OUR TEAM
Founder/Director
Clare Cohen
MA(Hons) MSc C.Psychol AFBPsS
Clare Cohen, a Chartered Psychologist, Assessment & Development Consultant, and Executive Coach, brings a wealth of expertise to her practice. With an MSc in Psychometrics and certification in a wide range of online psychometric tools, Clare specialises in providing executive assessments and development solutions that support talent strategies.
With a passion for facilitating positive developmental change, Clare designs both online and in-person assessment and development content. She believes in transformational change using systemic and holistic approaches, applying sound psychological rigour and evidence-based practices. Building relationships based on trust, core values, and ethical principles is integral to Clare's approach.
Clare's specialties include executive assessment, product/exercise design, coaching, selection, development, and coaching for international global leadership roles. Her extensive experience spans various sectors and global locations, having worked with esteemed clients such as Virgin Media, KPMG, Saudi Aramco, M&S, Bank of England, and more.
As a former resident internal Executive Coach at KPMG, Clare guided directors and partners through complex change agendas, helping build high-performing teams and enhancing stakeholder communication and team effectiveness. She also supports emerging and transitioning leaders, executives moving into demanding roles, and those facing novel, complex, and adaptive challenges.
With a strong educational background and qualifications, including being a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and certified coach, Clare is equipped with the knowledge and skills to deliver exceptional results. Her certifications in psychometric testing and cross-cultural coaching further enhance her ability to provide comprehensive and tailored solutions.
Clare's commitment to excellence and her ability to work across cultural divides have made her an invaluable resource for organisations around the world. Fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and experienced in assessing, developing, and coaching senior and board-level employees, Clare brings a global perspective to her practice.
At Upliftify, Clare's consultancy, she leverages her expertise, extensive experience, and passion for driving transformational change to help individuals, teams, and organisations reach their full potential and achieve remarkable success.
Senior Associate
Neil Thomson
MA(Hons) MSc C.Psychol AFBPsS
Neil is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with 20 years’ experience as both an internal HR and OD consultant with BT and as an external consultant with SHL and PAL.
Neil has a particular focus on two areas of work – executive assessment, development and coaching, and organisational development. He has worked on the design and delivery of a wide range of assessment centre, development centre and coaching programmes, from worldwide leadership development initiatives to individual coaching of senior executives. He is an acknowledged expert in the design of organisation-wide competency frameworks, having developed these for many organisations, from UK brands to multi-national enterprises.
In parallel with his work on executive assessment and coaching Neil works on major change programmes with UK public sector departments and agencies, and has acted as a programme consultant to both the Police Service and the Department of Education.
Neil is certified on numerous psychometric tools, including OPQ, MQ, MBTI, FIRO-B, Wave, Dimensions, the Hogan suite and Strengthscope, as well as being a registered PRINCE2 practitioner and an experienced business process analyst.
Neil lives in Yorkshire with his partner, his boys having long flown the nest.
Senior Associate
Ellen Bard
MA(Hons) MSc C.Psychol AFBPsS
Ellen is a seasoned Senior Associate with extensive consultancy experience in working with leading FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 global organisations. As a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with 23 years' experience, she applies psychological knowledge to improve the effectiveness of individuals and organisations in the workplace.
Having held roles at prominent consultancies, including SHL, Ellen has gained multicultural experience from living and working in various regions such as Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Her expertise spans assessment and development, with a focus on designing and delivering a wide range of assessments, including job analysis, competency frameworks, and bespoke exercises.
Ellen has developed and implemented Employee and Leadership Development centres and programs that combine assessment, feedback, coaching interventions, and career planning. Her areas of expertise also include diversity and fair assessment, values, onboarding, resilience and change, productivity, and work wellness. She is certified in multiple psychometrics such as OPQ, MQ, PAPI, CPP, Lumina Spark, and more.
Ellen specialises in bringing out the best in people. Whether through training sessions, assessments, coaching, or speaking engagements, she helps individuals and organisations thrive. Ellen currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand, with her partner and child.