Chris Pineda, PhD

Chris is a phenomenal leadership development consultant. His focus on transformational change is an inspiration for how we can work together within our organizations and communities to create significant positive impacts. I highly recommend any of the Groundwork courses and Chris as a speaker.

Chris is a finely tuned spirit and has sharpened his edge as a moderator and facilitator. His ability to listen and summarize comments is phenomenal. He's the best of the best and has a deep commitment to excellence.

Chris is a brilliant, creative thinker and a gifted teacher. He draws from a deep well of experience with people to inform theory and practice in the fields of leadership, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding.

Chris is an exceptional speaker with an uncanny ability to share vulnerability and inspire those in attendance.

Chris, the facilitator, exhibited remarkable speaking ability that truly inspired and empowered everyone in attendance. His willingness to vulnerably share the challenges he faced and how he overcame them was not only inspiring but also deeply impactful. Chris effortlessly connected with the audience, building trust and rapport as a presenter and speaker.

Having been to a lot of conferences, seminars, formal and informal training sessions, I have seen a lot of speakers discussing a myriad of topics. As a professional trainer, I often find myself picking apart speakers and looking for both holes in their approach and ways I can improve my own speaking engagements. One thing I have found with Chris is that he not only has a command of the material he is teaching but also the humility that allows for his delivery to come across in a more engaging and genuine manner. Chris’s delivery has a way of leaving the listener on the edge of their seat, only to come through with what almost feels like a tangible item in your hand to be put to use. Chris has a ton of energy and positivity and even during some drier areas of instruction, I never felt “drug through the mud” as he has a way of making things feel upbeat, useful and connected to other topic areas. In a world full of negativity and cynicism listening to and learning from Chris has been a breath of fresh air. It has been quite a thing to witness and one I am very fortunate to have been a part of.

Chris' knowledge and passion for developing leaders has catalyzed my own leadership journey. Chris has taught me to embrace struggle and to follow my purpose as I strive to love, honor and serve the most important people in my life. His patience, understanding and mental toughness are a model to be imitated. I highly recommend him as an expert in personal and cultural transformation.

I would recommend Chris as a speaker because of his vast knowledge, life experience, and ability to captivate a room with his story. Chris cares deeply for others and his authenticity shines through. I have had the pleasure of working with Chris for 5+ years and have been grateful for his expertise surrounding leadership and conflict resolution. He has done a wonderful job every single time and has helped my teams reach new heights. Chris is someone I recommend highly and can guarantee he will bring value to your organization.

The curriculum, cross-sector collaboration, and inspirational guidance from Chris provided me with powerful building blocks to grow my skills and confidence as a community leader. I feel better equipped to make an impact on my community as a result of this transformational experience.

I highly recommend Chris Pineda as an incredible speaker. He brings enthusiasm, motivation and passion to his presentations drawing from his life experiences. Chris' ability to speak from the heart with authenticity and wisdom resonates deeply with his listeners inspiring them to understand their potential. What really sets Chris apart is his skill in weaving analogies from his family heritage into his teachings. He leaves his audience with impact, empowering them to move forward in their lives with purpose and determination to put his teachings into practice personally, professionally and within their community.

Chris brings you in and makes you feel comfortable, even though he knows WAY more than we do on these topics. He is inclusive and allows exploration of thought. He spoke to a group of leaders in our community and provided a powerful opportunity to become stronger leaders within the communities we serve. As a nonprofit executive, I very much benefited from networking with a diverse group of fellow organizational leaders, each serving unique constituencies across Salem. Deep relationships were forged within our time together, based on empathy and understanding across unique viewpoints.

Participating in Groundwork Leadership Institute lead by Chris was a time to reflect, engage with colleagues, and make new connections. The bonds formed there are ones that will span the rest of my career. The curriculum is relevant and there is ample time to practice, hone skills, and receive feedback. This program afforded me the opportunity to make changes to how I approach problems, and connect with people in a deeper way.

Chris and the Groundwork curriculum has had an impact on me as a leader of my school and helped me become more connected to the greater Salem community through the vast network of professionals that I had the opportunity to work with throughout the year. Now, three years later, I continue to discover ways in which this experience has helped shaped me in my current role at Blanchet.

Participating in Groundwork and working with Chris gave me the time, with skillful facilitation, and in the company of other amazing people, to discover what is most important in my life and the support I needed to adjust my efforts accordingly. Life was good before and even better now.

Chris and I met during a leadership cohort put on by our local Chamber of Commerce. During that time, we became fast friends and after the programming ended, we made it a point to connect regularly. Now, years later, I consider Chris one of my best friends and couldn’t be more proud of what he’s accomplished since connecting with him. Firstly, he’s one of the most driven, disciplined and focused individuals I know. During the early stages of Groundwork— his self-designed leadership curriculum— I was fortunate enough to be a part of one of his cohorts and it completely rewired my way of thinking about how to be a leader. With his “rooted in” approach, he navigates you through every day interactions and how you can show up in those interactions as a more genuine, empathetic and outward person. We’ve seen tremendous success in our community in organizations that are using his framework and this is just the beginning. I’d recommend to anyone in an organizational leadership role to reach out to Chris. He’s someone you should know and if Groundwork has had the impact in our community, it can have the same impact in yours.

Chris Pineda is a fantastic leader, developer, and human being. He cares deeply about his community and humanity. He has a tremendous work ethic and a strong knowledge in his field. He works tirelessly for his clients and community making them better people. Through Groundwork Leadership Institute, I've grown personally and professionally. His leadership and orchestration of the institute has impacted me. I highly recommend grabbing a cup of coffee with Chris in person or virtually to learn how he can benefit you, your community, and/or your company.

Chris consistently exhibits humility and gritty determination in finding and discerning solutions. It’s these moments where you really learn what someone is made of and Chris stood tall and shined each and every time despite uncertainty and associated fear of the unknown.     It’s impossible for me to adequately describe in words the significance of what Chris has accomplished in our city and the character and abilities he possesses that made it happen. I will say it this way, I will be 53 years old this year and have been leading and serving in business, non-profit, and faith organizations for over 25 years. In all my experience, Chris is in my top three list for people that I would want to work with, serve with, lead with, and tackle any problem with. I trust him and his abilities that deeply.

After working with Chris, our organization has improved communication with staff and community in BIG ways!

Personally, it provided me with a perspective that I had yet to really contemplate. The idea that any of the work that we attempt to accomplish within our organization will only grow as much as our soil will allow it. Therefore, if we don't do anything to tend to that soil (people) we can only expect limited results. For me personally that was a big discovery.

A highlight for me was identifying things that could have been avoided if we had created the right "Soil" in advance. Soil meaning a healthy work culture.

After Chris talked to us about growing accountable people instead of holding people accountable we began holding accountability groups as an organization and I was so surprised by the response I got from my employees. We began having wonderful open discussions about understanding one another and seeing people deeply that can directly impacted the individuals ability to hold themselves accountable.

Chris opened my eyes as a leader to these important steps: realizing it takes time and effort to prepare our "Soil" aka people, being clear on our "why", understanding that conflict is normal and with the right attitude and skill set it can lead to growth and transformation.

This was a transformational experience for me! Chris was Dynamic and Funny!