Work With Us and Transform Yourself
You have the power to transform yourself, your organization, and your community. The path to accessing and harnessing that power can be unclear.
Together, we will unravel what is getting in your way, reclaim your strengths, and sculpt the perspective, articulation, and systems for your success.
“What lights me up is solving complex problems that require critical thinking, analysis, creativity and innovation, collaborative communication, personal and professional growth and evolution, and organizational or systems realignment in the service of good people, ideas, and service.”
Nalini Saxena
Nalini Saxena is a strategist, executive advisor, and innovative problem-solver.
Through Elicit, Nalini has addressed such challenges as reviving the economy of New York City through the COVID pandemic, reinventing succession planning for a global CPG business to embrace gender parity and diversity of thought, and conducting analysis to inform how the legal and regulatory environment can catch up to advances in medical technology.
As a policy advisor, Nalini conducts extensive research to understand a landscape and deeply appreciate its complexities. She constructively works with organizations to envision better systems and to craft communications efforts that generate buy-in.
As an educator - a professor of executive decision analysis and a valued corporate trainer for smarter soft skills and quantitative skills - Nalini cares to enhance access to education for all people, and to introduce innovation while insisting upon engendering critical thinking skills.
Nalini is a beloved and trusted guide for clients at Fortune 500 companies, respected global institutions, family businesses, startups, investors and venture funds, and leaders across industries.
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Nalini is the creator of The Evolved WorkplaceTM, a customizable, evidence-based system of learning & development that uplifts engagement within a constructive culture; energizes diverse teams; develops talent via facilitation, training & coaching; & boosts employee efficacy in achieving organizational objectives.
As a Coralus (formerly SheEO) Activator and board member of Brazen, Nalini supports values-driven businesses advancing social and environmental progress, particularly the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2021, Nalini received the Changemaker Award for promoting conscious social dialogue (Connecting the Dots) and aspiring to build a better digital system for humanitarian crisis response (PORTAL).
At the Techfugees Global Festival in London in October 2022 and at the World Artificial Intelligence Festival in Cannes in February 2023, Nalini advocated for innovative, inclusive, and refugee-centric humanitarian responses with respect to digital information aid. Nalini is committed to helping bridge the digital divide in education as well as other spaces.
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Nalini earned her BA in Neuroscience & Behavior from Barnard College, Columbia University and her MBA in Strategy, Leadership & Ethics, and Brand Marketing from The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
She has also studied Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University and International Affairs at the Center for Global Affairs, New York University through certificate programs.
Nalini’s passion for applying behavioral neuroscience led her to pursue certificates in Brain-Based Behavior Coaching & Neuroleadership from the Neuroleadership Institute in New York, NY and Leading Brains based in Switzerland.
Further, she received several dozen credits from the McLean Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School via the Coaching in Leadership & Healthcare program.
In the spirit of continuous learning, Nalini remains committed to furthering her knowledge and connection to current developments in neuroscience, management science, innovation, and culture in order to best serve her clients.
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As an alum, visiting campus to present to either current students or alums is a special joy for Nalini. She has spoken to ambitious executives, budding entrepreneurs, innovators, and those seeking to break barriers to progress.
View a mini clip of Nalini’s workshop on Executive Presence to Columbia Business School alumni
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Nalini was invited to London to speak at the Global Festival on the subject of Humanitarian Crisis Management, specifically with respect to “Information Aid.”
Techfugees was founded by TechCrunch’s Editor-in-Chief in 2015 at the height of the crisis in Syria.
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Nokiiwin Tribal Council (from Ojibwe anokiiwin, "work, employment") is a non-profit Regional Chiefs' Council located in the Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada, serving five First Nations by providing advisory services and training which will enhance the overall management skills and opportunities of the area's First Nations. Nalini was honored to speak before the Nowiikin Tribal Council and its key stakeholders on how to develop influence and gain buy-in to socialize strategies for innovative collaboration.
View workshop flyer
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Nalini was pleased to be invited to the World AI Cannes Festival, which “brings together the people and companies that are currently building the most game-changing and purposeful AI strategies on the planet.”
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Nalini was requested to provide an insightful and practically applicable workshop on neuroscience and performance in the workplace to high-performing employees of the MTA. She presented “Un-Rig Your Brain: Let Go Of Limiting Patterns & Lead Yourself to Limitless Possibilities.”
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On the invitation of Bard College Professor Alejandro Crawford, Nalini has served as a repeat judge, mentor, and advisor to global entrepreneurs pursuing climate sustainability through their startup ideas. Most recently, in December 2023, young innovators from the Open Society University Network participated in the final round of their global startup competition powered by RebelBase. As part of the Sustainability and Social Enterprise Global Certificate, students entered solutions for needs in places like Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Palestine, and the United States while their own teams included members from such places as Taiwan, South Africa, Spain, and beyond.
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Nalini was requested to perform training and development for several hundred newly minted MBA / Master’s graduates joining the investment bank. The curriculum Nalini taught revolved around emotional and social intelligence, management communication, executive presence, and critical reasoning.
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Nalini presented an engaging and interactive workshop at the law school’s annual leadership institute on “Disrupting Impostor Syndrome,” to encourage current students and alumni to break down harmful colloquialisms, appreciate the science and art of confidence, identify how hiccups to executive presence show up for them, and exercise tools to strength self-belief in the workplace.
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Nalini perform training and development for several hundred new hires and promotions across Citi’s various divisions. Nalini served as brand ambassador for the culture that Citi desired to inculcate, and used dynamic workshops to engage, excite, and educate these new employees about their responsibilities, the expectations and opportunities around them, and how to steer their careers at Citi.
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Nalini has been delighted to support the spirit of Coralus (formerly SheEO), a global community of radically generous women + non-binary folks working on the World's To-Do List by co-creating new economic and social models that distribute crowdsourced support. As a Super Activator, Nalini has hosted events in person and on Zoom, offered resources and mentorship to entrepreneurs, and curated learning workshops for the financial sponsors of Coralus.
Coralus
Nowiikin Tribal Council
NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority
Fordham University School of Law
Techfugees by TechCrunch
World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival
Columbia University
Why Elicit?
Our name – “Elicit” – reflects our “inside out” modus operandi: We start from the inside and help extract the best opportunities for success. We apply our core beliefs and methodology consistently, with discipline, and with astute business, management, and financial acumen.
We employ evidence-based neuroscience and management science research with empirical illustrations to deliver executive advisory and strategy consulting.
The name “Elicit” was inspired by two parallel trains of thought that converged.
Having worked in corporate environments, I observed outsourced experts and organizations approach complex problem solving for their client by applying static templates onto organic situations and people – and I felt that what so often seemed to be the reason they missed the mark, the reason their client felt disconnected from the solutions presented and sometimes imposed, was that they didn’t get underneath the DNA of the client and draw out and work with it. I felt there was a need to offer what was missing: a partnership approach that unraveled, reclaimed, developed and transformed the client’s possibilities into reality.
The other thought was to capture this spirit within the perfect name selection for the business. The inspiration can be traced to two incredible women: Sara Blakely (founder of SpanX) and Andrea Niedzela (a mentor from my time in commercial banking). Both had chosen names to important entities in their lives based on the concept that hard consonant sounds at the end of a name make it more memorable. “Elicit” was born, and soon the business’ name was registered with a trademark to underscore the uniqueness of consulting I wished to offer.
Our Mission
Explode outward the boundaries of what is perceived as achievable for organizations, entrepreneurs, and leaders in such a way that enlivens purpose, drives performance, engages partners, and connects to global citizenship.
Experience a journey with Elicit, from a deep appreciation of the context of your challenges and aspirations to an elegant charting to a clearer, stronger, better equipped, and better positioned leadership of yourself, your constituents, your stakeholders, and the impact you wish to create.
Optimize how you influence your world
The Elicit™ Formula
Neuroscience
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Management Science
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Empirical Illustrations
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Elicit™ Consulting
The Elicit™ Methodology
- 1 Unravel First, we’ll help identify your DNA. What are your values? Your hidden strengths? Your viewpoints? Your objectives?
- 2 Reclaim Next, we’ll work on reclaiming the resources already within your reach and generate clarity to build a competitive edge.
- 3 Develop We’ll develop a strategic plan with attainable and measurable objectives to harness your strength and potential.
- 4 Transform Finally, we’ll create conditions to propel and sustain positive, transformative change.
Core Beliefs
Strengths
Efficiency stems in expressing and building on strengths.
Listening
Astute listening and observing are critical to understanding our clients.
Partnership
Partnering and empowering trumps delivering and prescribing.
Evidence-Based
Our evidence-based approach informs thoughtful, customized solutions for growth.
It has been a joy to build out a team of professionals who support the ethos of Elicit. We’ve pivoted our model a few times since the onset of COVID, and we’re currently operating on a scalable model.
Each of our featured contributors below is a subject matter expert or demonstrates expertise in a certain skillset that we activate together to serve our clients.
Xan Hong | Tech and Innovation
Xan has been an entrepreneur for over 15 years in a variety of industries including real estate development, food and beverage, e-commerce, insurance and financial services, marketing communications, and technology. During this time, his companies have $15 million in revenue. His expertise is in digital marketing and no-code development. Currently, Xan is the Founder of Drive Phase Consulting, a digital acceleration agency that helps small businesses scale through automation. A large percentage of their revenue comes from building custom web and mobile applications leveraging no-code platforms that allows Drive Phase Consulting to deliver custom solutions affordably and quickly.
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Xan Hong received his Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania where he competed on the Varsity Men’s Track team for four years. He later also received his Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania during which he served as a student teacher and volunteer track & field coach at a University High School in West Philadelphia. He has since served as an adjunct professor in Entrepreneurial Finance at Lincoln University. He still regularly volunteers his time mentoring and speaking to youth from inner city schools.
He also is an investor and principal in an independent insurance agency and owns an e-commerce business. Xan lives in Middletown, Delaware with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. He is the former President of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Society of Delaware.
Noam Newman | Real Estate Development
Noam is an expert in strategic investing, acquisitions and marketing of real estate assets, with strengths in both vertical and land development in urban and tertiary markets. Noam has successfully operated in highly regulated environments, particularly the three most difficult real estate environments in the United States: New York, New Jersey, and California. He creates wealth for clients and partners where others fail or give up. Noam is a master of perseverance, innovative problem-solving, and influence in earning the trust of diverse clients and partners. Possesses skills of ambitious vision and successful execution. Consistently and deliberately, Noam attends to both details and the overall project plan. He expertly applies coverage from industry media outlets to break barriers and enhance financial performance. Noam presents opportunities for economic empowerment of individuals and communities. Resilient, flexible, and a quick study in new markets. He is entrepreneurially minded and enjoys questioning orthodoxy.
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Noam has 20+ years of leadership experience in multi-strategy real estate investing and alternative assets, including portfolio management/optimization, property operations, investments, acquisitions and repositioning of assets, construction management with strengths in both vertical & land development.
Julie Bergeron | Digital Marketing and Media
Julie helps business owners identify who their target clients are and craft and manage their marketing communications to attract them. She helps business owners identify buying behaviors, find more qualified prospects, close sales faster, and make sales more profitable.
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In my 20 years of sales experience, one thing has always been clear, your sales pitch will not resonate with every customer. The ability to customize your presentation to each client will separate you from your competition. The old saying that you have to get through so many no's to get your yes's, is wrong on so many levels. When you focus on why your customers would buy from you and adjust your marketing accordingly, you will only get yes's. Understanding your customers is the first step.
Andre Julius Smith | Relationship Performance
Andre Smith is a highly dedicated and customer-focused professional with a strong background in product strategy, client success, and operational management. Deep expertise in creating and implementing strategic plans, analyzing data to drive decision-making, conducting comprehensive market research, and delivering exceptional customer service. Proven leadership and management skills, with an agile approach to leading teams and identifying opportunities to exceed business objectives.
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Andre’s professional career has been made up of operational roles across various industries including manufacturing, retail pharmacies, investor research, and digital marketing. His undergraduate degree in finance is from UNC Charlotte after which his first entrepreneurial venture was a Mortuary Science company. His journey of personal development was a mix of books, mentors, and therapy. The difficulty for Andre came in figuring out how to apply what he had learned to his life with himself and his relationship with others. He founded Chosn.io, as tech company at the forefront of personalized therapy, that supports you where you are through your entire Mental Health Journey in real time.
Bien Pham | Cloud Technology
Bien Pham is a highly skilled cloud engineer with a passion for designing and optimizing cloud-based solutions. With over 5 years of experience in the field, Bien has a proven track record of successfully implementing and managing cloud infrastructure for various organizations.
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Their expertise includes cloud architecture, DevOps practices, and a deep understanding of leading cloud platforms such as AWS. Bien is dedicated to staying at the forefront of cloud technology trends and is committed to delivering scalable and efficient solutions to meet the needs of clients and businesses.
Scott Landman | Risk Management
Scott Landman is a specialist in risk management, and has worked on solving complex problems with innovation solutions for law enforcement, retail, and education, among other industries. He believes in helping clients appreciate risks, and exploring original responses to such issues as facilitation of crisis communication and response and mitigation of workplace theft. cott is the founder of Common Caches and has served as the Chief Executive Officer since September 2016. Previously, Scott served as Founder and Managing Partner at Arcus Advisors, a technology strategy and consulting firm from September 2012 to December 2013 and again from January 2015 to August 2016.
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Scott served in various roles in the video management industry, most recently as Director, Business Development, Television & Media Management, at Ericsson, a technology vendor, from January 2014 to December 2015. At Ericsson, Scott was responsible for customer outreach, strategy, and solution development for video-driven use cases in non-consumer markets such as public safety, education, and transportation. He began his career at CrossComm, a networking vendor.
Scott is a graduate of Allegheny College.
Paris Piao | Corporate Responsibility
Paris is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Philosophy and Sociology. With prior experiences at SDG-oriented corporations, think tanks, and NGOs, Paris combines her commitment to sustainability with practical skills in research, strategic planning, and project management.
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Currently serving as a Corporate Responsibility Intern at Elicit Consulting, Paris applies her diverse background to support socially and environmentally conscious practices, contributing to a positive impact in the global community.
Geoffrey DeVaul | Business Development
Geoffrey DeVaul is an expert mind/body instructor with 16 years of experience in New York City. Geoffrey studied Economics at Columbia College and has since segued to teaching about economics of the mind and body. He works with clients to bring better awareness of mind/body relatedness and to inspire them to seek out body and mindfulness practices. In his workshops, he guides clients to examine posture, grounding, alignment principles to support their ability to be productive and effective in their work.
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Fundamental to his instruction is demonstration of scientific evidence for how body and mind work enhance performance. Geoffrey highlights studies that show how better breath work leads to an enhanced attitude and overall better performance at work. He guides clients on how to perform some breathing exercises before moving into the topic of mindfulness and meditation. He uses research to demonstrate how effectively learning to quiet the mind can have immeasurable benefits to one’s personal and business satisfaction.
Radhika Behuria | Policy, Gender, and Development
Radhika Behuria has twenty years of experience on gender and development, working with the United Nations, private sector and think tanks. She has been part of curating large events such as the Responsible Business Forum and UNLEASH in Singapore. She has strong research skills, with the ability to develop high quality analytical work, for both advocacy and policy making and has authored several reports and papers on gender diversity and inclusion.
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As a trained facilitator, Radhika has experience in organizing reflective perspective building workshops on addressing bias and promoting diversity and gender equality at the workplace, with organizations like Nike Inc, the United Nations Development Programme and others. She is currently working as a consultant on a diverse portfolio, and her client portfolio includes UNDP, UNESCAP, UN Women, Asian Development Bank, SunEdison, Nike Inc. and Access Health International.
Zach Williams | Professional Education
Dr. Zach Williams is an Assistant Professor at the Mercy College School of Business in Dobbs Ferry, New York. He has an MBA in Finance from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Hampton University, and he is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder. He has researched and published extensively on the information content of financial statements, including evaluations of IFRS, Japanese GAAP, UK GAAP, and US GAAP. Other research interests include Interest Rate Theory and ESG Investing.
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In my 20 years of sales experience, one thing has always been clear, your sales pitch will not resonate with every customer. The ability to customize your presentation to each client will separate you from your competition. The old saying that you have to get through so many no's to get your yes's, is wrong on so many levels. When you focus on why your customers would buy from you and adjust your marketing accordingly, you will only get yes's. Understanding your customers is the first step.
