Biography

Joel A. Brown is the Chief Visionary Officer of Pneumos, a management consulting firm specializing in: 1) organizational sustainability, 2) leadership development, 3) cultural intelligence, diversity, and inclusion, 4) conflict resolution, and 5) executive coaching.  Its unyielding mission is to “create organizational space which is dynamic, inclusive, and strategic.”

Joel works with a variety of organizations, including Fortune 1000 companies, civic associations, and institutions of higher learning to build consciousness, capacity, community, and collective esteem. Joel is a writer, consultant, coach, facilitator, trainer, and keynote speaker. To that end, Joel has worked with the City and County of San Francisco, Kansas City Power & Light, the Bar Association of San Francisco, Applebee’s International, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, Groundspark, the University of South Florida, and the Office of Naval Intelligence, to name a few. 

Joel believes any facilitation should be fun, engaging, and creative. He has experience in gauging organizational strengths and weaknesses, and has partnered with clients to help them recognize and manage organizational polarities.  Joel applies the Alternative Dispute Resolution model to teach conflict resolution, and is skilled in administering and decoding personal leadership assessments.  In short, Joel believes in being a multi-dimensional resource for his clients.

Joel is an Executive Coach who works with emerging leaders, visionaries, senior executives, leaders from underrepresented populations, Gen XY executives, and “cultural creatives.”  Certified by the Coach for Life teaching institution in Orlando, Florida, Joel employs a holistic approach, focusing on the employee as both an indispensable part of the organization, and as an individual seeking greater self-realization.

Joel is an associate of The Management Resource Group, an assessment company that utilizes psychometric and data interpretation innovations.  Joel is certified to use MRG’s Leadership 360®, LEA Best Practices, and LEA Strategic Directions learning tools.  Joel is also a U.S. platform editor for Diversophy®, an online game and learning tool in intercultural expertise.

Joel graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota, with a degree in political science. During his tenure, Joel designed multicultural diversity programs for the entire University of Minnesota residence hall system. He also served on a multi-disciplinary team, which performed interventions in the Rochester, Minnesota, school district, to quell race riots and mitigate smoldering racial tensions between segments of the student body, staff, and faculty. 

Joel attended the University of Virginia School of Law from 1997-2000 and was named a member of the University’s prestigious Raven’s Society for scholarship, leadership, and community service.

Thereafter, Joel worked for six years as a labor and employment litigator focusing on wage and hour disputes, discrimination matters, and sexual harassment cases.  He is still licensed with the Minnesota Bar.

Joel is best known for his critical analysis, creativity, humor, and his ability to build consensus.  Joel is viewed as a master communicator, and co-designed the “Diversity, Difference & Dialogue” process©, which is designed to maximize communication at all levels throughout an organization.  Joel also designed the “Semantic Deconstruction” toolkit, which enables any person to resolve communication barriers more effectively.

Joel approaches people with great conversational dexterity, and is able to reduce complex social and organizational issues to their simplest form.  His article, “Black and Gays: Bridging the Cultural Divide,” was widely circulated in the Legal Services of Northern California newsletter in the Summer of 2009.

Joel is a member of the “Diversity 2020,” a group of diversity thought leaders, and a political think tank, New Leaders Council, which trains and creates a pipeline for social entrepreneurs for progressive causes.

Contact Information

Website: www.pneumos.com
Email: joel@pneumos.com
Twitter: joelabrown7
Phone: 415.624.5426