Kara Penfield has worked in leadership development, institutional effectiveness, and assessment-related positions for over 20 years. She received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from West Virginia University, and a Masters and Doctorate in school psychology from the University of Florida. Kara’s career in leadership began with the Walt Disney World Company where she was responsible for operations and professional development for multiple sales and marketing teams. Combining her background in professional development with her doctoral training in psychology, she later assumed a leadership role in K-12 public education as a Chairperson of psychological service delivery for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Following 8 years of work in K-12 public education, Kara transitioned to assessment in higher education in the role of Director of Academic Assessment for the University of Miami where she was responsible for leading an institution-wide initiative to design and implement an assessment system for evaluating institutional effectiveness. Following her tenure as Director at the University of Miami, Kara has continued to serve as a consultant of institutional effectiveness for other universities, most recently for Wake Forest University. Building on her passion for and experience in leadership development and organizational effectiveness, Kara began working as an executive coach in 2012. She is an Adjunct Faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, where she works one-on-one with individuals in leadership positions at varying levels of organizations to integrate results of assessments and client insights to help leaders become more effective in their positions.