About Us
Our History
We formed Pilgrimage Professional Development Group in 2008 to bring our career experiences together and to create an organization that could provide the kind of professional development work that we like to experience – focused, smart, creative, high-impact, and challenging interactions that create insights and changes in both thinking and behavior. (Click to read more About us)
We formed Pilgrimage Professional Development Group in 2008 to bring our career experiences together and to create an organization that could provide the kind of professional development work that we like to experience – focused, smart, creative, high-impact, and challenging interactions that create insights and changes in both thinking and behavior. (Click to read more About us)
Our early career experiences working for amazing organizations like Outward Bound and The Center For Creative Leadership instilled an appreciation for learning through experience and we cultivated an understanding of leadership science and program design that is foundational to our work today. The relationships that we maintain with our staff and consultants are collaborative and leverage the collective knowledge of these partners to produce extraordinary outcomes. Our history of working with thousands of leadership professionals from all over the world has informed our approach and helped us learn and grow as leadership consultants. We strive to bring the best thinking in leadership development to our work and believe that we have a unique blend of experience, education, and exposure that qualifies us to assist the best leaders in the best organizations globally.
We decided to call the business “Pilgrimage” because we like the imagery that the word evokes. We have trekked and traveled through some of the world’s most amazing places, and find our clearest thinking and greatest insights when we journey purposefully and intentionally. We believe that, at its core, leadership is about purpose and intention. Our work is about helping others bring these elements to who they are and what they do.
We decided to call the business “Pilgrimage” because we like the imagery that the word evokes. We have trekked and traveled through some of the world’s most amazing places, and find our clearest thinking and greatest insights when we journey purposefully and intentionally. We believe that, at its core, leadership is about purpose and intention. Our work is about helping others bring these elements to who they are and what they do.
About Our Partners
Glenn Newsom, PhD
Senior Partner, Co-Founder
Glenn has worked with thousands of professionals from large and small organizations and believes strongly in the power of focused and intentional personal and professional development. He particularly excels in helping senior leaders become more effective within their work environments. Glenn's coaching work specializes in assisting executives, mid-career professionals, and high potential individuals who are striving to take their skills to the next level. He understands the multiple challenges and roles required of modern professionals and how developing an individual's skills and competencies can provide positive impact for organizations. His background as a psychologist/counselor, his understanding of organizational systems, and his past coaching relationships continue to inform his action-oriented, person-centered approach.
Click here to read more about Glenn
Originally from North Carolina, Glenn received his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master's degree in Counseling from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Doctorate in Counseling with a Minor in Business at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Originally trained as a psychologist/counselor, Glenn has been working as an executive coach and consultant since 1998. He served as faculty member at The Center For Creative Leadership between 2000-2004, and in 2005, Glenn founded his own consulting firm that grew to become Pilgrimage in 2010. As part of that work, he designs and delivers custom leadership and management training content, provides individual, team, and organization assessment consulting, and engages in executive coaching relationships with an international clientele.
Glenn’s consulting work has occurred across a myriad of industries including for-profit, non-profit, and educational organizations. Consistent professional development engagements within large manufacturing companies, management consulting firms, retail, healthcare, high-tech, pharmaceutical, and finance organizations have defined the majority of Glenn’s coaching and consulting experiences over the span of his career. Specific focus as a trusted advisor and coach to the most senior leaders and their executive teams are key areas of interest and expertise for Glenn.
Originally trained as a psychologist/counselor, Glenn has been working as an executive coach and consultant since 1998. He served as faculty member at The Center For Creative Leadership between 2000-2004, and in 2005, Glenn founded his own consulting firm that grew to become Pilgrimage in 2010. As part of that work, he designs and delivers custom leadership and management training content, provides individual, team, and organization assessment consulting, and engages in executive coaching relationships with an international clientele.
Glenn’s consulting work has occurred across a myriad of industries including for-profit, non-profit, and educational organizations. Consistent professional development engagements within large manufacturing companies, management consulting firms, retail, healthcare, high-tech, pharmaceutical, and finance organizations have defined the majority of Glenn’s coaching and consulting experiences over the span of his career. Specific focus as a trusted advisor and coach to the most senior leaders and their executive teams are key areas of interest and expertise for Glenn.
Peter Hazelrigg, MS, MDiv
Senior Partner, Co-Founder
Peter's coaching clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds including corporate, healthcare, higher education, non-profit, and religious organizations. His particular area of interest is in developing leadership capacity in senior leaders and leadership teams through a combination of professional coaching, education, and assessment. Peter is also Affiliate Faculty for UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Peter received his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Denver, a Master's in Counseling from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Click here to read more about Peter
Peter believes that knowledge of self is critical for strong leadership. His assessment for development approach offers leaders a blend of insight, skill development, and leadership science. Believing that all leaders can grow and improve, he focuses on a process that challenges old assumptions, sets measurable goals, and facilitates a culture of constructive feedback. He has partnered with hundreds of organizations to add value through coaching engagements, customized professional training programs, and assessment services that increase organizational impact.
In his coaching work with leaders in all kinds of organizations, Peter recognizes the challenges of be a professional in a hyper-connected, never really off, digital era that can can be exhausting. The discipline for successful leaders is finding their own unique balance with professional, personal, and community roles. His coaching methodology helps his clients figure out how to become more efficient and impactful with their time, reset boundaries to make professional life sustainable, and reclaim the values that make it all worth while.
Peter is a Board Certified Coach (BCC), adjunct faculty for The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and is also an ordained Presbyterian minister.
In his coaching work with leaders in all kinds of organizations, Peter recognizes the challenges of be a professional in a hyper-connected, never really off, digital era that can can be exhausting. The discipline for successful leaders is finding their own unique balance with professional, personal, and community roles. His coaching methodology helps his clients figure out how to become more efficient and impactful with their time, reset boundaries to make professional life sustainable, and reclaim the values that make it all worth while.
Peter is a Board Certified Coach (BCC), adjunct faculty for The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and is also an ordained Presbyterian minister.
Chuck Ainsworth, MA
Partner
Chuck is a global leader in the field of executive coaching and leadership development. He works with top executives and C-suite teams when the stakes are high. He knows what it takes to build and lead high performing teams, foster trust and influence change across boundaries. Previously, as Head of Coaching at the Center for Creative Leadership, he grew one of the largest coaching practices in the world. Chuck is a sought after and dynamic communicator, consultant, and coach with a refreshingly authentic, practical, no-nonsense and inspiring style. He gets results and strives to create deeply meaningful learning experiences and emotionally intelligent leaders. Chuck’s unique expertise includes large-scale coaching for organizational impact, developing internal coaches, and helping organizations build a culture of emotionally intelligent, feedback rich conversations leading to psychological safety and enhanced performance.
Click here to read more about CHUCK
Prior to CCL, Chuck held a number of leadership roles including Head of Learning and Development for an international disaster relief agency followed by a few years in a nationally ranked healthcare system where he focused on executive coaching, team coaching and leadership development for physician leaders and senior administrators. He is also the lead creator of Better Conversations Every Day TM (BCE), a highly successful one-day experience designed to be scaled for enterprise culture change. Chuck has an MA in Organizational Leadership and has been certified as a coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF) since 2007. He also holds certifications in team coaching, performance consulting, and human performance improvement and is qualified to deliver a wide range of psychometric instruments including MBTI, FIRO-B®, Hogan, Workplace Big Five and the full suite of CCL Assessments.
About Our Consultants
Robin Schenck, PhD
Principal Consultant
Robin is a leadership coach with over 20 years’ experience focused on human behavior, organizational functioning, and leadership development. As part of the Pilgrimage team, Robin directs our Education Sector projects, as well as providing coaching for medical providers and business executives. She enjoys blending her knowledge of human behavior and neuroscience to help adults focus on growth and development in the business environment. Her coaching clients have ranged from individual contributors to newly appointment managers to senior level executives from diverse sectors including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, pharmaceutical, finance, government, human resources, telecommunications, K-12 education, higher education, medicine, and nonprofit. Robin is an Adjunct Faculty member with the Center for Creative Leadership. In addition to leadership coaching, she enjoys coaching other coaches as they grow and develop their own skills.
J. Scott Young, PhD
Principal Consultant
Scott directs the Physician Development Process for Pilgrimage. He provides coaching and team development for medical providers and healthcare teams. He is also a professor and former Chair of the Department of Counseling and Educational Development at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He operates from the perspective that leadership coaching is an interpersonal process through which professionals learn to demonstrate for their teams what success entails, to articulate a vision, to challenge processes, to enable teams to reach synergy, while providing necessary encouragement and support. He has coached individuals across a range of backgrounds and industries including health care, technology, manufacturing, accounting and finance, and service, among others.
About Our Affiliate Consultants
Becky Edmunds
Affiliate Consultant
The founder of The Edmunds Group, Becky has over 25 years of experience in providing organizations with comprehensive organizational development services, including executive coaching, talent management, succession planning, team and leadership development and strategic change management. Her executive coaching expertise is extensive with experience in diverse industries including manufacturing, medicine, financial services, legal services, insurance, and education. She custom-designs programs that support and align business strategy and enhance senior team interaction, as well as assist organizations in creating and cascading systemic comprehensive leadership development initiatives to build leadership at all levels in high-performing organizations.
Robert Goldberg
Affiliate Consultant
Robert has been assisting organizations implement strategic, cultural and other changes, develop executive teams to effectively lead their organizations, and build individual leadership capacity through training and coaching for more than 3 decades. In 1998, he founded Organization Insight, a consultancy dedicated to help clients sustain their competitiveness through their people. Before that, he managed the Change and Team Leadership practice at the Center for Creative Leadership. Robert is sometimes labelled a ‘street-smart egghead,’ whose theoretical grounding, direct communication style, and sophisticated program design and facilitation skills are called upon for a variety of complex and sensitive organizational and leadership development needs. In his personal time Robert loves to haunt museums, swing at tennis balls, and strum his guitar. Robert received his MBA in Organizational Psychology from City University of New York, and his BA in Psychology from the SUNY at Binghamton.
Prisca Peyer
Affiliate Consultant, Europe
Prisca is a trusted collaborator and regular part of the Pilgrimage team supporting our global training and coaching projects. She is the owner of PEYER-Consulting based in Zurich, Switzerland and has more than 25 years experience working as a leading HR / Development professional in a global, corporate environment. Prisca is equally an expert in the leadership development arena as well as in the field of financial services. She works as an executive coach and management consultant to executives and teams from diverse industries including engineering, technology, manufacturing, insurance & reinsurance, pharma, and automotive. She works primarily in German, English and French. Her other interests include music and exploring new countries and cultures.
