Founder

Mary Lou Skinner is a Senior Consultant with Action Learning Associates, an international consulting firm that is dedicated to helping organizations build sustainable, competitive advantage through teamwork and leadership development. In the field of executive development, Action Learning Associates is recognized as a worldwide leader in the design and delivery of dynamic, high-involvement, learner- centered, educational programs.

As a process-oriented consultant, Mary Lou works to bring concepts of teamwork and leadership alive through artful combinations of discovery-oriented tools and processes. In addition, she helps participants to reflect on and draw meaning from these carefully crafted experiences. Her work also frequently links individual development and team development through the use of multi-rater feedback, team coaching, and action planning.

She has applied her work with clients from a broad range of industries, including financial services, consumer products, high technology, and manufacturing. She has worked in a variety of global leadership development programs including NCR’s Leading People for Peak Performance, the Weyerhaeuser Leadership Institute, the University of Southern California’s International Business Education and Research (IBEAR) program, and Dow Chemical Company’s Lead to Change program at H. H. Dow Academy.

Prior to her work with Action Learning, Mary Lou worked at the Center for Creative Leadership, where she facilitated and taught the team development module. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Sweet Briar College, a Master’s Degree in Education from Antioch College, and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Lou enjoys hiking and skiing in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and spending time with family and friends.