Today · Echonomia PostThe Women Leaders Association, the largest publisher and events organization for women professionals with 43,000 members and more than 130 regional chapters, today announced Susan Shepherd as the first official Coaching Partner of its Boston chapter, BostonWomenLeaders.org. The appointment launches the association's new Coaching Partners program in the Boston metro area, giving members direct access to coaches who have been carefully screened for credentials, track record, and client results.
The Coaching Partners program was created to solve a problem the association's members raise constantly: coaching is one of the highest-impact investments a professional woman can make in her career — and one of the hardest to shop for. Coaching titles are unregulated, quality varies enormously, and a leader evaluating coaches on her own has little way to verify who is genuinely proven. Under the new program, the Women Leaders Association does much of that screening on the member's behalf. Every Coaching Partner is vetted for recognized certifications, verifiable experience, and excellent client reviews before being presented to members, so each chapter's professionals can book a consultation with confidence, have a great experience, and keep rising in their careers.
Shepherd coaches from the chair her clients are sitting in. Before founding Salt Pond Leadership Partners, she spent three decades rising through global operations — from staff scientist to Group President at Smithers, where she led its Environmental Risk Sciences and Pharmaceutical Development Services divisions, and before that eight years as President of Smithers Environmental Risk Sciences, a world-recognized contract research organization spanning three sites in the U.S. and UK with 250 employees worldwide. Along the way she transformed an underperforming business to profitability, delivered ten percent year-over-year growth with double-digit earnings, expanded capacity 40 percent without disrupting committed client work, and built leadership benches designed for succession — a record of sustained multimillion-dollar operational results serving Fortune 100 clients. She also spent that career leading in a largely male-dominated industry, and she understands firsthand the distinct challenges women leaders can face on the way up.
Now an ICF Associate Certified Coach holding Brown University's Leadership and Performance Coaching Certification, Shepherd brings that operator's depth to leadership coaching for executives and mid-level managers who want to maximize their personal and professional potential. A culture transformation strategist recognized for business acumen, sound fiscal judgment, and collaborative strategic partnerships, she has worked with leaders across numerous industries and on an array of challenges — the mission-critical kind she once owned herself. She also serves as an Advisory Board Member at EBS-Builders and holds a Certificate in Private Company Governance from the Private Directors Association, alongside an MBA from Babson's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.
"I have walked in my clients' shoes and fully appreciate the challenges they face, because I faced them too," said Shepherd. "For thirty years I owned the numbers, the culture, and the mission-critical decisions — as a scientist, an operations leader, and ultimately a division president. I know what it takes to maximize your potential while delivering results, because I had to do both at once. I'm honored to bring that experience to the Women Leaders Association's Boston members."
Boston-area members can now view Shepherd's full profile, including her focus areas and credentials, book a free 30-minute consultation directly through her site, or send her a private note through the page, at https://BostonWomenLeaders.org/coaching.html?coach=SusanShepherd
"Most coaches have studied the challenges senior leaders face — Susan has owned them: the P&L, three-site global operations, hundreds of employees, Fortune 100 clients," said Lydia Price, 2026 Volunteer Chair of the Women Leaders Association. "When she tells a member what it takes to lead through a turnaround or grow into a bigger role, it comes from lived authority. Launching our Boston program with an operator of her caliber is exactly what Coaching Partners promises."
The Boston launch is part of a national rollout, with the association planning to extend the Coaching Partners program across its network of more than 130 chapters, pairing each city's members with coaches selected for that market.
The Coaching Partners program extends the association's broader mission of giving professional women both the structural transparency and the individual support they need to advance. Research from Pew and others estimates that women still earn roughly 15 percent less than men on average, and most women have little visibility into which employers actually advance women fairly. The Women Leaders Association has invested heavily in closing that information gap: its Glass Ceiling Score project, uses big data to score most major U.S. employers on how fairly they promote women into management and executive roles, and its chapters publish Best Women Employers rankings, compensation studies, and annual Top 50 Women Leaders awards. Coaching Partners adds the complementary, personal dimension: once a member can see the landscape clearly, a proven coach helps her move through it.
About Susan Shepherd
Susan Shepherd is the Founder and Principal of Salt Pond Leadership Partners (saltpondleadership.com) in Falmouth, Massachusetts, providing leadership and professional development coaching, consulting, and training. An ICF Associate Certified Coach holding the Leadership and Performance Coaching Certification from Brown University School of Professional Studies, she previously served as Group President at Smithers and spent more than a decade leading its Environmental Risk Sciences business as President and Vice President of North American Operations. She holds an MBA from Babson's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, a B.S. in Wildlife Science and Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University, a Certificate in Private Company Governance from the Private Directors Association, and serves on the advisory board of EBS-Builders. Boston members can connect with her through her profile above.
About the Women Leaders Association
The Women Leaders Association is a non-profit committed to the development and advancement of women in the corporate arena. With 43,000 members and more than 130 chapters in major cities, it is the largest publisher and events organization serving women professionals, producing conferences, leadership programs, original research, and daily publications for its members. We also celebrate the top 50 business women in each city, publish a Glass Ceiling Score ranking how well most employers advance women, and then recognize the best women's employers in each city from these rankings.
Events Near You: https://WomanLeaders.org/r/
Visit the Boston chapter: https://BostonWomenLeaders.org
Media Contact: Women Leaders Association, Service@WomanLeaders.org
Free Boston Women Leaders Resources — available to all women in the Boston metro at no charge:
- Best Women Employers and Glass Ceiling Scores: https://BostonWomenLeaders.org/GlassCeiling
Media Contact:
Lydia Price
Women Leaders Association
Service@WomanLeaders.org
