The executive development partner for leaders who carry the weight of an institution.
We are doctoral-level practitioners and ICF PCC-credentialed coaches — formerly at the leadership level of research universities and national foundations — who work alongside presidents, provosts, deans, and foundation executives in sustained, confidential partnerships. We build the capacity that outlasts our involvement.
Peer-level partners. Proven institutional leaders.
Both founders have held the seats their clients occupy — as a college president, deans, and institutional leaders at research universities. That lived experience is the foundation of every engagement.
A sociologist and 25-year veteran of institutional leadership, Mathew has served as a college president, a dean at Brown University, and department chair — leading institutions through strategic and transformational change at every level of academic leadership. He brings that full executive biography to every coaching and consulting engagement.
His coaching practice rests on four cornerstones: presence, justice, solidarity, and self-knowledge — a model grounded in both academic theory and decades of practice at the intersection of leadership, equity, and institutional change. He has worked alongside leaders across more than 300 organizations in higher education, philanthropy, and the social sector.
Shannon brings depth in executive coaching, coach education, and organizational development to every engagement. A former dean at Brown University with a doctorate in Social Psychology, she combines institutional leadership experience with the precision of a trained coach educator and a researcher's grounding in how people and organizations change.
As faculty and program director for SPARC's AoEC-accredited coach training programs, Shannon is developing the next generation of executive coaches in the United States — through rigorous, globally recognized credentials.
From the individual to the institutional — a complete system of executive development.
Whether you are a senior leader seeking a transformational coaching partnership, or an organization navigating complexity at scale, SPARC meets you where the work is real.
Executive Coaching
Sustained, confidential partnership for senior leaders at inflection points — navigating transition, building capacity, deepening impact.
- 1:1 Executive Coaching (ICF PCC)
- CliftonStrengths Coaching
- Leadership Circle Profile
- Enneagram Coaching
- Executive Advising
Development Programs
Accredited programs that build lasting capacity — for leaders moving through developmental thresholds, aspiring coaches, and leadership teams.
- Vertical Leader Development
- AoEC Coaching Skills Certificate
- AoEC Practitioner Diploma · ICF Level 1
- Team Coaching Engagements
- Leadership @ Scale
Organizational Consulting
For organizations navigating challenges too complex for the org chart — strategic positioning, culture transformation, leadership system design.
- Strategic Consulting
- Culture & Equity Work
- Board Assessment & Development
- Organizational Diagnostics
- Executive Team Alignment
"Some leadership challenges are too complex for the org chart. That's when executives call us."
The Academy of Executive Coaching. In the U.S., we are the only gateway.
SPARC is the exclusive United States partner of the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) — a globally recognized, triple-accredited coaching training organization. When SPARC delivers coach training in the United States, we do so with the full backing of AoEC's internationally validated programs and faculty standards.
That credential signal matters — for organizations selecting a coaching partner and for aspiring coaches seeking training with recognized global standing. SPARC's AoEC partnership is not a marketing affiliation. It is a rigorous quality standard that shapes every program we offer.
Coaching Skills Certificate · Practitioner Diploma (ICF Level 1) · Coaching Tools Certificate
The thinking behind the work.
SPARC's founders write and think publicly about leadership, development, and organizational transformation — connecting research, practice, and lived experience.
On coaching, leadership, and the courage to develop.
Shannon writes from the intersection of coaching practice, leadership research, and the honest work of supporting senior leaders through change. Her posts are practitioner-voiced, evidence-grounded, and directed at the real experiences executives navigate when they decide to grow.
A framework for leader development that actually sticks.
The Leadership @ Scale series is SPARC's flagship intellectual contribution to the field — arguing that individual leader development and organizational transformation are not two programs but one interdependent system. Written for presidents, provosts, and executives navigating the intersection of leadership and institutional change.
Some leadership challenges are too complex for the org chart. That's when executives call us.
Whatever brought you here — a transition, a challenge, or simply the sense that something more is possible — let's have a conversation.