Partners in Excellence

Below are brief profiles of the Partners in Excellence, in alphabetical order:

Lilian Abrams, Ph.D.
Ann Barrett, Ph.D.
Robin Fogel, MA
Maureen Klecha, BA
Peter Muniz, MBA
Marie Panyko, MBA

Lilian Abrams, Ph.D.

Dr. Abrams has consulted in Organizational Effectiveness / Development, Training, and Applied Research for over fifteen years.   Her specialty areas include Organization Development/Effectiveness; Leadership Development and Executive Coaching; Diversity; Performance Management; Instructional Design and Delivery; and Applied Research (Focus Groups, Surveys, Interviews).   Her experience includes leading companies in International Banking, Automotive, Pharmaceuticals, Investment Banking, and Consumer Products.

Prior to entering the consulting field, Dr. Abrams was Senior Manager, Organization Effectiveness, for Nabisco (Corporate Headquarters).   In this role, she developed and oversaw a successful company-wide leadership development program for high-potential early-career leaders.   She also utilized her extensive applied research experience to oversee the implementation of a new annual employee survey, which featured ties between survey results and important Nabisco performance indicators.

Based on the West Coast until 1998, Dr. Abrams held Organization Development and Research Consultant positions in two prominent HR consulting firms, Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt.   She also held positions within Kaiser Permanente (California) as an Organization Effectiveness Consultant and Researcher.   Her consulting work in these roles included leadership coaching and training; performance management design and implementation; diversity; merger/acquisition integration; competency development; and both national and global employee research projects, utilizing a combination of focus groups, interviews, and surveys.   Industry experience on the West Coast includes:   Financial Services, Publishing, Healthcare Delivery, and Aviation.

Dr. Abrams earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior (Psychology) in 1995 from The Claremont Graduate University, and an M.B.A. from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center at the same institution in 1990.   She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from UCLA, with Phi Beta Kappa, College of Letters & Science, and Latin (magna cum laude) honors.

Ann Barrett, Ph.D.

Ann has had a diverse career in the Educational, Consulting and Professional Association Research fields.

Her experience includes psychological assessment and counseling in Hospital settings, Career Development and Counseling in High School and University settings, with a heavy emphasis on coaching for success.

Dr. Barrett has also been an adjunct professor at Fordham University teaching graduate courses in Multiculturalism/Diversity and Program Design & Evaluation.   She also taught undergraduate courses in Research Methodology and General Psychology.

In her consulting career, Ann developed programs & curricula addressing intergroup relations and conducted diversity training for volunteers.   Additionally, she was responsible for the design and execution of research utilizing focus group, polling, and phone interview data analysis methods.

With the Conference Board she consulted, presented, and wrote on topics such as Leadership Development, Coaching, Assessment of Personal Characteristics, and Engaging the Mature Workforce.   Ann has worked as an adjunct professor and consultant in the areas of diversity/multiculturalism and program evaluation.   She also has expertise in mentor/intern programs, and corporate-sponsored education programs.

Dr. Barrett earned her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University (1998) and she is a NY State Licensed Psychologist. She is member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the NJ Organizational Development Network (ODN).

Robin Fogel, MA

Robin has had a diverse career in private industry, Government and consulting.   In her career with the Government of the State of New Jersey, she served in leading roles as Human Resources Director and Assistant State Treasurer.

In consulting, her areas of specialty have been coaching professionals of many disciplines such as consultants, planners, non-profit executives, lawyers and business executives for success.

She is particularly skillful in coaching for effective use of client time, priority setting, management of staff, and work life balance. She is also successful in coaching professionals in transition issues, including new career roles and redefining the factors of effectiveness and success.

Robin holds a BS in Finance and Accounting from Stockton College, and an MA in Human Development from Farleigh Dickenson University.   She is also a graduate of Coach University.   Additionally, she is a member of the International Coach Federation, the NJPCA- NJ Professional Coach Association and the CJWN- Central Jersey Women's Network

Maureen Klecha, BA

Maureen advanced her career in the Human Resources field, where she progressed to the level of the Chief Human Resources Officer for $200m division of Fortune 100 Electronics Company. In that capacity she provided hands-on HR leadership supporting employee population of 500.

In the consulting field Maureen specializes in organizational assessment, individual executive coaching programs, custom curriculum design, and classroom style instruction.

She has facilitated the growth and development of numerous professionals and managers through facilitation in the areas of communication, influencing, emotional intelligence, selection, coaching, delivering performance feedback, setting goals and planning for employee development.

In 1986, Maureen earned a BA in Communications Studies from Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Peter Muniz, MBA

Peter Muniz is the president of a consulting company that bears his name.   He is bilingual and bicultural.   He provides consultation and training services in both English and Spanish, to organizations in the private and public sectors, in the United States and abroad.

His educational background includes both the technical and human resources areas.   Mr. Muniz is a member of the New Jersey Organization Development Network (ODN) and a co-founder of the Latino OD Network, a unit of the National Organization Development Network.   His organizational experience includes line and staff positions at managerial and non-managerial levels.   His consulting and training activities include Organization Development, Teambuilding, Executive/Management Coaching, Needs Analysis (organizational, unit, and individual), Management Development, Management of Diverse Work Environments, and Trainer and Consultant Training.   He has completed the Training for Coach Certification Program presented by Inside Management, ltd.

Mr. Muniz has also spent one year in Panama training Panamanian trainers and consultants.   He has published on a wide range of training and consulting topics, and has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Supervisory Management.   He has been a presenter at numerous professional conferences in the United States and abroad.

Mr. Muniz is a co-developer of The Cultural Awareness Hierarchy(, a widely accepted model for improving productivity, communications, and understanding in diverse work settings at the national and global levels.

He recently launched a job focused Spanish language training and consulting initiative:   ¡Aquí Se Habla Español!sm for Spanish-dominant employees in U.S. organizations.   The major goal of this initiative is to accelerate the development of Spanish-dominant employees so they can contribute to productivity and participate fully in the organization as soon as they become employed.

Marie Panyko, MBA

Marie Panyko is a performance consultant, coach, seminar leader and professional speaker.   She works with corporate clients, sales organizations, professional associations and delivers public workshops.   With more than 25 years of training and coaching experience, Marie focuses on management and leadership competencies as well as team and communication skills.

Marie spent more than a decade of her career in a fortune 500 company in the insurance and financial services industry.  She headed the Leadership and Executive Development Team, responsible for communication, leadership, team and diversity training throughout that organization.  While there, Marie was instrumental in creating and implementing the Performance and Development strategic change process and in rolling out the Quality Program.  In addition, Marie's experience includes creating an executive leadership curriculum and developing corporate frameworks for implementing organizational change.

Marie works closely with managers and executives providing feedback and developmental coaching.  She enables individuals and work groups to develop frameworks and techniques to implement behavioral change on both an individual and organizational level.

Marie is an adjunct faulty member of the Community and Professional Programs, Raritan Valley College, NJ.  In addition, she has been a guest speaker at the NJ Governor's Conference on Women in Business and keynote speaker for a number of small business functions.  She is a member of Toastmasters and the National Speakers Association.

Marie received her Human Resources Certificate and MBA from Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA.  She also holds numerous certifications - MBTI, LIFO, LBA -II, Human Element and the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science Change Management Leadership Certificate.