- Meet our team -
Debra Underwood, MBA
Debra Underwood is an executive coach and team performance consultant. She helps teams and executives be more effective by identifying patterns in norms and behaviors, creating space for more honest conversations, and focusing energy toward clear outcomes. Her approach mixes the latest research on high-performing teams, with a style that is non-judgmental, supportive and real. Prior to founding Vox Verum, Debra worked in technology investment banking and real estate development. She holds an MBA from U.C. Berkeley-Haas, a B.Sc. from LSU, and a Professional Coaching Certification through New Ventures West.
Brandi Pearce, PhD
Brandi Pearce, PhD is the Director of Team Performance and Research at UC Berkeley. Brandi’s research focuses on how organizational, spatial, and cultural dimensions of work impact collaborative dynamics between boundary-spanners – ultimately driving innovation. Brandi designed and spearheads an experiential High Performance Teaming curriculum at UC Berkeley. Brandi partners with Vox Verum to bring her research and the latest science on teaming to corporate teams seeking to work more effectively together. Brandi has lived in Denmark, Japan, and Micronesia and loves playing with her family, traveling, & skiing.
Anke Thiele, MBA
With 15+ years as an executive coach and organizational effectiveness consultant, Anke has been a trusted advisor to companies such as Google, Clifbar, UC Berkeley, and many other Silicon Valley companies. In her coaching work, Anke combines her academic background and professional experience in three areas - organizational psychology, strategy management consulting, as well as her own leadership experience. Her ultimate goal is to help leaders increase effectiveness and achieve higher personal fulfillment. Her coaching clients describe her as insightful, intuitive and goal-oriented, empowering them to reach their full potential, both professionally and personally. Prior to starting The Human Link, Anke worked as Managing Consultant at Towers Perrin and as Director of HR at Bertelsmann AG in Europe. She lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband, two children, two cats and enjoys running, yoga and skiing.
SARITA VASA
Sarita Vasa is committed to a full life, and always looking for the next adventure. She is currently GrahamComm’s Head Coach and Presentation Trainer, and Platinum Exchange Women’s Leadership Lead Facilitator and Coach, and an Executive Coach/Facilitator for Teams@Haas. She applies her 20 years of experience in passionate public speaking, facilitating, entrepreneurship, coaching and theater to support her clients. Her clients include companies like Ebay, Facebook, VMware, Autodesk, and Twitter.
Kathrin O'Sullivan
Kathrin is an experienced organizational development consultant, facilitator, executive coach, and speaker with twenty years of experience in the tech industry. She is based in Silicon Valley and works internationally.
Kathrin left Google in 2017 after twelve successful years where she was initially responsible for building a multi-million dollar advertising revenue channel in Europe. She then moved to the US and held several leadership positions in People Operations, most recently as Head of Executive Development.
Before Google, Kathrin worked for Oracle for five years, and was part of two different tech start-ups. Kathrin is originally from Germany, has lived in five countries, and worked in over twenty. She has successfully earned her stripes as a leader in complex, fast-paced environments. She understands the demands on executives in a world where traditional structures are breaking open, and is very well positioned to support clients who want to excel in big jobs.
Kathrin has studied with some of the most distinguished thought leaders in her field, and works with the brightest innovators in Silicon Valley. Her recipe for success is her unique combination of business knowledge, cross-cultural intelligence, sharp focus, and powerful intuition.
in memoriam: RICHARD LEVI
Richard Levi was a dear friend and colleague. We used to joke that Richard never met a team in conflict. He had a way of calmly, gently making space for all viewpoints to be heard. His way of being supported the teams he worked with to develop a shared understanding of why people were approaching challenges they way they were. He enabled teams to listen to each other and find new ways to move forward together. We learned from Richard. We miss his perpetual easy smile, his eternal optimism and we think of him often.