Beth Wilson

I started my career at a Big 4 accounting firm before spending more than two decades building and leading one of Tulane’s complex administrative organizations — 95 people, 32 departments, and every operational challenge that comes with it. That path, from auditor to institutional leader, shaped how I see leadership: as a practice that is foundational about connections, and never as clean as the org chart suggests. I am an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and in my coaching work I partner with mid and upper-level managers and leaders — particularly in higher education — who are navigating the space between where they are and where they want to go.

I coach both experienced and emerging leaders to find clarity, build meaningful connections, and move forward with purpose when they are navigating organizational complexity, career transitions, or the challenge of growing into a new leadership identity.

My coaching is grounded in reflective inquiry and a deep belief that sustainable leadership growth comes from connection — with your team, your work, and your own sense of purpose. I bring both warmth and directness: I will name what I see, challenge your assumptions, and hold space for you to find your own answers. Because I am living the same institutional pressures my clients describe — budget cycles, competing stakeholders, personnel complexity, hiring freezes — I meet them where they actually are. Clients have told me: “You helped me see that I was solving the wrong problem,” and “I finally felt like someone understood what it actually takes to lead in this environment.”

I have a particular focus on mid-level managers: people caught between the expectations of senior leadership and the needs of their teams.  In higher education especially, this is an underserved group — often promoted for their technical expertise and then left to figure out the rest. This is where I do some of my most meaningful work, and where my own leadership journey gives me unusual standing to say: I know what this actually feels like.

My coaching focus areas include leadership development and executive presence, mid-level management and career advancement, navigating organizational change and complexity, strategic decision-making and priority clarity, and career transitions into new leadership roles.

I hold an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential, a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) from the Center for Executive Coaching, and a Tulane Leadership Institute certification. My CPA and CIA credentials round out a coaching lens that most leadership coaches simply don't bring. I earned my MS and BS in Accounting from Louisiana State University.

Outside of work, I am a lifelong New Orleanian — a member of the Krewe of Muses and a local with deep roots in this city’s performing arts community. These connections remind me daily that the best leadership is people-centered, rooted in place, and meets expectation with joy.