Overview
Brenda Ellington Booth is a Clinical Professor of Leadership and an executive coach. She joined Kellogg in 1999 as an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations and Associate Academic Director of Executive Programs. In 2009, she was promoted to Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations. From 2007-2012, she held the role of Academic Director of Kellogg Leadership Coaching Programs in which she collaborative created with faculty coaching components into Kellogg's MBA and executive education curriculum.
Education & Certifications
Professor Booth holds a A.B in Economics from Stanford University, an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Kellogg's Graduate School of Management. Since 2008, Professor Booth has been a certified executive coach and has the designation of a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
MBA Teaching & Coaching
At the MBA level, Professor Booth teaches two courses: Personal Leadership Insights (PLI) and Leader as Coach. She created and designed these courses in collaboration with a team of clinical Kellogg and NU faculty. She serves as mentor coach for new faculty teaching PLI. Professor Booth is a Leadership Coach in Kellogg's Zell Fellows Program and teaches the PLI in Northwestern's Master of Science for Leadership in the Creative Enterprises and Master's in Analytics Program. In 2010, 2012 & 2016, Kellogg students awarded Professor Booth with the Certificate of Impact in recognition for her outstanding contribution to their Kellogg experience. Each year, she provides numerous webinars and workshops for students' organizations, conferences and staff groups at Kellogg and Northwestern University on topics on Leadership. She also hosts an annual panel on mental health for Kellogg students.
In previous years at Kellogg, Professor Booth was awarded the Doctoral Teaching Award for Exceptional Teaching Performance, authored case studies on leadership and change management for the not-for-profit sector, and taught MBA courses including People for Competitive Advantage, Management and Organizations, Negotiations, Change Management and Leadership of Non-Profit Organizations.
Executive Education - Academic Director, Teacher & Coach
At the executive level, Professor Booth designs curriculum, teaches, conducts webinars and coaches in numerous executive programs. She was the co-creator of Kellogg's longstanding Energizing People for Performance programs. For ten years, she was the co-academic director of Kellogg's flagship Executive Development Program (EDP) and for five years, she was the co-academic director of the Kellogg Management Institute (KMI). She deisgned a coaching module, hired coaches and served as an executive coach for numerous Kellogg executive programs including: Sphere of Leadership, Energizing People for Performance, Leading the Family Institute, EDP, KMI, and Kellogg's degree Executive MBA (EMBA) program. Also, she has taught topics in leadership and/or has served as an executive coach for numerous custom programs including the Cup Africa Program, Chicago Public School Cabinet, Chicago Cubs organization, Eisai Pharmaceuticals, Ernst & Young, Jefferson Wells, Baxter International, the U.S. Intelligence Community, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Chicago Public Schools, Alaine Locke Charter Schools, and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists. In prior years, Booth served as academic director of programs for USG, International Paper, Baloise Insurance, Aon Financial Services and Baker & McKenzie law firm.
Prior to Kellogg
Before joining Kellogg, Brenda taught elective seminars at Stanford University and wrote a case study on change management for the University of Michigan's Graduate School of Management. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Brenda accumulated several years of work experience in corporate settings in the functional areas of accounting, finance and marketing. She started her career at Home Box Office as a financial analyst and went on to publish an investors' report on the insurance industry for the former investment bank Salomon Brothers while obtaining her MBA from Stanford University. She also was an account executive with the advertising agency Leo Burnett.