As the practice leader within her Employment Practice Group, Jeanne Holmes, PhD is responsible for managing the HR consulting operations. She has over 20 years of experience providing support and consulting services on issues related to diversity| equity| inclusion| justice, employee relations, leadership development, people analytics, and workforce planning. Her experience spans a variety of entities including state and local government departments and agencies, K-12 private schools, nonprofit organizations, technology companies, financial institutions, and insurance organizations.
In addition to leading the employment practice group, Jeanne is an adjunct professor of management at North Carolina Central University’s School of Business where she develops the next generation of HR professionals. Her past experience also includes serving as a Research Fellow for the U.S. Department of Defense within the Army Research Institute (Ft. Jackson Element) and volunteering for several years as a mediator within the North Carolina criminal and family court system. Her unique blend of practical experience and academic training have shaped her focus on evidence-based interventions and led her to share her solutions on stages throughout North America.
Dr. Holmes earned her bachelor’s degree in management from Miami University, master’s degree in organizational communication from North Carolina State University and doctorate in business administration from the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business.

Cathy Light is a successful entrepreneur with experience working with global corporate clients across a wide range of markets and industries. Her passion for building businesses has led her to the launch of Liderança Group, Assessment Leaders, Leadership Balance, Be Well Perform Well, and Business Builders. She is a dynamic speaker with an engaging personality who has a genuine passion for helping business leaders achieve their goals. Cathy’s style is results-oriented, and tailors programs to meet each client’s unique needs. Open, honest communications are at the heart of all of her engagements. She uses a straightforward approach to help executives set realistic and achievable change management and growth initiatives. She considers herself a true partner in each company’s ultimate success. Cathy also believes strongly in establishing relationships at all levels within an organization to truly get to core issues and holds a looking-glass up to a company’s leadership. She helps implement visionary, long-lasting changes to create a healthier culture and improve an organization’s overall performance. As a result, she has earned the respect of both clients and colleagues around the world who graciously recommend her services. Cathy’s corporate career began at Apple Computer, where she directed internal communication and public relations during the exciting time of the Macintosh factory launch. Reporting to two General Managers under Steve Jobs, she regularly attended senior-led staff meetings with and managed special tour assignments for the technology legend. She then transitioned to Fuji Optical Systems Ltd (a subsidiary of Fuji Film), where she worked for a decade. As a Senior Sales and Marketing Executive, Light was instrumental in developing a new division for Fuji that revolutionized the dental industry for years to come. By utilizing Fuji’s leading, high-resolution imaging technology, the first video dental camera shaped like a mouth mirror was developed, an innovation that became a $500M market within five years. Cathy Light later served as Vice President and General Manager of Sunrise Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded developer and manufacturer of lasers and related products for ophthalmic and dental applications. In 1995, Light was recruited to help the struggling dental division. In less than two years, Cathy and her team, she achieved a 38% growth in sales, streamlined operations, established disciplined budget controls, and reorganized global distribution channels. Light’s leadership turned the division around,
setting it on a course of profitability increasing shareholder value, to a liquidity event in less than three years. In 1998, Cathy Light decided it was time to build on the business expertise and experiences she had gained, and founded her first management advisory company: Business Builders, providing management solutions to executives of early stage to Fortune 500 companies in a broad range of industries, creating effective strategies to position their businesses for growth. The company’s wide range of services includes web-based planning and performance systems, management 360 competency tools, executive coaching, human capital assessments, and an e-commerce training and development site.