Online Master's in Public Relations & Corporate Communications
Barbara Leary

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Barbara Leary

Barbara Leary helps corporate leaders navigate complex change initiatives by focusing on the people side of change. Through more than 25 years in corporate communications and change management, she has worked across industries with some of the best-known brands in the world.


Prior to forming her own consultancy, Leary was a managing director at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm, where she advised Fortune 500 clients on merger integrations, organizational restructurings, technology deployments, culture change, and executive leadership transitions. Before that, she held leadership roles in corporate communications at Florida Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy; Lexmark International, a global provider of printing and imaging products; BASF Corporation, the North American subsidiary of the world’s largest chemical company; and CDI Corporation, an engineering and IT staffing company. Previously, she was a vice president at Ketchum in Pittsburgh.


Leary holds a Master of Science degree in Positive Organizational Development and Change from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management. In serving her clients, she draws on a variety of theories and methodologies, including Intentional Change Theory, Experiential Learning Theory, the Kotter model, Appreciative Inquiry, and Prosci, in which she is certified.