Our Team

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Mike Whitehead is the founder and CEO of The Center for Intentional Leadership, a consulting firm specializing in developing leaders and performance-focused cultures. His firm has designed and delivered consulting engagements to many organizations, including Fortune 500 companies and mid-size companies including Time Warner Cable, Harris Teeter, Springs Creative Industries, Duke Energy, Carolina Tractor and Keynote Corporation, Haskell, OrthoCarolina, Lance/Snyder, among others.

Mike has also served as a consultant, facilitator or speaker to numerous community and non-profit audiences such as Leadership Charlotte, Mecklenburg County BAR’s Leadership Institute, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, The Forum for Corporate Conscience, North Carolina Association of CPA’s, Charlotte Regional Real Estate Association. He has served as board member of several organizations including the Dowd YMCA, Jacob’s Ladder Job Center, and the Alexander Youth Network, among others. Currently he serves as a board member for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools’ Parent University, and Queens University School of Education, and is recognized for providing his services pro-bono to many community organizations.

A vital and balanced quality of life plays a major role in Mike Whitehead’s personal life as well as his practice. He has been married for 24 years to Beth Murray Whitehead and has two teenage children of whom he is ‘most proud.’ Mike has participated in skydiving, motorcycling, full court basketball, yoga, running, and is also an avid real estate investor.

TOM LANE

Tom Lane is a primary consultant and COO of The Center for Intentional Leadership. He merges corporate and financial experience, strategic guidance, passion and purpose in his work with corporations and community organizations.

Before joining Whitehead Associates in 2005, Tom’s career included working on Wall Street with Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley, as a Senior Vice President of Marketing at Bank of America Securities, Inc, and as a Senior Vice President and member of the executive management team of UVEST Financial Services.

Tom is passionate about the community and children, and is a student mentor with Alexander Youth Network, a board member of Classroom Central and WFAE Public Radio, and provides pro-bono advisement for Girls On The Run and Dress for Success. He also speaks to numerous organizations about living a life of purpose. He graduated from the University of Boulder with a double major in psychology and communications, followed by an MBA with a concentration in marketing and finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Tom believes in living fully and savoring the moment, including enjoying healthy and interesting cuisine with friends, exercising, yoga and good music. He is also passionate about volunteering with kids, the New York Yankees, the Giants or Duke basketball as well as solo adventures to exotic places like Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

NICHOLAS BEAMON

As a principal consultant for The Center for Intentional Leadership, Nicholas Beamon helps people discover, harness and leverage intrinsic resources to significantly increase their success.

Nicholas brings 20 years of corporate experience as a senior vice president at Wachovia to develop individuals, business teams, leaders and non-profit organizations into next-level performance. His corporate experience includes strategic development and execution of major product lines, executive recruiting strategy and talent development, as well as tactical execution of sales, service and financial performance.

Nicholas has a finance degree from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from the McColl School of Business at Queens University. Nicholas has served as board chair of the Afro-American Cultural Center; was a board member for the Johnston YMCA and Uptown Childress Klein YMCA, and The Junior League Corporate Advisory Board; and has served on committees for the Arts and Science Council and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. In 2006, he was recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal as a “40 under 40.” He has two young sons, is a former NCAA Division I baseball athlete, coaches youth baseball, and is an avid golfer who reluctantly admits his swing could use a little work.

Susanne Deitzel

Susanne Deitzel brings a love of language, a passion for people, and a commitment to positive purpose to The Center for Intentional Leadership. As Director of Programs, she helps develop and deliver the vital messages of the organization, as well as extend its reach into the community. She is the primary blogger, scribe and social media ‘voice’ of The Center for Intentional Leadership.

Susanne has been a communications consultant and writer in Charlotte for fifteen years. Susanne has advised and written leadership communications for business and community figures, and facilitates conversations and information sharing toward vision, growth and community.

Susanne has provided editorial, web design and collateral design, copywriting, and corporate communications for local and national corporations and non-profits and has profiled many of the most dynamic leaders in Charlotte as a contributing editor and feature writer for Greater Charlotte Biz Magazine. She has written for Charlotte Observer publications, written and produced a book titled Ballantyne, The First 10 Years, has written for several magazines and has designed and produced online content and social media interfaces.

When not creating conversation, Susanne enjoys listening to the voices of her two incredible children, taking long runs, and hiking in the mountains. She is a social media enthusiast, avid reader and dedicated listener who is continually rejuvenated by the possibilities created by common purpose, deliberate language and positive intent.

Our Associates

Jennifer Mease

Jennifer Mease is an associate consultant and researcher with the Center for Intentional Leadership. Jennifer brings a focus on communication practices and strategies as they contribute to organizational culture and individual leadership. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her studies focused on organizational communication and culture.

Jennifer brings a focus on helping organizations create environments where individuals can bring their full selves and full potential to the workplace, regardless of identities or differences that vary across organizational membership. She assists organizations in identifying hidden obstacles to this goal and developing organizational and individual strategies for overcoming those challenges. She has published several articles and book chapters addressing how social bias and power imbalances are built into organizational structures. When not working with The Center for Intentional Leadership, Jennifer is an Assistant Professor at Texas A & M University, where she teaches the next generation of leaders how to work effectively across personal and social lines of difference.

Jennifer maintains her own life balance by taking long walks with her dog, Cash, practicing Yoga, and spending time listening to her family and friends. She fosters her creative spirit by making jewelry that she loves sharing with her family and friends.

Karen Rogich, CHC

Karen Rogich is a certified health coach committed to helping people realize their potential physical and emotional wellness. She is passionate about health, nutrition and wellness and believes that it is critical for the health of our country and the world. Karen works one-on-one with executives, busy professionals and mothers, and conducts group sessions, community workshops and school programs.

Karen began her career in news, working for a Washington Post subsidiary and also ABC News Radio. She later worked in public relations for the National Institute of Health at the Clinical Center, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse. She holds a Master of Education degree and completed her student teaching in the Charlotte Mecklenburg schools.

Karen is the mother of three children, and loves the outdoors, running, visiting the beach and mountains, going for walks, yoga, and chatting with friends. She recently won her age group category in a trail race at the US National Whitewater Center, and is a member of Slow Food Charlotte.

Kevin Davis, MSW

Kevin Davis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Her approach involves sophisticated integration of mind-body psychotherapies developed over of thirty years of experience, intensive study, continuing professional and personal training, and a committed exploration and implementation. Kevin helps clients to discover and dismantle self-limiting patterns in relationships, attachments, addictions, control issues, and physical symptoms.

Kevin is a certified mediator and has been active in her community as a cofounder of Hospice at Charlotte, in 1980, and is currently a member of both the Chemical Dependency Board and the Lawyer Support Committee of the Mecklenburg Bar. As the former director of a nonprofit counseling program, Kevin developed staff and created programming for 15 years. She founded and directed the Family Therapy Training Institute, which has trained hundreds of therapists and administrators throughout the Southeast. She has served on the faculty of the Family Practice Residency program and as a team leader for the Council on Accreditation, traveling throughout the US evaluating and accrediting nonprofit agencies.

Kevin has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing and Management and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is married to Jim and mother to Will and Josh. She loves biking, wilderness trips, traveling, and painting.

Dr. Russ Greenfield, M.D.

Russell Greenfield is a nationally prominent physician recognized for his work in wellness and integrative medicine. He emphasizes that optimal physical condition promotes peak performance in other areas of our lives including work, play, mental clarity and relationships.

Russ graduated from Brandeis University to attend The Chicago Medical School. After graduating, he completed his internship, residency and a fellowship in Emergency Medicine at Harbor / U.C.L.A. Medical Center. In 1997, he began a life-changing fellowship at the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Andrew Weil.

Focusing on wellness, patient empowerment and strong data about solutions that help people achieve maximum health, happiness and vitality, he considers delivering this message his true purpose.

Dr. Greenfield served as the founding director of Carolinas HealthCare System’s Carolinas Integrative Health, and has performed several leadership roles with both Carolinas Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital. He is an assistant professor at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as well as the University of Arizona, and teaches in many other capacities at universities and symposiums around the world. Russ holds positions and chairmanships on several advisory boards, is an author, advisor, reporter, editor and reviewer for several publications including scientific and medical journals. He was a medical advisor for the Weil Lifestyle newsletter, an editorial advisor on the Ask Dr. Weil Website, and has appeared on many radio and television talk shows. He is a consultant and spokesperson for Harris Teeter’s YourWellness Campaign and is developing several outreach projects to make health and wellness accessible and attainable for everyone. He also maintains a consultative medical practice.

Jason Boudrie

Jason Boudrie is a Fitness Consultant and Certified Personal Trainer, having held several national fitness certifications. With over fifteen years experience, he has helped countless clients reach their fitness and wellness goals. Jason has built several fitness studios and training centers, and his clients include individuals, small groups and organizations. He strives to understand the mental and behavioral components that affect the fitness and health patterns of his clients, and uses this knowledge to guide each of them towards better overall health. Jason recognizes the unique opportunity businesses have to promote physical and nutritional wellness within their organizations, and provides successful and sustainable on-site fitness programs and wellness initiatives for employees, leading to a healthier and more productive workforce.

Jason is married and has two wonderful daughters. He enjoys a healthy lifestyle that includes as much time outdoors as possible, working out, mountain biking and spending time with his kids and wife.