Brenda H. Oneal

“People are motivated by their inner truth, and that truth dictates a person’s behavior. Leadership development is personal development through self-reflection, self-realization and practice; it is an act of creativity.”

Brenda is a Leader Coach who sees leadership practices as being antiquated. From her perspective, corporate America wants to hang on to ancient beliefs about leadership even though those beliefs no longer serve us from the standpoint of effectiveness—or even efficiency. Brenda understands that today’s leaders must learn how to work with others in an increasingly diverse workplace and, by extension, constructively deal with the anxiety that comes with the inherent conflict of ideas, opinions and experience.

The former chair of the commission on Human Rights and Relations for the Town of Hamden, CT, Brenda currently co-chairs the Connecticut Minority Supplier Diversity Council’s (CMSDC) Business Opportunity Fair—the largest minority trade fair and business conference in the northeast region. She also Chairs the CMSDC Program Committee for the Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee (MBEIC). Brenda is a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instructor, and competency model and competency application developer. She earned a M.S. degree in communication theory and research from Illinois State University, where her academic focus was on competencies in small group communication and effective leadership. She holds a B.A. degree from Augustana College, where she studied communication theory research and psychology.