Principal Consultants

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Carter is co-founder of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, and is a nationally recognized thought leader in Action Learning and group coaching. He conducted his first groups in 1983 and has taught hundreds of facilitators since then. His specialty is customizing Action Learning and group coaching for a wide variety of applications and outcomes. Authenticity has customized and developed groups around the world, including in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, India and China.

He has 30 years of real-world management experience in a variety of organizations, including startup, public-private, nonprofit and corporate.

Carter pioneered development of the peer coaching group process, a format of Action Learning, which can be used to solve problems and achieve goals, enrich training programs, cultivate strong networks, quickly spread core coaching skills, and structure action-oriented support groups.

Carter has published numerous articles about Action Learning, coaching, leadership, consulting and organizational change, and numerous books, including Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development and Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision.

He has authored numerous articles on Action Learning, for example, in Chief Learning Officer, Training Magazine, Leadership Excellence Magazine, Best Practices in Talent Management, Minneapolis StarTribune, Minnesota Organization Development Network and International Federation of Action Learning.

Carter holds a BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences, BS in Computer Science, MBA from the University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis), and a PhD in Human and Organization Development from The Union Institute (Cincinnati).

" I’ve seen Carter bring the power of Action Learning to a small group of 5
and I’ve seen him motivate a room of 200 – his magic works in both environments. "
—Julia Fabris McBride, ICF Coach Certified,
Director of Faculty and Coach Development, Kansas Leadership Center

Chuck Appleby, PhD

Chuck is founder of a global organization development consultancy, Appleby & Associates with over 30 years of management and consulting experience in government, industry, and non-profits.

Chuck provides a variety of services including strategy development, organizational assessment, organization design, leadership development, coaching, and change management.

He has a diverse set of clients in the government sector and non-profit sector include the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA. Arlington County Government, and Goodwill Industries International. His commercial clients include Microsoft, Nielsen, John Hancock Financial Services, BAE Systems, and Hewlett Packard.

He is a co-founder of the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL) and the founder of Design Thinking Source.

He has served as a faculty member in the Human and Organization Learning Program at The George Washington University and in the Organization Consulting and Change Leadership Program (OCCL) at Georgetown University.

Chuck holds a BA in Economics and History from Dartmouth College, and a PhD in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University.

“In today’s fast-paced, highly competitive environment, developing skilled and knowledgeable leaders at every level is our only true competitive advantage. In my organization we have found that Action Learning is a highly effective way to develop leader’s and solve difficult problems at the same time. Action learning is a technique that is well worth the investment. I can think of no better trainer than Dr. Chuck Appleby to introduce you to this useful technique. Chuck is an energetic and resourceful trainer who with deep experience in training this topic.”
— Emma Kiendl, Training and OD Manager, Arlington County Government