Amanda Shaffer is the founder and principal of Shaffer Coaching and Consulting, LLC, a Washington, DC-based practice serving higher education and mission-driven organizations through coaching, leadership development, facilitation, and consulting.
She is known for a style that is thoughtful, strategic, and grounded in both human complexity and institutional reality. Her work helps clients strengthen self-awareness, navigate challenge, build capacity, and pursue meaningful growth with intention. Amanda’s background includes leadership roles in academic professional development and the non-profit arts sector.
In addition to coaching leaders and academic faculty across the country, she has extensive experience designing workshops, career advancement initiatives, and education programs for a range of organizations and institutions. She has written multiple equity focused guidebooks, tool-kits, and videos for both national associations and academic institutions. Her current work is focused on working with organizations to increase civility, community, belonging, and mattering.
Amanda’s 20+ year involvement with NSF ADVANCE program for developing some of her skills and thinking, and is pleased that the outcomes of her NSF funded career program for women in STEM, To Tenure and Beyond (Forward to Professorship, Elsevier, 2015) is still being used as a model today.
A Gestalt Professional Certified Coach (GPCC) who is ACC-certified through the International Coach Federation, she has additional training in iEQ9 Enneagram assessment, Constructive Dialogue, Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Management, and Mindful Facilitation.
Prior to working in academia, Amanda was the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Red Hen Productions Feminist (1995-2005), a founding member of The Working Theater (1992 -1997), and Producing Director at Cleveland Public Theatre from 1986-1994.
Whether she is facilitating professional development programs, coaching leaders, or helping people advance in their careers, Amanda’s work is defined by her dedication to equity, inclusion, and social progress. In her free time she enjoys visiting museums, volunteering, and spending time with family and friends visiting the Washington DC area.
Publications
To Tenure and Beyond: Building an Intentional Career in STEM (chapter), Shaffer, Amanda & Friemark, S., 2015. In Mavriplis, C. & Heller, S. (Eds), Forward to Professorship: Academic Leadership Development in Science and Engineering. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier
I was pleased to have my essay “BUSING: A WHITE GIRL’S TALE” printed in the latest Rust Belt Anthology. Books may be purchased on the Belt website. I was also featured in the CNN online story “When you’re the only white person in the room” by John Blake.
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