Bernardo Ferdman

Bernardo is an internationally recognized expert and thought leader on inclusion, diversity, and inclusive leadership, with over 35 years of experience. As an executive coach, Bernardo combines curiosity, vulnerability, intercultural awareness, and a belief in each client’s strengths with forthrightness, incisive questions, and clarity of thought in ways that both support and challenge clients get to the heart of and address the key issues that they are working on. He has worked with Berman Leadership Development since 2014.

Background and Experience

Bernardo is passionate about creating a more inclusive world and he works with leaders and their teams to develop and implement inclusive behavior and multicultural competencies. He has consulted to organizations and coached leaders across sectors, business structures, and locations. Bernardo is a native Spanish speaker, having grown up in Argentina. He has served in leadership roles in many professional associations, including as president of the Interamerican Society of Psychology and of the Diversity Collegium, and was the 2020 H. Smith Richardson Jr. Visiting Fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership. In his consulting practice, he particularly focuses on building inclusive leadership practices to bring out the best in organizations and their members, on assessing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and on developing DEI strategies. Bernardo created Inclusion@Work®, a digital coaching platform for learning about inclusion, as well as the Workplace Inclusion Inventory™, a robust assessment of the experience of inclusion and inclusive behavior. Bernardo has received multiple awards throughout his career, including the 2019 Society of Consulting Psychology Award for Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Consulting.

Industry Experience:

  • Consumer Products
  • Education
  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare Services
  • Information Services
  • Manufacturing
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Technology

Areas of Specialization

  • Assessment for Development
  • Communication: Executive Presence
  • Communication: Language
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Culture Change
  • DE&I: Women
  • DE&I: Other
  • Executive Coaching (Individual)
  • I-O Psychology
  • Influencing/Collaboration Skills
  • Leadership: Emerging
  • Leadership: Senior
  • Leadership: Private C-Suite
  • Surveys
  • Team Coaching/Development
  • Training & Large Scale Facilitation (Group Education)

Education and Training

  • Ph.D., Yale University
  • M.S., Psychology, Yale University
  • B.A., Psychology, Princeton University

Coaching Certifications:

  • Board Certified Coach
  • Center for Credentialing & Education

Qualifications

  • Conflict Dynamics Profile
  • Profilor 360
  • WorkPlace Big Five Profile

Books

Berman Leadership Articles

Media Resources

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