Our Faculty
Jay Chopra PhD
Managing Director
Bio
Dr Jay Chopra is a former Fortune 100 executive specialising in Leadership Development, Team Effectiveness, and the creation of innovative, inclusive workplace cultures. He previously served on the Innovation Leadership Team at Pfizer Global Supply in New York, where he co-led the development and global rollout of a behavioural innovation framework across more than 80 manufacturing sites and 20,000 employees worldwide. This work increased innovation capability, accelerated cross-site collaboration, and established a global network of more than 500 Innovation Coaches. That experience continues to shape his approach today: practical, evidence-based, commercially grounded, and focused on the human behaviours that strategy alone cannot fix.
His work focuses on the behavioural dynamics that underpin team performance, particularly in complex, high-pressure environments where collaboration, trust, and leadership determine whether teams thrive or struggle.
Jay is currently Managing Director of Making Shift Happen, a leadership and organisational effectiveness consultancy that helps organisations improve performance through stronger leadership, more effective teams, and healthier workplace cultures.
Over the past decade, Making Shift Happen has partnered with organisations including Pfizer, Alexion, Tirlan, Zoetis, Merck/MSD, BioMarin, Pinterest, Mace Engineering, UCC, and the Irish Universities Association, supporting leaders at all levels to navigate change, strengthen collaboration, and build innovation capability.
Jay also serves as Executive Programme Director and Associate Faculty at the Irish Management Institute, partnering with leaders and organisations to develop the capabilities required for effective leadership in complex environments. He co-facilitates the HEA Career Odyssey Programme and supports professionals through career transitions.
Selected highlights include:
• Leading multi-year team effectiveness programmes on capital projects valued at up to $1 billion
• Supporting culture evolution initiatives across organisations employing more than 20,000 people
• Training more than 500 Innovation Coaches globally
• Serving as a judge for Engineers Ireland’s CPD Employer of the Year Award (2023/24)
Jay is a Master Facilitator in Whole Brain Thinking and holds certifications in Executive Coaching, Hogan Assessments, Emotional Intelligence, Insights Discovery, Realise2 Strengths, and Mindfulness.
At heart, Jay is a bridge builder. He helps teams connect across differences in thinking, culture, and leadership style because those differences often determine whether performance accelerates or breaks down.
He believes that high performance does not come at the cost of humanity. It comes from it.
Christine Sutton
Business Psychologist
Bio
Christine is an expert people professional with a wealth of experience across multiple sectors. She spent several years in the financial services sector in Ireland supporting senior leadership across several jurisdictions working on local and global employee development and change initiatives.
Christine is accredited in several psychometric tools for use in personal, team and leadership coaching and development, as well as selection processes. She is an accredited coach, holds a Masters in Organisational Psychology and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD. As a perpetual learner, she is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London.
Christine’s areas of interest include leadership development and gender equality. This includes the experiences of women in Executive and Board level positions and how their experiences can enable a greater understanding on the impact of behaviours to inform the development and progression of women into executive roles.
Mary Clavieres
Senior Consultant
Bio
Mary Clavieres is a senior consultant specializing in change management, team effectiveness, and transformation for both individuals and global corporations. With a degree in engineering and 15 years experience in Fortune 100 companies, Mary utilizes her expertise to help leaders and teams navigate change by leveraging cognitive diversity. She is certified in the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument®. Mary is also passionate about building communities.
Mary co-hosts the FearLess Business Podcast. She has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Romper, Swaay, and other media outlets. In 2019, she was the recipient of NPR’s How I Built This Fellowship Program.
Aoife O’Dwyer
Client Director
Bio
Aoife is an experienced client relationship manager with 18 years’ experience in the financial sector working in both retail and corporate banking. Throughout her career she has excelled in building strong relationships with her clients across a wide variety of sectors & backgrounds. She is an experienced change agent, with extensive project management and facilitation experience including in the area of “Lean Six Sigma” in which Aoife holds a Level 9 University qualification. Aoife has extensive experience in sales and customer relationship management having led and managed direct and indirect sales teams. She is a Herrmann HBDI ® Certified Practitioner and qualified financial advisor.
Aoife is particularly interested in using her experience and skills to provide an exceptional customer experience for Making Shift Happen’s clients.
Anne Mahler PhD
Consultant & Academy Lead
Bio
Anne holds a PhD in English Literature and has extensive research experience in the international higher education environment. Anne has an international track record in teaching and public speaking on private, corporate, and university levels. Originally from Germany, she has taught at Leipzig University and University College Cork, Ireland, and presented at international conferences. Anne is MSH Academy Lead and Content Lead acting as a bridge between academia and industry in the organisational development space. Anne also delivers workshops to our blue-chip client base.
David O’Mahony
Director
Bio
David is an experienced financial professional with over 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles within Corporate, SME and Real Estate Banking and Corporate Finance sectors.
David has significant people management and leadership skills with commercial experience in strategic planning, operations, restructuring, transaction management, and real estate.
David has led a number of major re-organisation and transformation programmes from design phase to activation and full operation. He is a change agent having had responsibility for change management and culture change initiatives within a number of teams.
David is particularly interested in helping individuals and teams unlock their potential and believes that the working environment can bring out the best in people and organisations. David’s experience coupled with his listening, questioning and grounded commercial skills helps people and organisations to make the shift needed to improve performance and increase satisfaction in life and work.
Victoria Lincoln
Thought Leadership Strategy and Operations
Bio
As Thought Leadership Strategy and Operations Specialist, Victoria enables the strategic content creation, audience engagement, and efficient operational support at Making Shift Happen. An HBDI Certified Practitioner, PMP Certified, PRINCE2 Agile Certified, and a Certified Scrum Master, Victoria combines expertise in project management and agile methodologies with a talent for impactful storytelling and streamlined processes.
Linda Leonard
HR and Organisational Development Consultant
Bio
Linda is a seasoned HR and organisational development leader with over 20 years of experience empowering people and transforming cultures across sectors including pharma, tech, food, and financial services. She specialises in strategic HR, leadership development, and building inclusive, high-performing workplaces.
With a First Class Honours degree in Psychology and a strong background in science and learning design, Linda combines analytical thinking with a deep understanding of human behaviour. She has held senior global roles across multinationals and SMEs, always focused on creating environments where people thrive.
Whether implementing large-scale change, designing leadership programmes, or embedding wellbeing and DEI initiatives, Linda brings clarity, compassion, and strategic insight to every project.