The ConantLeadership Team
Founder & CEO: Douglas R. Conant
Douglas R. Conant is an internationally renowned business leader, New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker, and social media influencer with over 40 years of leadership experience at world-class global companies. For the past 20 years of his leadership journey, he has honed his leadership craft at the most senior levels—first as President of the Nabisco Foods Company, then as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and finally as Chairman of Avon Products. In 2011, he founded ConantLeadership—a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works in the 21st century. Today, Doug, among his other board commitments, also serves as Chairman of CECP and as Chairman of the Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance. Learn more about Doug here.
Chief of Staff: Mara Katsikis
Mara is an enthusiastic developer of people and a seasoned leader of high-performing small business teams. She delights in helping contributors to grow their skill sets and thrive in a fiercely complex marketplace. With a background in negotiation, public relations, business development, human resources, and training and development, she is the perfect “Jack(ie) of all trades” to steward the small but hearty leadership team to ongoing growth. She is responsible for contributing to the management of all organizational operations including strategic planning, board of director work, finances, marketing, speaking engagements, publishing efforts and the advancement of a substantial not-for-profit agenda.
Executive Administrator: Diana Hansen
Diana is so essential to the day-to-day operations at ConantLeadership that she has earned the alternate job titles of “Chief Logistical Officer,” “Right-Hand-Woman,” and “Planning Goddess,” depending on the scheduling, business, and administrative challenges of the day. With a long career supporting executives at the highest levels of Fortune 500 companies, Diana is tenacious, detail-obsessed, creative, whip-smart, and clairvoyant. She anticipates and addresses what is needed to support and advance the operations of the enterprise oftentimes before the company (or even CEO) is aware. It’s no surprise that her professional excellence has been recognized throughout the industry: She is a distinguished winner of the 2022 Admin Awards, the highest honor in the administrative profession.
Editor in Chief & Director of Content: Amy Federman
Amy is the steward of ConantLeadership’s suite of high-impact leadership content and training and she is co-author with Doug Conant of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, THE BLUEPRINT. She is a highly experienced writer, fastidious editor, seasoned digital marketer, and a social media infatuate. Passionate about leadership, learning, and language, she is honored to apply her expertise to bringing “leadership that works” to life throughout our content platform and leadership programming. Working in close collaboration with Doug, Amy guides the content strategy and helps execute and deliver an engaging portfolio of leadership resources for a modern audience. Amy also leverages her experience in social media, digital communications, content marketing, and community management to activate, inspire, measure, and grow the ConantLeadership community: a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works.
Lead, Business Development: Ben Conant
Ben is responsible for uncovering new business development opportunities for ConantLeadership. Working closely with the Chief of Staff, he applies his rich experience to executing a programmatic growth strategy for the organization. Previously, Ben spearheaded the development of new emerging channels for The Planting Hope Company Inc.(TPHCI), from e-commerce to food service, until the company’s successful public offering. A high-impact sales, marketing and business development strategist, Ben has over 16 years of experience on both agency and client sides, working cross- functionally with brands such as Guinness, Tropicana Pure Premium, Propel Fit Water, Jimmy Dean, and Aidells. Prior to joining TPHCI, Ben worked as Hillshire Brands’ first Senior Analyst, Government Affairs and Industry Relations, where he led key relationships while applying creativity and flexibility to business analysis. Ultimately, upon acquisition by Tyson Foods, this role evolved into a promotion to lead integration of sales planning data for $250M product, driving sales in the gourmet category. Ben graduated with a BA in English and Interdisciplinary Film Studies from Purdue University where he competed on the Purdue Men’s Tennis Team.
Director of Leadership Programs: Emma Anthony
At ConantLeadership, Emma is responsible for accelerating growth in our training programs and for working with leaders across commercial, federal, and academic institutions to realize their potential and grow into the best versions of themselves through our suite of offerings. As a seasoned instructional designer, Emma has over a decade of experience developing transformational executive leadership development experiences. Before joining the ConantLeadership team, she worked with the Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance, the Peace Development Fund, and served as a board chair for Women in Philanthropy—experiences which helped develop her passion for creating events for changemakers. Originally from Pennsylvania, Emma is a passionate Eagles fan. When she is not salt water fishing or hiking with her Akita (Firn), you can find her at local breweries sampling NEIPAs. Emma also loves baking and recipe testing—much to her husband Jake’s dismay, the kitchen is always covered in flour! Interested in our leadership development programs? Schedule an introductory call with Emma here.
Manager & Administrator, Training Programs: Anne Hart
Anne is an exuberant cheerleader for people on the journey to becoming authentic and compassionate leaders, and has spent her career helping learners of all backgrounds pursue success and acquire the skills they need to make change in their industries. With a background in leadership development, education, event planning, community building, and both public and private sector work, she excels at fostering a learning environment that allows leaders to embark on deep personal journeys, while also providing them with practical and accessible tools that fundamentally alter their ability to lead in an increasingly volatile world. Having grown up in Colorado, Anne feels most at home in nature, preferably an aspen grove in the fall. She and her husband love to get their hands dirty in the kitchen and in their flourishing garden, and their two husky pups enjoy helping to dig holes when they aren’t chasing the local wildlife.
Certified BLUEPRINT Boot Camp Facilitator: Melissa Tassie
With over three decades of developing people and leaders, Melissa has mastered the art and science of teaching leaders how to tap into their unique strengths to drive meaningful change across organizations and teams. Her greatest passion and joy is teaching leaders who are committed to envision, reflect, study, plan, practice, and improve in order to positively transform their culture, increase their results, and strengthen employee engagement. In addition to partnering with ConantLeadership to bring the concepts in The BLUEPRINT to life, Melissa has brought her gifts for facilitation and leadership coaching to a range of clients like Victoria’s Secret, Ohio State University, NetJets, Lane Bryant, Bridgestone, Dior, and many more.
