Greg Murray, General Manager (Middel East and Africa), Templeton Galt, says

Conscious, powerful, energetic, nurturing, and challenging.

I first came across Jean Russell on the Omidyar Network and followed her postings around for some time, trying to figure out what kind of linguistic uplift voodoo she was practicing and why. Through subsequent conversations it emerged that she is a life coach, with a particular focus on social entrepreneurs and nonprofit sector leadership development.

Over the last year or so there have been a range of ideas and plans for social ventures that I have been developing whilst working and travelling in the Middle East & Africa. The development of some of these has been sporadic, competing with a range of other demands on my personal time and energy. Working on not much more than intuition, I decided to hire Jean as a coach, without a clear plan as to what that involved.

After having worked with Jean for many months, I can say without hesitation that my work with her has enabled me to break through or navigate around a range of mental roadblocks. It has involved a combination of brainstorming, challenging assumptions and beliefs, and the drawing out of spaghetti-scattered thought patterns and re-arranging them into something that I can more clearly visualise and act upon.

Additionally, she is extremely well read and keyed into all sorts of emerging patterns in the world. She has mental tentacles out in some very interesting areas - elements she brings to the table and interweaves with subtlety and skill.

I would recommend this woman as a coach of serious ability and integrity, an authentic individual who radiates positive energy and who has become a firm friend.