Affiliation: Institute for Ethical Leadership Consulting Group
Email: mextein@exteinconsulting.com

Biography

Dr. Melissa Extein is an organizational consultant with nine years of experience helping both for- and non-profit organizations understand themselves better and implement changes to improve effectiveness. Her work applies theories of emotional intelligence, group development, leadership, and embedded intergroup relations to guide organizations to achieve their goals and long-term visions. She specializes in non-profit and non-governmental organization management and leadership, organizational assessment, executive coaching, strategic planning, evaluation, theory of change development, and retreat planning and facilitation. 

In addition to her independent consulting, Dr. Extein is the associate director of grants for knowledge management at American Jewish World Service. She serves on the advisory board of the Institute for Ethical Leadership Consulting Group, based at Rutgers Business School, and teaches as part of the leadership faculty of the Aresty Institute of Executive Education's Executive Development Program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Committed to social justice, Dr. Extein has worked with a range of clients, including Bergen County's United Way, The Children's Aid Society, EarthRights International, Hadassah, Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey Ballet, and Princeton and New York Universities. Experienced in working across cultures, her leadership, teaching, and consulting positions have brought her to Bolivia, Cambodia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Spain, and Thailand.
Dr. Extein has been involved with the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence for seven years, having established and edited its monthly newsletter, organized its first research conference, and coordinated its member meetings. She has lectured on emotional intelligence at Rutgers University's Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leadership and Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, as well as New York University's Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising. 
Dr. Extein earned her B.A. in Psychology with Distinction from Yale University and her Psy.D. in Organizational Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University, where she received a Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations Fellowship. She has earned language diplomas from schools in both Spain and Brazil. 

Sample Article

Cherniss, C., Extein, M., Goleman, D., & Weissberg, R. P. (2006). Emotional intelligence: What does the research really indicate? Educational Psychologist, 41, 239-245.