Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas
Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas is the founder of EnCompass LLC and a thought leader in organizational growth, appreciative practice, and leadership. Through the EnCompass Appreciative Growth Studio, she brings those ideas to leaders and organizations navigating growth and change.
Over 25 years, she built EnCompass from a basement startup into a global company of over 400 people, with ten offices worldwide and annual revenue approaching $100 million, by making a strengths-based workplace grounded in learning and development the engine of growth. EnCompass stands as evidence that investing in people and culture is central to business success.
Tessie helps organizations grow with clarity, strong culture, and foresight. In her forthcoming book, Growth at Every Altitude: Leadership as Organizations Scale, she presents the Ceiling Navigation Model as a framework for understanding the challenges that arise at different stages of growth, and the leadership transitions and organizational redesign required to navigate it.
An author, speaker, and trusted advisor, Tessie is co-author of Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry and Evaluation Management: How to Commission and Conduct Evaluations That Matter, and is currently writing Appreciative Evaluation 2.0.
Tessie is a past president of the American Evaluation Association and holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University.
Kathleen Callahan
Kathy Callahan is a founding leader of the EnCompass Appreciative Growth Studio, where she helps leaders, teams, and organizations grow in practical, human-centered ways. With more than 25 years of experience in leadership development, learning, and organizational culture, she brings deep expertise in helping people build the skills, relationships, and workplace practices that allow both individuals and organizations to thrive.
At EnCompass LLC, Kathy played a central role in shaping the appreciative, strengths-based leadership and learning approach that distinguished the company in the market and became integral to its culture, talent strategy, and brand. As Vice President for Learning and Leadership Development and a member of the Executive Team, she led a unit of more than 150 staff and a multimillion-dollar portfolio, helping guide a period of sustained growth while strengthening leadership, learning, and organizational effectiveness across the company. She partnered with global clients to design and lead large-scale leadership and learning initiatives, helping organizations strengthen performance, navigate change, and build the internal capacity to sustain results over time.
At the Studio, Kathy focuses on leadership development, employee experience, team effectiveness, and building resilient workplace cultures where people feel valued, supported, and able to do their best work. Her work is grounded in appreciative practice and deep experience supporting leaders and organizations through growth, change, and complexity.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and a master’s degree in Sociology and International Training and Education from American University.
Alaine Kennedy
Alaine Kennedy is a founding leader of the EnCompass Appreciative Growth Studio, where she helps shape the Studio’s operations, strengthen its strategic focus, and turn bold ideas into practical value for clients navigating growth and workplace change. She brings more than 20 years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, and organizational growth, with a strong track record of helping mission-driven organizations scale with clarity, discipline, and care.
During her career at EnCompass LLC, Alaine played a pivotal role in a period of extraordinary growth, helping the company evolve from a boutique firm into a global enterprise. As Vice President of Business Development and a member of the Executive Team, she led company-wide growth strategy, guided complex capture and proposal efforts, and helped expand the organization’s global presence through high-value partnerships. She also helped lead innovation in responsible AI adoption, strengthening efficiency while keeping people, values, and sound judgment at the center.
Alaine is known for bringing people together around high-stakes goals and building the operational and relational conditions that help teams perform at a high level. Her leadership combines ambition with steadiness, aligning people, strategy, and opportunity in ways that support strong results, healthy collaboration, and team well-being.
She holds a master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Kent, and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Public Policy from the University of Notre Dame.