abstracting the universal truths around the benefits of cognitive versatility for performance enhancement in the workplace.

Noel has lived and learned leadership across a variety of contexts. This has given him an intimate understanding of how exceptional leaders form and flourish. He began his leadership career as an officer in the US Marine Corps, actively practicing how to build and lead teams in combat and crisis situations, where authority and excellence drove performance. He then transitioned to a diplomatic leadership role in Southeast Asia, and explored leadership through the lens of discretion and flexibility, understanding how to guide through influence and relationships. This led him to develop mastery of aligning stakeholders with different agendas and cultural contexts, a critical tool for his future work. Noel’s work then began a new chapter as a liaison to the US Special Forces and foreign special forces communities. While serving as an instructor of leadership and tactics, Noel found his next professional home for scaling impact in the world.

Turning to academia, Noel was curious about how current research could complement his experience as a leadership practitioner. This led him to attending business schools at Stanford and Georgetown, as well as becoming a certified leadership coach. Noel’s executive coaching repertoire spans across healthcare, law, industry leading consulting firms, banking, private equity, tech startups and FAANG companies. Additionally, he’s worked directly with the highest levels of Department of Defense leadership and various political parties across the world.

Gleaning insights from how each of these industries understands leadership development, Noel has brought the top coaches from each industry together to form Galánta, a collective of distinctive coaching talent. Each driven to help leaders fuel their own growth, become cultural forces for good, and leave positive imprints on the world.

    • Georgetown: M.S. in Leadership and International Business

    • Stanford Graduate School of Business: IGNITE Program

    • Marine Corps University

    • Leadership Circle Profile

    • Gallup Global Strengths

    • Emotional Intelligence

    • DiSC

    • International Coaching Federation, Professional Certified Coach

  • Noel volunteers as an executive coach and mentor across a variety of non-profit organizations focused on helping former members of the military find fulfilling careers.

MEET THE TEAM

Vandana Ram Allman

VANDANA RAM ALLMAN

  • With over 20 years of global experience, Vandana Ram Allman has worked with individual leaders and teams that span the United States, Europe, and Asia. Her dedicated mission is to help educate and advise leaders to make better decisions for the benefit of their organizations. Every generation has its challenges, yet the common denominator is that great leaders want to make a positive and lasting contribution. As an advisor and executive coach,

    Vandana has helped leadership teams achieve clarity about their organization’s mission, values and impact on one another and the constituencies they serve. Vandana’s work with leaders is both transformative and stabilizing.

    Vandana spent a decade with The Gallup Organization as the Global Practice Group Leader and Senior Strategic Consultant for Leadership and Talent Development where she led the advancement of psychometric tools and implementation within complex global organizations.

    She has helped transform leadership teams in industries such as government, healthcare, intelligence, legal as well as companies who are providers to The United States Department of Defense.

    Vandana served as an advisor to a firm of 1200 lawyers addressing critical succession and executive development needs. There, she also led the effort to identify and advance the next generation of leadership talent throughout the organization’s widespread office structure and market coverage. Analyzing complex internal and external metrics, she identified and developed seemingly disparate pockets of excellence to accelerate the firm’s leadership capabilities, helping launch the firm’s new strategic plan with reinvigorated and intentional leadership.

    She has been a speaker before professional groups on topics such as strengths-based leadership, and inclusion.

Betina Koski

BETINA KOSKI

  • Betina Koski has coached and advised senior executives for 20-plus years across all aspects of leadership development. For the past six years, she was the Associate Dean of Partner Learning and Senior Learning Expert at McKinsey & Company where she developed and led leadership programs for the Firm’s Partner Group.

    Prior to rejoining McKinsey, Betina was an executive coach and leadership development facilitator for CEOs and their non-profit equivalents as they attempt to transform themselves based on the concepts described in Jim Collins books, “Good to Great” and “Built to Last”. In this capacity she worked with a range of organizations, from banks to school districts, and developed and delivered leadership training programs, coached CEOs on personal effectiveness, and led focusing and goal setting workshops for leadership teams and Board of Directors. During this period, she also trained and coached senior managers and leaders on a variety of leadership skills: communicating effectively, building trust-based relationships, giving feedback, coaching, and managing conflict.

    Betina’s previous experience comes from 10 years with McKinsey, first as a consultant in the São Paulo Office, then as the first dedicated development professional for McKinsey’s South American region.

    Betina is a dual citizen of Brazil and the United States. She now lives with her husband, two teenage boys, and dog in Boulder, Colorado where she runs, hikes and skis whenever she gets the chance.

CONSTANTINE PAPPAS

  • Prior to consulting, Constantine held senior leadership positions in corporate organizations. He was President of Global Leadership & Talent at FIS Systems, where he introduced and embedded talent initiatives. This included partnering with Cornell University in developing and launching high potential programs. Before joining FIS Systems, Constantine headed up talent and people strategy in Asia for Thomson Reuters, based out of HK. He started his career with Procter & Gamble; progressing into senior sales and supply chain leadership roles prior to leading organizational development in the Asia Pacific region, during his ten years at P&G.

    Constantine is passionate about making a difference to the lives of underprivileged children through targeted intervention, leveraging the resources and support of his clients. He partners with the New South Wales Police in providing grants, and employment and mentoring programs for underprivileged youth in Sydney.

Jakob Blank

JAKOB BLANK

  • Jakob has a deep passion for leadership development, which originated from 7 years of experience at McKinsey in client facing roles (up to Jr. Partner level). Jakob left McKinsey in January 2020 and after a short gig at a technology unicorn, decided to start his own coaching practice focusing on authentic leadership, executive coaching, trust, team and relationship dynamics, facilitation, and learning design.

    Originally from the Netherlands, and after living across the globe, he settled down with his family in Wisconsin, USA. He is married to Elizabeth and proud father of a beautiful son. Jakob is an intentional father and empowering husband. Running a family-owned business together with his wife Elizabeth. Building a legacy for the future generations.

    Jakob advises some of the world’s leading institutions and executives. Executives often work with him because of his direct, honest approach which together with his business knowledge helps them to navigate their own careers and business landscape. Next to coaching, he is regularly sought after by companies for his strategic advisory work, and he develops and delivers leadership training programs for executives.

    When coaching he focuses on bringing out the authentic leader within each of us. Leveraging this to navigate difficult situations and create extraordinary outcomes.

  • Christine leads with love, speaks truth with sincerity and inspires others to bring their truest whole selves to the table. She specializes in helping professionals lead with authenticity to transform into their best selves both personally and professionally. Together, she and her clients deepen conversations and shape organizational culture. Her vast experience makes her the ideal thought partner to help leaders create meaning in their own lives and in their organizations, resulting in motivated employees, customer commitment, increased productivity and ultimately further progress towards organizational goals.

    For more than a decade, Christine served on active duty as an Executive Communication Advisor, in the U.S. Air Force. As an advisor, she helped national and international leaders create communication strategies to address topics such as: diversity, talent acquisition/retention, diplomacy, misconduct, marketing and policy. She is a Bronze Star recipient who has led international consultation, worked with the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force, governors, African & European Ambassadors, CEOs of space industries, movie directors, national media outlets and sports organizations. Currently, she continues to manage, develop and lead the Department of Defenses’ # 1 Media Training program for defense senior leaders. Her innate ability to learn about what drives people on an individual basis both personally and professionally, has allowed her to pull leaders into uncharted territories of success.

    Her powerful intuition blended with her ability to see varying perspectives, allows others to successfully bring their ideas to light. In 2020, she founded Authentic Ascent, LLC an Executive Leadership Coaching and Consulting business focused on aligning purpose and values. Christine has designed a coaching program that begins with helping her clients clarify the values that drive them. She combines this insight with her clients’ natural talents and skills to help them create a filter for their decision making. She also helps clients identify behaviors which serve them, resulting in increased self-awareness. As a consultant, Christine’s vast communication experience allows her to support clients with language to communicate on a deeper level and create common understanding and processes organizationally.

    Christine brings curiosity, clarity, compassion, courage and comedic relief to coaching. As a Virginia native with Jamaican roots, she loves to dance, eat and travel. She is a devoted wife and mother of three beautiful little humans, and she often says she gets some of her best leadership lessons from experiencing life with them.

CHRISTINE GUTHRIE

Sue Callaghan

SUE CALLAGHAN

  • As an executive coach, Sue Callaghan is committed to nurturing powerful, happy leaders. Sue believes in growth and the possibilities it has to offer, including an enhanced capacity to build relationships, engender trust and add more value. By inviting small changes when a client is stuck or expanding their role, Sue is an advocate for her clients to generate big and distinct impact for themselves and others. Sue brings authenticity, warmth and positive energy to her clients. She utilizes powerful questions and bold noticing to access each leader’s innate wisdom. Her ideal client is open to possibilities, interested in self-awareness in service of others, and a leader that is willing to stand out from their peers.

    For sixteen years, Sue served on the Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business Executive Education team for Customized Corporate Programs and the signature Executive Integral Leadership, a holistic, leadership development certificate program. In doing so, she interfaced with leaders daily to create transformational growth experiences. As a result, individuals and teams became more self-aware and were better prepared to navigate the complexity of their environment.

    In Sue’s early career, she used her strengths in analysis and communication as a consultant for Peterson & Co. as well as Palmer & Palmer Marketing Research, and then as a financial analyst for both NutraSweet and Van den Bergh Foods companies.

    In alignment with her values of authenticity and growth, Sue has also engaged in a variety of volunteer board roles. She was the Founding Chair and ten-year leader of the Michigan City, IN Samaritan Counseling Center’s largest fundraising event, a community 5K run/walk.

    Sue and her husband, Jim, live in South Bend, IN, USA and they are the proud parents of four adult kids.

BAKTASH AHADI

  • Baktash is a seasoned professional and has worked with a wide variety of companies and organizations, ranging from the federal government to being a Peace Corps Volunteer, an interpreter with the Marines, to the top management consulting firms, and to his own tech start-up. Baktash has been in various leadership roles and work environments and knows firsthand the great value that leadership coaching provides.

    Baktash is also an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker. Much of his coaching practice overlaps with his filmmaking mission which seeks to explore the human condition by sharing compelling stories that tell a uniquely nuanced perspective to garner a greater sense of understanding and awareness.

    His lived experience as a former refugee, humanitarian, and combat interpreter shapes his understanding of living between different cultures, which informs his empathetic and creative approach to engagement, storytelling, and meaningful conversations. He writes, speaks, and teaches regularly about individual, organizational, and societal change.

CHRIS LUTH

  • Chris’s passion is how we think, especially through creative and (self)reflective processes. He lives his passion by coaching leaders and facilitating vision, strategy and organizational development – with local communities, world-class universities and Fortune 500 companies.

    Having studied Business Administration, Architecture and Philosophy in the Netherlands and Spain, and Leadership Coaching at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., Chris initially worked as an architect. In 2010, he began organizing and facilitating workshops and debates on architecture and urbanism in four continents as a cultural curator. He continues to teach at multiple Architecture Schools in the Benelux.

    Chris co-founded the ChangeLab Global community of leadership practitioners, educators, and experts in 2020. He helped build Volt Europa to become the pan-European political party and movement it is today by organizing and facilitating key national and international events. Since he was a candidate Member of European Parliament in 2019, he has been training and coaching political candidates across the continent.

DR. CAMILLE NEYHOUSER

DR. CAMILLE NEYHOUSER

  • Dr. Camille Neyhouser is a Leadership Coach & Organizational Development Expert with a 14-year career in the international development sector (both UN agencies & big international NGOs). She has lived, worked and travelled in over 45 countries on five continents. She has been an Executive and Career coach for over 12 years and has ample experience working with large international organizations (e.g. top global management consulting firms, international development organizations, financial institutions). She is passionate about leadership and how heart-centred, authentic leaders can help transform the organizations they work with through passion, curiosity & heart – a topic she explored at length in her doctoral thesis.

    In her coaching, Camille focuses on identifying and transmuting the unconscious (limiting) beliefs that stop her clients from getting to their next level of growth. Where appropriate, she uses a variety of mindfulness and embodiment techniques to draw connections between thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. This helps consolidate and embed the shifts beyond the level of mental awareness and produces radical, permanent results for her clients. Camille has trained in career and workplace coaching and recently undertook advanced training in holistic coaching, an approach that helps individual clients, teams and organizations reach their goals by focusing on the person as a whole (body, mind and spirit).

KULJIT TAYLOR

  • With nearly 20 years of experience working in commercial, non-profit, and government organizations, Kuljit brings a unique mix of strategic, operational, and leadership insights as a trusted advisor, confidant, and coach to executive leaders around the world. She incorporates diverse disciplines into her work, such as psychology and contemplative practices, to help senior leaders navigate a deeply personal journey to rediscover and reintegrate their true essence. The result is an embodied leader with greater capacity for effectiveness and fulfillment.

Federica Vinci

FEDERICA VINCI

  • As the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Isernia, Federica showcased her exceptional leadership abilities. She spearheaded initiatives related to EU funds, youth policies, urban projects, and participatory democracy. Notably, she founded the Youth Forum, secured substantial grants for youth-related projects, and orchestrated the successful "Career Festival" and "Street Art Festival." Her political experience helped her navigate the difficulties of compromises, conflict, and the fear of loss of both allies and opponents, allowing her to thrive in this hard environment.

    During the municipal elections, Federica served as a Campaign Manager and Candidate, leading a dedicated team of volunteers to achieve remarkable results for Volt. Her leadership skills played a pivotal role in Volt's electoral success.

    Federica's role as a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government highlights her passion for coaching and mentoring. She guided students in community organizing, empowering them to take impactful actions in their communities.

    Federica's dynamic leadership was evident during her tenure as the President of Volt Italy. Under her guidance, Volt Italy grew from 100 to 800 activists and volunteers in 40 cities. She orchestrated numerous political and activism campaigns, promoting diversity and inclusion through initiatives like "RoadTo50%."

    Federica's influence extends beyond Italy. She was honored as an Obama Leader Europe in 2020, and as Policy Leader Fellow by the Transnational School of Government at the European University Institute, engaging in discussions on pressing global issues and supporting emerging leaders in their leadership journeys.

    In 2022, Federica had the privilege of being interviewed by none other than President Barack Obama at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Their conversation delved into leadership and politics, further solidifying Federica's position as a thought leader in her field.

RUSS WATTS

  • Russ’s work as a coach, facilitator, instructor and focuses on supporting senior leaders, leadership teams, and organizations in aligning leader knowledge and behavior and leadership capacity with organizational strategy and mission needs. He has worked with C-level executives, managers and entrepreneurs in the United States, Italy, U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, India, Brazil, Japan, China, Afghanistan, and Colombia. Russ Watts’ client organizations have included government, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 50 companies. He has worked with leaders across the federal government including State Department, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, National Institutes of Health, Justice Department, Commerce Department, Department of Homeland Security, National Park Service, and Central Intelligence Agency.

    Russ has helps leaders find their own trail to reach their potential by using mindfulness, the ability to assess situations and behaviors objectively, compassion, humor, and authentic support. Russ works to develop leadership awareness for the betterment of themselves, their communities, and institutions. He has strengthened and encouraged hundreds of clients in understanding their patterns, potential, strengths, and weaknesses, thus providing a richer understanding of themselves and the culture and relations they are surrounded by.

    Some of his other passions include mountaineering, river kayaking, ultra-running, rock climbing, cooking, and photography that have allowed him to stand on Denali, Kilimanjaro, and climb Half Dome and Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite.