About Claudia Benassi

I love creating spaces where people are inspired to act differently — and then think differently

My work lives between worlds. I’m deeply at home in academia and research institutions, I’m grounded in the corporate world, and I bring more than seventeen years of experience from top business schools designing tailored executive education solutions.

That mix has shaped an approach built on cross-pollination between research and business environments. Having lived and worked in ten countries has further sharpened my ability to switch perspectives quickly, bringing multiple viewpoints into complex situations.

This perspective-rich dialogue is something women executives aiming for top positions particularly value as it’s informed by my own career reinventions and by the transitions I’ve accompanied over the years.

Along the way, I have learned personally and through my clients that sustainable change rarely comes from pushing harder. It comes from shifting the quality of attention: widening perspective, building awareness, and choosing the next right move with clarity.

Today, I design and deliver experiential workshops and group coaching and offer team and individual executive coaching. In all formats, I show up with directness, and a strong belief in possibility.

How people experience working with me

Clients describe me as a trusted senior coach and facilitator: warm, energizing, and also an “out-of-the-box” strategic straight talker.

They value that I can hold complexity without dramatizing it—then bring structure, language, and practical moves that shift the dynamic.

Qualifications / Vita (selected)

  • PhD (Brown University) and MA in Modern Culture & Media
  • Corporate experience in the energy sector, including top level roles as Managing Director, Regional Director and Co-Founder
  • 17 years in the world of top business schools / executive education, including senior roles at INSEAD, the Wharton School and ESMT Berlin
  • Experience as executive coach, facilitator, client director, and solutions designer, working internationally and cross-culturally
  • Tools and approaches include HOGAN, INSEAD Group Coaching, multiple 360 instruments, Immunity-to-Change, and more
  • I am INSEAD trained, Tavistock certified and ICF PCC credentialled

Growing

A seed
In the dark
Opens

In safety
A root
emerges

Slowly we unfurl

strong Roots
 grow
strong Greens

Encouraged
We bloom

The world
sees

Yes
We can.

I am Here
 Strong
 Resilient
Blossoming

By Betsy Nahas – for Claudia, who creates a safe experience where we can grow.