About

Thirty years inside the function I now run for you.

Most consultants who sell leadership development have never run a learning function. I've run two, at Fortune 50 scale — with a board asking me what it returned. That's the experience I bring to companies that don't have the function yet.

I was Chief Learning Officer at MetLife, where I led global talent strategy for 30,000 employees across sixteen countries and eight languages on a $24 million budget. At H&R Block I ran one of the largest corporate universities in the United States — a $54 million annual budget delivering more than six million hours of training, and a learning platform serving 120,000 tax professionals.

Before that I held leadership and talent roles at Vonage, The Results Company and Citibank, where I managed a 3,000-seat call center and made President's Club five years running. Most recently I led global talent management and leadership development at Dayforce, integrating five acquired companies into one consistent leadership approach.

Through CJR Leadership Strategies I work with companies of 100 to 1,000 people — as a fractional Chief Learning Officer, through leadership programs and executive coaching, and on stage. I work with clients across Tampa and Pittsburgh, and travel for engagements nationally.

Credentials

ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
Everything DiSC Certified
MBTI Certified
M.S. Human Resources
M.B.A.
B.S. Education, Queens College
Professional Member, National Speakers Association
SHRM · ATD

The unusual part

I was the runner-up on season 30 of CBS's Survivor — the oldest player in the cast, competing against people thirty years younger, with no authority over anyone and no way to make anybody do anything.

Getting to the end took exactly what a manager in a matrixed organization needs: read the room, build real relationships fast, demonstrate value, and earn influence you were never handed.

What it taught me →

Also

TEDx speaker, Turning Challenges Into Opportunities. Author of Plant Your Flag: The Seven Secrets to Winning. Former host of The Carolyn Rivera Show.

Career

Where the experience comes from.

2025 – present
CJR Leadership Strategies
Founder · Leadership development consultant and executive coach

Fractional Chief Learning Officer engagements, leadership programs, executive coaching and keynotes for mid-market companies.
2020 – 2025
Dayforce
Global Talent Management, Learning & Leadership Development

Built company-wide leadership competencies and a multi-level leadership development strategy, revamped performance management, led the career development program, and integrated five acquired companies into one leadership approach.
2015 – 2020
CJR Leadership Strategies
Executive leadership consultant, keynote speaker and executive coach

Culture and change programs, custom leadership workshops and executive coaching — including a 24% reduction in turnover within six months for one executive team.
2012 – 2015
H&R Block
HR Vice President, Learning & Development, Talent Management

One of the largest corporate universities in the US. A measurement strategy linking training to results raised revenue per tax associate by $6,990 a year.
2010 – 2011
The Results Company
Vice President, Human Resources & Country Site Leader

Scaled headcount by 500 for a new center, and a quality program lifted customer satisfaction from 80% to 87% in a year.
2008 – 2010
Vonage
Vice President, Human Resources & Learning and Development

The company's first leadership development and talent strategy. Retention up 10% in two quarters.
1999 – 2008
MetLife
Chief Learning Officer, Human Resources

Global talent strategy for 16 countries in 8 languages, a $24 million budget, and $5 million in training grants secured.
1981 – 1999
Citibank
Regional Branch & Call Center Operations · Leadership & Training Development

A 3,000-seat call center, regional branches across the Northeast, and President's Club five consecutive years.

The book

Plant Your Flag: The Seven Secrets to Winning

The seven competencies behind every program I run — vision, influence, communication, trust, open mindedness, relationships and yielding results — told through the stories that taught them to me, from corporate life and from the island.

Every leader faces setbacks, from the daily inconveniences to the ones that change the direction of a career. The book is about deciding how the story plays out.

$19.99

Order a copy

Email me how many copies you'd like and where to send them, and I'll reply with payment details. Ordering for a leadership team or an event? Ask about bulk pricing. Prefer an e-book? The Kindle edition is on Amazon.

Let's talk about your managers.

Tell me what's happening and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help, and what it would take.

Start a conversation