Thought Leader Biography

“Connection is a common denominator across the human experience, and it goes beyond time and space transcending all boundaries.”

Yael Zofi

A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams

p. 229

Known as the ‘Virtual Team’s Guru’ and thought leader on team dynamics, Yael Zofi is author of 5 books and CEO of AIM Strategies®, Applied Innovative Management®, a consulting firm focused on developing teams across time zones. Zofi works with global leaders and remote teams to enable stronger human connection in the workplace. She is also a popular keynote speaker, global human connector, avid world traveler and cross-cultural learner.

Throughout her professional management consulting career, Yael has advised clients in the technology, financial services, pharmaceutical, healthcare, electronics and media industries as well as global board groups and educational institutions. Her leader bio and organizational development (OD) work focuses on helping teams become more successful through strategic alignment and guided change management. She created assessment tools, facilitated global strategy retreats, designed talent management programs and lead merger integrations with 6 organizations. Ms. Zofi also implemented process improvement, talent retention and performance management programs across three continents.

Her clients range from Philips, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, Credit Suisse, MetLife, Risk Metrics Group, to BASF, Nokia, US Government Office of Accountability, and the US Dept. of Agriculture, to name a few. For complete client list, click here.

Prior to forming AIM®, Zofi was Global Vice President of Performance Management with J.P. Morgan, in charge of design, development and implementation of global training for 18,000+ employees. She facilitated numerous business transformation initiatives focused on aligning team strategies, emerging technologies and international policies. She worked in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, India), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico), Europe (UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic), and the Middle East (Israel and Pakistan). Prior to J.P Morgan, she spent several years with Accenture (Change Management) and Price Waterhouse Coopers (Post-Merger Integration and Business Re-engineering).

Zofi has been a featured keynote speaker at international conferences, professional organizations and board groups. She has authored 5 business books, 14 executive reports, 10+ white papers, 8 leadership and team assessments, 25+ case studies, 100s of articles, and 1000s of posts and videos on global leadership and cross cultural communications, with recent focus on team innovation, Taking a Page From Thomas Edison, Virtual Team Trends Report, and Bringing Reality to Your Virtual Team. She has been featured in Forbes, CIO Digest, CNBC, Business Week, Watch IT TV, Harvard Business Review Expert Series, Mindtools, The Business of Life Radio, Blog Talk Radio, People & Strategy, Halogen Talent Management, All Business, eZines, Entrepreneur and Bloomberg.com, among others. See complete list in Media Appearances.

Yael published five books: Virtual Teams Activity Guide (2016), A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams (2012), Communicating Through a Global Lens™ – How to Broaden Your Perspective in a Cross Cultural World (2007 & 2012), Work Your Network – Making Impactful Business Connections (2008), and TOPS™ – Managing UP – How to Identify Your Manager’s Style and Build a Stronger Relationship (2007, 2013).

Active in her community, Zofi led the Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable, ran cross-cultural communications workshops for international business executives, and wrote a column called “Your People” with Long Term Living Magazine. As a Professor at New York University (NYU) and NYU Tandon School of Engineering, she designed and taught numerous graduate courses to MA/MBA & HR Technology students since 1995: Leadership and Business Transformation, Leadership and Management Skills, Management Principles and Ethical Practices, Leadership Strategies for Organizational Change, Virtual Teams and Organizations, Executive Coaching, Coaching in Organizations, Leadership and Team Development, among others. Her proprietary “Work Your Network” and “TOPS Managing Up” courses are New York State approved for CPE accredited programs and are utilized by eBay and PayPal globally.

Zofi serves on the Harvard Business Review Advisory Counsel (since 2012), Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board, Social Networking Board, Mentor’s Guild, SCORE NYC Business Think Tank, and is former Organizational Development Network (ODN) Board Member and Program Committee Chair. She belongs to Society for Talent Development (ATD), Association of Psychological Type (APT), HR Planners (HRPS), and the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) to name a few. Mrs. Zofi holds a Business Management Degree from Rutgers University, a Masters Degree in Organizational Development from Columbia University, advanced post-graduate Certificate with American University/National Training Laboratory (AU/NTL) Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, Certificate in HR and Change Management with Human Capital Institute (HCI), Certificate in Advanced Facilitation with ATD, Certificate in Design Thinking as well as MBTI, FIRO-B, Communication Styles, HOGAN, PROFILOR, Clark-Wilson, CCL 360-Feedback by Design & Prospector, Future Search, Open Space Technology and Large Systems Methodology, to name a few..

Today, she runs her own global management consulting practice out of New York/Florida/China and provides remote management strategy consulting, team setup, keynote speeches, training and coaching to senior leaders and virtual teams in major organizations around the world.

She lives in Brooklyn with Ted, Maya, Ella and Lily the cat.