The 360 assessment can be both eye-opening and transformative, and my experience with Ilona Birenbaum was nothing short of that. Her thoughtful approach to feedback helped me refine my leadership style in ways that have had a direct and measurable impact on my success.
Ilona guided me through deep self-reflection, helping me identify both my strengths and the areas where subtle shifts could amplify my impact. One of the many valuable lessons I took from our work together was how to balance strategic intensity with relational depth—ensuring that my direct, data-driven approach resonates more effectively across teams. This has been pivotal in my ongoing focus to simplify complex ideas, engage teams with clarity, and drive alignment at an executive level.
Her coaching also reinforced the importance of stepping fully into my influence—challenging me to lean into executive presence, voice my perspectives with confidence, and trust my instincts. These lessons have directly contributed to the way I’ve integrated into a new organization, helped to clarify strategic direction, and led transformational initiatives.
The work I did with Ilona didn’t just shape how I showed up in that moment—it set me up for long-term success. I now navigate leadership challenges with greater self-awareness, confidence, and adaptability, and I credit Ilona’s expertise in making that growth possible. I heartily recommend Ilona to any leader looking to elevate their impact, refine their communication, and gain the clarity needed to operate at their highest level.
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Brittany Freiden, SVP of Strategy at Lightfully Behavioral Health
Featured Resource
Excerpt from Human Capital Management:
What Really Works in Government – Chapter 1
This chapter describes how new leadership at the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Transportation (DOT-OIG) achieved transformational change.
I had the privilege of working with Ilona Birenbaum for more than five years as part of the coaching pool for the Schusterman Fellowship, an elite global leadership development program for nonprofit and social impact executive leaders. During this time, Ilona demonstrated exceptional adaptability, responding to feedback from Fellows and identifying unique opportunities to bring her clients concepts and frameworks that complemented our curriculum. Ilona supported her clients generously and skillfully through extremely complex situations such as the pandemic, social unrest, and global crises. She also provided valuable high-level insights on the cohorts, offering observations that helped inform staff decisions and led to meaningful adjustments in the program. In addition to her work with individual clients, Ilona collaborated with fellow coaches, always striving to elevate the overall experience for our Fellows. Her deep commitment to the success of the leaders we served and her ability to collaborate effectively with a diverse team of coaches make her an exceptional asset to any program.
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Colleen Cruikshank, former Director, Schusterman Fellowship
Ilona Birenbaum is an exceptionally skilled and effective executive coach. I have had the benefit and opportunity to work with Ilona in her support of my peers, my organization and in support of my professional growth. In each of those engagements, Ilona has brought value, insight and professionalism. Her commitment, curiosity and compassion are at the heart of her work. She consistently provides sound counsel and honest advice, asking the tough questions and offering direct feedback. She is a collaborative force, dedicated to supporting each executive on their journey to grow professionally and personally. She is an extraordinary resource to me and I would recommend Ilona to any executive looking to invest in their leadership skills, their management style and their dedication to development.
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Louis Finkel, Senior Vice President, Government Relations National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Ilona brings a unique blend of expertise, empathy, and strategic insight to every coaching session. She has a remarkable ability to listen deeply, ask thought-provoking questions, and provide guidance that challenges and empowers you to reach your full potential. She creates a safe, supportive environment that fosters self-awareness and personal and professional growth while offering practical strategies to overcome challenges and seize opportunities. What truly sets Ilona apart is her genuine investment in my success.
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DR. KERRY BUCKLEY, Vice President, MITRE, Center for Integrated Transportation FFRDC Director, Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD)
Working with Ilona as my leadership coach has been an incredibly valuable experience. Using a Leadership 360 evaluation, she helped me identify my strengths and areas for growth, and together, we created a tailored leadership development plan. With her guidance, I’ve already noticed growth in myself as a leader. Ilona is easy to work with, thoughtful, and insightful, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise in leadership and coaching. I truly appreciate the opportunity to grow under her leadership.
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NON-PROFIT LEADER, NOVEMBER 2024
Ilona designed and facilitated an offsite for my team in August 2024. She listened to what I wanted to accomplish with the session and came back with a compelling agenda for the day with some great, interactive activities. In facilitating the program, Ilona connected with each one of us and helped our whole team connect better with each other. We deepened relationships, tapped into our creativity and had a meaningful day thanks to Ilona’s professional, warm and insightful facilitation.
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Sharyn Nerenberg Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs, Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs, W. R. Grace
In my current position, I facilitate the Deloitte Global Managing Director promotion process. I connected Ilona with a candidate who was looking for a coach that could help him address developmental feedback and really up his game. As a result of the coaching and this candidate’s hard work at his own development, the promotion panel unanimously supported his advancement, recognizing him as one of the strongest candidates to be evaluated in recent memory. Ilona went out of her way to ensure he was a success – connecting with me to understand the program and being there when the candidate needed her, even if that meant a debrief the night before his interview at 10PM.
We will certainly look to Ilona again when we have a candidate who needs coaching support to help bring out their best.
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Christina Lexa Organization Development Manager, Deloitte Global
I enjoyed your class instruction this week and I feel very much encouraged and empowered. I am passionate about leadership, professional, and organizational development and this week has sparked a bit of “light” in me. I’m excited to self-improve, employ some of the techniques I’ve learned, and to learn more along the way. Hope to cross paths again!
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AUDIT MANAGER AT A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
Ilona is smart, skilled and delivers on her ideas with professional style. We connected with Ilona for ideas and strategic direction for our new industry mentoring program, and she is a wealth of knowledge and solid recommendations. She created two customized webinar programs for us to connect our mentees and mentors with each other for a virtual dialogue. She shared practical tools to build their mentor relationship, which we now have as an ongoing resource. We are grateful for Ilona’s time, energy and expertise and would work with her again anytime!
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Marjorie D. DePuy Vice President, Industry Relations and Education, Healthcare Distribution Management Association
Ilona and colleague were critical partners in helping us shape and deliver NRECA’s leadership development program that was customized to help drive organizational culture change. Ilona was a great sounding board and advisor with interesting ideas on how best to create a program that would have immediate impact and long-term sustainability. She and her partner have run five different cohorts for people leaders and individual contributors over the past 18 months. The HR team has received numerous accolades from program participants and their managers on the strength of the program. I highly recommend Ilona to any organization seeking leadership development and coaching consulting.
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Shaara Roman Senior Vice President, Human Resources, NRECA