Jeni Nichols
President, Sonoma Leadership Systems
With her diverse business background in sales, management, consulting, and teaching, Jeni Gomez Nichols has helped authors Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner bring The Leadership Challenge™ to leaders throughout the world for almost two decades. In 2005, she founded Sonoma Leadership Systems with a vision of a “Well led world, one leader at a time.” Jeni now leads a team of creative, experienced leadership development professionals guided by the belief that great leadership is at the core of any organization's success.
Together with client partners, Jeni has conceived, designed, and implemented a wide range of events and training interventions for the express purpose of “lighting a fire” within the hearts and minds of leaders. She has brought her leadership consulting and training services to an impressive variety of clients including: Capital Group, Genentech, Bank of America, SAS, Travelers Insurance, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Wells Fargo Bank, Intel, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Round Table Pizza.
A graduate of Loma Linda University in Sociology and Anthropology, Jeni applies her anthropological and systems approach to organizational relationships. She has published articles in HR Magazine and the Sonoma Business Journal, and she is editor of The Leader's Almanac.
Affectionately known as the "Queen of Connections," Jeni is very active in her community. She is a docent for the Sonoma Ecology Center and enjoys taking children and adults on interpretive hikes and connecting them with nature. She has numerous certificates in viticulture and winemaking, and in her private time Jeni grows grapes and makes wine with husband Byron (and dog pal Brix) at their home in Sonoma. And, her commute to the office is especially nice; she bikes through vineyards in the beautiful Sonoma Valley.