Teresa M. Belt

I came up as a competitive athlete before becoming a science teacher, a coach, and eventually an assistant principal — a role I took on early in my career. That arc was not accidental. Each step asked the same question: how do capable people close the gap between what they intend and what they actually do? I carried that question into higher education, where I now lead as Director of Education for the Center for Sport at Tulane University and have spent more than 13 years in mid-level leadership, managing teams of more than 30 professionals, designing programs aligned to defined outcomes, and guiding accreditation processes across complex stakeholder environments.

I am a Tulane University Leadership Institute Certified Leadership Coach. In my coaching work, I partner with mid-career professionals and managers in higher education and corporate environments — people who carry real responsibility for both people and projects and need more than good intentions to move forward.

I coach emerging and experienced leaders to lead with clarity and intention when they are navigating competing priorities, increasing demands, and questions about what comes next.

My coaching is grounded in high-impact dialogue and job crafting. I draw on an athletic performance framework — structure, honest assessment, and a clear focus on what is controllable — to help clients build skills that hold under pressure. Clients have told me: “I have realized aspects about my future that I was not exploring because of current job constraints,” and “Your questions give me a thought process I couldn’t find on my own.”

The shift I most often see is a client moving from the easy answer to the correct one. Those are not always the same thing. I do not provide answers. I ask purposeful questions, bring practical tools, and hold space for the honest self-discovery that makes progress real.

My coaching focus areas include mid-level management and leadership development, career transitions and role advancement, navigating complex institutions, and performance and execution under pressure.

I hold a Tulane University Leadership Institute Certified Leadership Coach certification (2026), a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, Curriculum Design and Instruction from Penn State, and a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science from Spring Hill College.

Outside of work, I spend as much time as I can at the sidelines of soccer games and swim meets, watching my kids turn commitment into results.