An author, speaker, political and strategic planning consultant, she is expert in collaborative intelligence, cross-cultural communications and communications strategy.

Kristin Shannon chairs CIAO San Francisco, and CIAO’s European subsidiary in Paris, PSI Communications.

CIAO, which means “Communications Inside and Out”, conducts research and provides consulting and trainings on advanced communications techniques. We work at the intersection of neuroscience and communications signals. What happens inside your brain affects the messages you get, as well as the ones you send.

"The mind is what the brain does, so why not become good friends with your brain? Neuroscience tells us that humor is the best path!"

In this era of turbulent social and political change, consensus-building tools are crucial: “We need to make friends not only with our own brains, and respect that other brains work differently. The goal is to build bridges. We train people to build those bridges quickly and effectively in our trademark 7-minute interview.

With a background in economics and cognitive neuroscience, Kristin consults on both policy content and communications strategies, and advises on political campaigns, including the Obama campaign. She's engaged in a global research project on how we make decisions.

Kristin directed two national research institutes (Washington D.C. & Montreal, Canada) providing economic forecasting and policy options for NGOs, foundations, banks, energy, media, telecommunications companies, and governments, including the Canadian Prime Minister’s office and the White House.

In addition to consulting with the US Federal Reserve, Federal and Provincial Ministers of Finance, Education, Health, The World Bank, etc., she has worked extensively with the private sector. Corporate clients include Roche, Alcan, AT&T, Bell Canada, Canyon Ranch, CBS, CBC, Public Broadcasting, Citicorp, Shell, TransCanada Pipelines, Imperial Oil, Safeway, Sears, IBM, Weyerhaeuser, General Foods, Royal Bank of Canada, SRI International, and Wellington Management, where she modeled and coached their top-ranked investment analysts.

Foundation and NGO consultancies include the Open Society Institute, EFG, EATG (HIV-AIDS), European Health Forum at Gastein, Ford, Rockefeller and Mott Foundations, Oxfam, The Aspen Institute, and the Lilly Endowment. She raised funds for social enterprise groups such as Delancy Street, and for wellness and biofeedback research at Langley Porter. She co-founded and developed $20 million for Appropriate Technology International, an NGO dedicated to technology transfer and sustainable growth. She co-chaired a multi-community alliance to protect old growth forests and salmon spawning grounds.

Kristin grew up behind-the-scenes in film, with summers at Hollywood Professional School. A UCLA and Berkeley Regents scholar in pre-med and cognitive neuroscience, she also studied economics in Japan, in Japanese. She returned to Berkeley to update in neuroanatomy, facial recognition of emotion (Paul Ekman) and work with George Lakoff in psycholinguistics and metaphor.

A pioneer in profiling, she’s expert in segmenting populations and audiences to identify their needs and goals. She did groundbreaking studies in constituency/ stakeholder analysis and helped originate psychographics -- value based population segmentation studies.

In psychology, her background includes Jungian, Humanistic and Transpersonal, hypnosis and physiological psychology. Kristin trained directly with Alexander Lowen, Eric Berne, Stan Grof, Fritz Perls, and Moshe Feldenkrais. She also worked with Virginia Satir, on community building urban charrettes. Later, when NLP began to organize effective techniques from eclectic sources, she worked with Leslie Cameron Bandler, David Gordon, Tom Condon, Carol Erickson, Steve Gilligan, Time Line originator Tad James, Judith de Lozier, R. Bandler, Robert Dilts, Steve and Connierae Andreas. Kristin is member of the American Society of Training Directors (ASTD). Her focus is modeling and transferring excellence.

She co-authored the best-selling “Next Canadian Economy” and published in academic journals such as Princeton's Wilson Quarterly and the Journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Her current book projects are “The New Biology of Genius,” which includes research on accelerated learning, brain plasticity and modeling, and EQ, Emotional Intelligence.  A lifelong meditator in several traditions, she is grateful to Green Gulch Zen Center and The Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom (TCCW) founded by her teacher Arjia Rinpoche, former Abbot of Kumbum.

Other interests include improv comedy, art, aikido, memes, and dance. She divides her time between the San Francisco seaside, and the Ile St. Louis, an island in the heart of Paris.

Nina is a skilled facilitator, trainer and organizational development consultant working with multicultural teams in both the private sector and with NGOs. Her focus is on collaborative intelligence -- how to lead teams beyond cooperation, to innovation and shared leadership. "Leadership in a dynamic economy takes many forms -- we need to have flexible skills."
 
"What I love about modeling how people's FILTERS on reality differ, is how quickly they can be more effective for themselves, and with their colleagues. Using the PSI FILTERS system, we bypass the surface cultural differences and go straight to the heart of authentic connection. That’s when true collaboration takes off!"
 
A graduate of Yale Management School, with a Masters in Public and Private Management, she has consulted for global enterprises such as Kraft, Sanofi-Aventis, International Flavors & Fragrances, AXA, and for foundations including the Ford Foundation, and the Guggenheim Museum. She has lived in France since 2001, working on projects in Europe, the US and Asia.
 
Nina is a business consultant and trainer with PSI, and co-leads our Stage Flight classes on presentation skills, improvisation, creativity and humor. Trained in theater and dance, her background includes art, art history and literature.

"Whether its personal development or organizational or political change, we need to learn to tell one another NEW stories, not simply repeat yesterday's myths."
 
Balancing strong professional management skills with sensitivity to multicultural distinctions, Nina has a unique way of engaging people to widen and change their point of view, with the use of humor and story. Her clients say this:
 
"Our team was stuck -- we'd hit the wall. Nina came in with her special blend of professional standards and gentle humor -- and got us moving."
 
In her consulting and coaching work, Nina particularly enjoys accompanying her clients as they navigate through their organizations – simultaneously achieving both personal and professional goals.
 
Born in the United States, Nina lived and worked in Poland (1991-95) helping to develop the nascent non-profit sector. Well traveled, she is fluent in English, French and Polish. She lives in Paris with her family and children, Julia and James.

Steve James is an Associate with PSI Communications. He co-trains our Paris Summer Institute NLP practitioner certification and co-delivers workshops and consults on projects. He is also working with Kristin Shannon on the development of new products and training tools for PSI.
 
Bilingual, Steve consults and conducts training in both English and French. Particular areas of interest include facilitating cross-cultural and virtual teams, motivational interventions and interpersonal communication.
 
With a unique background comprising communications, training, client management and a Masters in Work Psychology, Steve is able to blend rapid comprehension of issues, the rigor of scientific research and use of effective training techniques to meet client needs.
 
Prior to joining PSI, Steve worked in consulting, training & development. While a Senior Account Manager at one of the world’s leading communication consultancies he worked with a spectrum of Fortune 100 clients including IBM, Kraft, Motorola and with charities and NGOs such as WWF. He has also developed and delivered tailored professional training programs for senior executives at Société Générale, AGF, Natixis, SCOR and Chanel. As a coach he helped a bestselling French author to identify core objectives, action plans and future literary direction.
 
British by nationality, Steve has lived and worked in Paris since 2001. Passionate about cross-cultural relations and communication, he has also lived and worked in Australia and traveled extensively in South East Asia, Europe and Australasia.
 
Other interests include shiatsu massage, improvisational theatre and personal development.

  Tamsin Rose is a skilled facilitator of change, helping individuals and organizations to achieve their goals. She studied international relations, and has worked in Brussels, Paris and Moscow. Her experience includes communications policy, local government and civil society development. Tamsin specializes in public health, combining strategy and policy analysis with coaching and personal development skills.  

Tamsin is also the founder and director of Tamarack; a provider of high-quality, professional consulting services for a wide range of non-governmental, philanthropic and institutional organizations.

Penny Perry is a skilled and compassionate coach who enables people to identify and strengthen their best abilities. With a background in both the arts and technical systems, Penny appreciates and works closely with people who have diverse personal and professional backgrounds. She lives in the UK with her husband and three children. Those who have worked with her say:
 
"Penny is excellent at removing blocks, and she really got me un-stuck-- and moving forward with new confidence" (Computer programmer)
 
"She is gifted -- she not only heard what I said, but she understood what I meant! My relationships have changed dramatically after working with her" (Accountant and working mother)
 
"I hesitated at first to discuss my personal issues with someone. I'd never tried coaching before. But Penny's amazing blend of compassion and practical tools got me moving again. I found a new job and purpose." (business career transition)
 
Penny Perry is certified as a modeler by PSI Communications, Paris. She has trained with Kristin Shannon and Art Giser.
 
"What I most value about learning to model how people perceive, is how quickly and easily they can change. Research shows that 70% of our issues come from the way we view the world - - if we change what we can see, we change our options immediately. Suddenly we have better choices and the path opens up in front of us. Science shows that changing a viewpoint or attitude generates physical changes in the body -- you LITERALLY can appreciate more options. And take more useful steps.
 
Penny knows how to invite you to OPEN up your frame of reference, look at the bigger picture, and then take practical steps. And she uses gentle humor to help you do this.
 
"It's a collaboration built on trust, and solid practical progress. When you call me, be sure to bring your sense of humor. I know that your issues are serious, but being TOO serious can block your access to solutions. Humour and confidence go hand and hand."

Martine Safars is an Associate with PSI Communications. She is a professional and personal coach for individual and corporate clients. She coaches in French, English and Spanish.
 
After obtaining her degree as an engineer in Biology at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) in Paris, she conducted numerous research projects into the Biology of Aging. She worked at the Pasteur Institute, the French research centers CNRS and INSERM, and at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. She was then recruited by an international pharmaceutical company to manage their packaging computer design department. She was also responsible for the development and maintenance of relationships with the pharmaceutical authorities of a number of key countries.
 
Martine has always been passionately curious about psychology and insight into human functioning. She explored her "Freudian side" and decided to change career for coaching. She studied coaching at one of the leading coaching schools in Paris; International Mozaik, and psychology at the CNAM - the “grande école” she has always been faithful to. She graduated in NLP at PSI Paris Summer Institute, and is now a certified NLP Master Practitioner with a specialization in Modeling human behavior.  
 
Martine is an example of the French melting pot: Half Argentinean, half Belgian, she lived in the States when she was a child, and was raised in an international scientific environment. She loves social science, ping-pong, playing the guitar and singing American folksongs.

Matilda co-hosts our Stage Flight and Transition Tools programs.
 
Matilda loves connecting people with their full warm potential as a coach, community leader, and job placement specialist. She can identify and encourage talents. Passionately curious about psychology, she is always seeking new insights into the ways people grow and connect. She studied communication and management at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) in Paris.
 
Her focus is on giving people practical skills for linking with one another in a warm, authentic and effective way. She is skilled in creating an environment where you can discover your next step forward. She particularly enjoys the challenge of helping people who are in transition.
 
She is a veteran go-between and community developer, working to create better community understandings. She and her family created a community-based association for promoting sustainable development in the environment. She has a special love of working with young children.
 
Part of our French cultural meld, Matilda was born in Serbia and moved at an early age to France for her education.  She graduated with a degree in Arts, majoring in English. She then worked for Disney as a supervisor in building their theme park for 6 years. When that part of the theme project was completed, she helped shape the outplacement program, enabling 900 people in transition to find new work. She enjoys counseling and encouraging people to have more satisfying their lives.
 
She loves laughing, spontaneous jokes, gardening and cooking. She makes the best apricot jam in all of Paris. She dances, works with children, and is an inventive and inspiring improv acting partner in Stage Flight, where she keeps us all laughing over her open eyed innocent play.