EXECUTIVE COACH

Dominic Cottone is a proven Consulting Executive with more than 25 years of experience in leadership development. His roles included Senior Managing Director for Ferguson Partners, as he has been responsible for co-founding and leading the Leadership Consulting function for Ferguson Partners’ Real Assets, Hospitality/Gaming, and Healthcare clients. He led the CEO Advisory Practice and focused much of his time on helping his clients with their needs in talent assessment, executive coaching, team effectiveness, succession planning, organizational culture, and diversity & inclusion initiatives. He has assessed over 3000 senior executives and coached nearly 300 high-performing leaders throughout his career.

Dominic is also an advisor on professional wellness, providing development programs and serving regularly as a speaker for his organizational clients.

Dominic began his career as an Instructional Design Consultant for Arthur Andersen’s Risk Consulting, Business Consulting, and Assurance practices. While founding and leading the Student Leadership function of Columbia College Chicago, and teaching coursework as an Adjunct Professor in Marketing Communications, Dominic co-founded the Leadership Conservatory, an organization dedicated to the intersection of commerce and civil society. This consultancy specializes in strategic planning and thinking, group decision-making, ethical leadership, diversity & inclusion, and talent assessment for Fortune organizations, institutions, non-profits, and community programs.

He then joined Razorfish, a digital marketing organization owned and operated by Microsoft, as their Head of Learning & Development. His primary area of focus included establishing a new performance management system, management development & training, career development strategy, and executive leadership development.

Before being named to his role as Senior Managing Director at Ferguson in February 2016, Dominic served as a founding member of YSC Consulting’s (now a part of Accenture) Chicago Office, a global boutique consulting firm specializing in executive leadership development (talent assessment, executive coaching, team effectiveness, culture, and DEI) across a wide range of industries and regions. In his role as a Managing Consultant, Dominic was responsible for managing some of the Top 10 clients in the Americas business, as well as serving twice as the Interim Head of YSC Chicago. He helped to establish the organizational Research Function as well as developed a strong pipeline of internal talent.

Dominic holds a Master of Science in Organizational Communication, Learning & Design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Legal Studies from Ithaca College. In 2009 he was honored as Ithaca College’s Most Outstanding Alumni.

Dominic currently serves on Ithaca College’s Park School Board of Advocates, and most recently served on the Board for the Illinois substance abuse educational non-profit Prevention First. He has also been actively involved in driving and preserving LGBTQ rights as a Capital Club member of Equality Illinois, as well as regularly engaged in organizing fundraisers and activities for rare cancers, homelessness, poverty alleviation, and disaster relief. He currently serves on the Board for Growing LGBTQ+ Youth Support (GLYS) of WNY. He also serves on the Real Estate Pride Council at the NYU Stern Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dominic conducted pro-bono coaching and consulting with nurse leaders across the country and within numerous hospital systems.

Dominic is an empathetic leader, known for his ability to achieve results while empowering others around him. His intellect, future-forward thinking, enthusiasm, and determination are regularly cited by his clients as areas of strength. He is certified in the Hogan Assessment system, the Intercultural Development Inventory, the Conflict Dynamics Profile, Insights Discovery and is a designated FLTA (Futurist and Long-Term Analyst) by the Futurist Institute.