SHANEIREE DAMES
Consultant
Meet SHANEIREE DAMES
Shay specializes in cultivating self-aware leaders through dynamic learning experiences and coaching that bridges the gap between project execution and human-centered leadership. Her approach meets clients at the intersection of strategy and soul—blending innovation, personalized development, and breathwork-informed practices to enhance productivity, reduce turnover, and unlock sustainable impact. With a proven track record across Legal, Big 4 Accounting, Healthcare, Hospitality, and Non-Profit sectors, Shay design immersive solutions in learning strategy, leadership training, and coaching that transform how teams lead, learn, and grow—together.
With over 20 years of cross-industry experience, Shay brings a personalized approach to each client—infusing self-awareness, breathwork (pranayama), and equity-centered strategy into every engagement. Her work empowers organizations to lead with clarity, connect with purpose, and create cultures that thrive from the inside out.
Most recently, Shay was the senior learning and development professional at a law firm where she launched the first global manager academy, bridging the gap between leadership and team dynamics. She holds an MBA in Finance, and MSOL and most recently a certification on AI & Career Empowerment from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. She serves as a board of director of the Greater MD Chapter of National Black MBA.
MEMBERSHIPS, ASSOCIATIONS,
+ CERTIFICATIONS
Board of Director- National Black MBA (Greater MD Chapter)
Business Coach- Maryland Black Collective
Member- Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce
DiSC Certified
Legal Lean Six Sigma (Yellow Belt)
MBE/DBE/SBE Certified (NAICS: 611430 · 541612 · 541611 )
Honors + Awards
Community Service Award (2025)- National Black MBA
Black in Business Honoree (2025)- MoCo Black Collective
Education
2025: AI and Career Empowerment - Robert H. Smith School of Business
2016: Master Organizational Development & Leadership (MSODL): Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
2009: Master Business Administration (MBA) - Strayer University
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Behavioral Leadership Architecture
Organizational Development & Culture Change
Executive & Leadership Coaching
Manager Effectiveness & Development
Workforce Wellbeing & Resilience
Breathwork-Informed Practice (Pranayama)
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
Behavior Change Technologist
Learning Strategy & Instructional Design
90-Day Reinforcement Systems
Psychological Safety & Trust-Building
People Strategy & Talent Activation
Program Design Strategist
PRESENTATIONS + PUBLICATIONS
Personalizing Your Pitch- Maryland Black Collective
Leading with Self- Awareness- Maryland Women Business Center
Expediting Change: Wealth Building, Community, and Self-Awareness
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Industry: Legal
Issue: Support large law firm to close a persistent gap between its stated leadership values and the day-to-day behaviors of its managers — particularly around psychological safety, inclusive communication, and team accountability.
Approach: Designed and delivered behavior-first Manager Effectiveness program with a 90-Day Reinforcement System using. Managers received scenario-based microlearning matched to their individual readiness band, guided reflection prompts, and breathwork protocols for high-stakes conversations.
Result: Managers moved from episodic leadership training to a consistent daily practice — with measurable shifts in psychological safety scores and team communication as tracked through behavior signals.
Industry: Corporate / Hospitality & Big 4
Issue: Senior leaders at a high-performing corporate organization were experiencing burnout, high turnover, and declining engagement — despite substantial investment in benefits and wellness programs that employees weren't actually using.
Approach: Implement Workforce Wellbeing Activation through a daily employee practice — delivering personalized breathwork protocols, self-awareness microlearning, and guided regulation before high-stakes interactions.
Result: Measurable improvement in benefit utilization and a reduction in stress-related absenteeism, with employees and HR leaders able to track behavior adoption for the first time.
Industry: Higher Education / Government
Issue: An organization undergoing a significant culture shift and needed to move from posted values to visible, practiced culture — across a multi-level workforce with varying readiness for change.
Approach: Conduct a 2-week Learning House Diagnostic Sprint to surface culture friction points and leadership gaps, followed by a microlearning and guided reflection curriculum aligned to the organization's strategic priorities.
Result: Leadership team received a measurable behavior roadmap and launched a phased culture reinforcement plan — with daily practices embedded across teams rather than reserved for annual retreats.
Q&A WITH SHANEIREE DAMES
What unique perspective do you bring to your practice?
I bring the intersection of strategy and soul — which sounds like a tagline until you actually experience it. I have an MSOD and an MBA; I understand organizational systems, behavior science, and business outcomes. I also practice pranayama and have seen what happens when a leader learns to regulate their nervous system before a hard conversation. Both of those things are true, and both of them belong in a serious leadership development practice. Most consultants bring one or the other. I bring both, because that's what it actually takes to close the gap between what organizations intend and what people do.
Describe major career/life decisions that led you to your current role. How have these experiences shaped the way you engage with clients?
I spent 20 years working inside organizations before I ever started consulting, and what I kept seeing was the same pattern: brilliant strategy, broken execution — not because people weren't capable, but because no one had ever invested in what happens between the training room and the real moment. I founded The Dames Group because I wanted to build the thing that was missing. Every client I serve, I'm thinking about that gap. Not what they learned in the session — what they actually do on a Tuesday morning when things get hard.
What are a couple of your biggest successes?
Building and innovating a behavioral change technology (EdTech) is probably the answer I'm most proud of, because it didn't exist anywhere else. It exists because I kept asking: what if development didn't have to end when the session does? What if we could make behavior change a daily practice instead of a quarterly event? Watching clients use it and seeing the data shift — that's the work. Beyond that, the moments that stay with me are the ones where a manager tells me they finally know how to have the conversation they've been avoiding for two years. That's what I'm here for.
