About Rebecca Sutherns
PRINT BIO: Dr. Rebecca Sutherns is a strategic facilitator, coach, and author of “Elastic: Stretch Without Snapping or Snapping Back.” With over 25 years of experience, she helps leaders and organizations stay grounded while navigating complexity. Her ELASTIC framework highlights seven essential, learnable leadership skills: Energy, Likeability, Adaptability, Strategy, Trust, Imagination, and Curiosity. Rebecca works with large charitable, philanthropic, health, and postsecondary organizations, helping leaders stretch with integrity and intention. Learn more at rebeccasutherns.com.
BROADCAST BIO: Dr. Rebecca Sutherns is a strategic facilitator, coach, and author of “Elastic: Stretch Without Snapping or Snapping Back.” Her ELASTIC framework offers seven skills leaders can build to stay focused through change. She’s spent more than 25 years helping mission-driven leaders align their strategy with purpose — and lead with clarity, flexibility, and heart. Learn more at rebeccasutherns.com.
IN-DEPTH BIO: Dr. Rebecca Sutherns is a facilitator, strategist, and executive coach with a Ph.D and over two decades of experience working with mission-driven. organizations. She’s the author of three books including “Elastic: Stretch Without Snapping or Snapping Back,” which introduces the ELASTIC leadership model for seven learnable skills: Energy, Likeability, Adaptability, Strategy, Trust, Imagination, and Curiosity.
Rebecca is known for turning complexity into clarity and helping leaders make aligned, confident decisions. Her "Possibility Packs" are a popular tool for sparking imagination and creating traction. Through her firm, Sage Solutions, she works with CEOs, executive teams, and boards in large charitable, philanthropic, health, and postsecondary organizations, helping leaders stretch with integrity and intention.
She earned her Ph.D. in Sustainable Communities with an emphasis on rural women's health from the University of Guelph and is a Certified Professional Facilitator|Master with the International Association of Facilitators. An ICF-certified coach, she holds coaching certifications with AQai (Adaptability Quotient) and TQ (Transitions Coaching). She is one of the first 10 people globally to be certified as an AQai professional coach. AQai equips coaches and consultants to leverage AQ assessments and coaching techniques to help individuals and teams improve their adaptability and performance. In addition to “Elastic,” she is the author of “Nimble: Off Script But Still On Track — a coaching guide for responsive facilitation” (2019), and “Sightline: Strategic plans that gather momentum not dust” (2020).
Rebecca serves on the faculty of Thought Leaders Business School in Melbourne, Australia, and has been a successful business owner for 27 years. She regularly speaks and writes about adaptability, imagination as a leadership skill, and burnout prevention through alignment. Whether guiding strategic planning or coaching through transition, Rebecca’s style is practical, compassionate, and grounded in deep experience. Learn more at rebeccasutherns.com.