Clients:
Her clients include a wide range of organizations, including colleges and universities in seven systems of higher education across the country. A partial list of clients includes The California State University – Office of the Chancellor and campuses, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, LA County Natural History Museum – President and senior leadership team, University of California System President and campuses, University of Texas System Office of the Chancellor and campuses, University of Nebraska System (president, senior leadership team, board, the flagship at Lincoln as well as the medical center and two other campuses), Northwestern University, University of Houston, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Scripps Women’s College and Yale.
Volunteer Activities:
Dr. Kaufman is a committed volunteer who contributes time and resources to professional development organizations. Currently, she is on the board of the Coachella Valley Symphony, dedicated to providing scholarships to young emerging musicians and to support diversity among youth and adult musicians who perform for the symphony. She is also a member of Eisenhower Health’s Circle of Stars, a women’s philanthropic group. She is an advisor to and past president of Leadership California, a non-profit organization devoted to educational programs and furthering the advancement of women leaders in business, government, education and other public and private arenas. She serves on Leadership California’s Executive Advisory Board and also served as past president. Additionally, Dr Kaufman is the recipient of the prestigious Leadership California Leader award for her program design and board development efforts. In her teaching capacity, she is also on the faculty of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers (WACUBO).
Education:
Dr. Kaufman received her Ph.D. in Education, with an interdisciplinary focus in leadership and non-verbal behavior from Claremont Graduate University (CGU). She served as the Leader-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Leadership, located at the Peter Drucker School of Management (CGU), where she earned her Master’s in Executive Management. Dr. Kaufman periodically serves as an adjunct professor at CGU, where she teaches courses in leadership and talent management. She is also a certified master instructor in the use of the Connective Leadership Achieving Styles Model.
Publications:
For a printable version of Dr. Kaufman's bio
About Barbara Kaufman
Barbara L. Kaufman, Ph.D.
President
ROI Consulting Group, LLC
For 30 years, Dr. Barbara Kaufman, President of ROI Consulting Group, LLC, has worked as an executive, educator and executive coach to help individual leaders and teams increase their leadership effectiveness and organizational capacity. As a trusted advisor to leaders in higher education and the non-profit sector, Dr. Kaufman combines executive experience with researched-based, pragmatic guidance in the area of leadership effectiveness. Expertise includes: leadership effectiveness at the individual and team levels, executive coaching, high performing teams, performance assessment for senior administrators, executive on-boarding, shared governance, succession planning, board development and related topics.
In the area of leadership effectiveness, Dr. Kaufman has designed a comprehensive performance review process for presidents and chancellors in two complex systems in higher education. Decades of experience related to executive coaching and onboarding for senior leaders in the non-profit sector has made her a sought- after advisor to senior leaders in higher education and the non-profit sectors. Dr. Kaufman believes that the process of enhancing leadership effectiveness should be a learning experience for the client. It is an opportunity for leaders to understand their leader’s strengths and an opportunity to reevaluate what may need to be done differently to excel in his or her role, especially in diverse cultures and roles. Her assessment approach is qualitative based on a belief that open-ended questions offer more insight into strengths and weaknesses than numeric ratings provide. The performance criteria, assessment process, including interview questions, as well as professional development recommendations are customized to meet client needs. Similarly, Dr. Kaufman’s approach to on-boarding offers newly appointed senior leaders a multi-faceted snapshot of organizational culture, team dynamics and expectations of the client’s board, system head and new direct reports. This customized onboarding enables leader to engage more effectively, especially during the first 100 days in a new role.