Lois J. Zachary is an internationally recognized expert on mentoring and leadership. She has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Inc., TD Magazine, Leadership Excellence, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among other prominent business and leadership media outlets.

The first edition of The Mentor’s Guide, published in 2000, quickly became the primary resource for organizations interested in promoting mentoring for leadership development and the go-to resource for mentors seeking to deepen their mentoring practice. A second edition of The Mentor’s Guide was published in 2011.

With her other best-selling books—Creating A Mentoring Culture (2005), The Mentee’s Guide (2009), Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable (2014, co-authored with Lory Fischler), Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring (2020, co-authored with Lisa Z. Fain), five Mentoring Excellence Pocket Toolkits, and over 100 published articles, Lois has created a deep and comprehensive set of tools for promoting mentoring excellence for individuals and organizations. In addition to her mentoring books, she has published a collection of poetry and reflection entitled My Mother Has the Finest Eyes, A Collection of Poetry and Reflection (2013).

Dr. Zachary founded Leadership Development Services, LLC, and its Center for Mentoring Excellence™. Her innovative mentoring approaches and expertise in coaching leaders and their organizations in designing, implementing and evaluating learner-centered mentoring programs have been adopted globally by a wide array of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, educational, and other profit and nonprofit institutions.

She received her doctorate in adult and continuing education from Columbia University, a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, and a Master of Science degree in education from Southern Illinois University. She is a board member of Charter 100, which recognizes outstanding women of achievement. Dr. Zachary has held leadership positions on community and national boards, including the Mentor National Team of the Chicago Public Schools and the Advisory Council of Arizona State’s University School of Global Management and Leadership. She is secretary of Women Investing in Science and Health (WISH), an organization that works to promote women’s wellness and family health through education and philanthropic support.

She is an avid reader and loves and appreciates ballet and music.

Lisa Fain is Center for Mentoring Excellence’s CEO, and an expert in the intersection of cultural competency and mentoring. Her passion for diversity and inclusion work fuels her strong conviction that leveraging differences creates a better workplace and drives better business results.

Lisa brings her energy, enthusiasm, and engagement to any group, facilitating lively workshops and training and delivering interactive speeches with practical steps that can be implemented right away.

For almost a decade, Lisa practiced law in the Chicago office of a major multinational law firm, where she counseled employers on creating inclusive policies and practices. While in that role, she served as a Master Trainer who directed thousands of employees at companies large and small on creating better workplaces.

Lisa is a certified mediator, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Social Policy from Northwestern University, and holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. Lisa lives in Seattle, where she loves to hike and explore the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two daughters. Lisa’s writing credits include Bridging Difference for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward, Learn, Leverage and the forthcoming The Mentor’s Guide, 3rd Edition (with co-author Lois J. Zachary).