About NeuroStroll®

How NeuroStroll® was conceived…

I’ve been fascinated by the link between neuroscience and leadership for many years. I began studying in earnest in 2011. I read several articles and books and began attending conferences. In 2016 I was awarded a two-year research professorship to further my studies of the links between leadership, neuroscience and complexity. I was fortunate to attend a variety of conferences and began applying what I learned in my professional executive coaching practice and in my university graduate teaching.

In 2017, I came up with the idea of creating an experiential process to enhance our knowledge of the brain and its capabilities. Specifically, I wanted to test whether the evidence-based research in leadership goal-setting and neuroscience could actually assist individuals in reaching important personal and leadership development goals. The first pilot study was conducted in December, 2017, and a second in June, 2018. The results indicate that the NeuroStroll® process does indeed result in a greater likelihood of goal attainment. I am continuing my research into this fascinating field.

The signature of an effective leader is his or her organization’s’ ability to rise to the challenge, amidst uncertain, complex and ambiguous conditions. Marcia Ruben instills in her clients the confidence to lead and the conviction to build more resilient, responsive teams to face these conditions.

As executive coach, consultant and facilitator, Marcia brings 25 years of experience in untangling complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics. Whether the need is stronger leadership presence, increased conflict management skills, higher emotional intelligence, more persuasive influence or higher performing teams, Marcia’s focused, direct, and warm approach wastes no time in facilitating a brain friendly process in which both leaders and their organizations discover their best solutions.

Marcia’s experience, skill and knowledge of human and organizational dynamics in strategic contexts have repeatedly produced pragmatic change strategies and aligned tactics. Her one-on-one coaching with leaders consistently enables solid advances whether the need is developing within their current position or advancing to the next level. Marcia’s consulting engagements yield insight, guidance and direction to individuals and organizations alike. And her facilitation quickens the untangling that’s necessary for progress, whether the knots are within individuals, among team members, or arise from the complexities of the organization as a whole.

Marcia has experience with leaders in a variety of business sectors, including high tech, clean tech, biotech, healthcare, financial services, retail, private equity, government agencies, nonprofits, and professional services firms. Coaching, consulting and facilitation engagements include work with CEOs, EVPs, executive directors, general managers, vice presidents, and senior directors at organizations ranging from start-ups to Global 50 companies. She is a published thought leader in the executive coaching arena and has spoken at industry conferences. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems, double Master’s degrees (M.S. Counseling and M.A. Human and Organizational Systems), and Phi Beta Kappa graduation from U.C. Berkeley with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Mathematics.

Marcia earned the Certified Management Consultant designation from the Institute of Management Consultants USA in 2002. This certification is awarded to those select consultants who have demonstrated a history of substantive results for clients, adherence to the canon of ethics of the Institute of Management Consultants USA, and professional practice management.
In 2010, Marcia earned the Professional Coach Certification (PCC) from the International Coach Federation. This certification is awarded to coaches who have proven coaching expertise. She completed a year-long Evidence Based Coaching program in 2008 and has logged more than 2500 coaching hours, with scores of corporate clients.

Marcia currently serves as an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Management Department in Golden Gate University’s graduate school of business. She is also the creator of and Program Director for an MS Leadership. She designed and teaches a popular course in team dynamics, both in-person and online. She also designed and teaches a very well-received course in Developing Personal Leadership for students completing their Executive MBA. Marcia teaches a Master’s level course in Executive Coaching and a doctoral level course in leadership. Dr. Ruben was also the 2016-2018 Russell T. Sharpe Research Professor and her areas of inquiry include the intersection of leadership, neuroscience, and complexity.

Marcia resides in San Francisco with her husband, and works on assignments around the globe. She is active in nonprofit leadership boards and provides pro bono services to local nonprofits. Marcia is most passionate about unlocking each person’s highest and best potential.


Debra Pearce-McCall, PhD, has been a leader in the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), for more than a decade. Her work integrates the science of mind and brain with the relational dimension of human life, on communicating, connecting, learning and changing.

Drawing on her experiences as a psychologist, executive, and consultant, Dr. Pearce-McCall illuminates multiple levels of our human systems for leaders and coaches, pioneering how the science-based lens of IPNB optimizes our workplaces. Her approach is infused with translations from the science of our relating minds and brains, designed for immediate exploration and application.

Dr. Pearce-McCall has taught at several universities, written numerous articles, speaks internationally, and works with progressive leaders in healthcare, creative fields, technology, education, and coaching. As a Senior Consultant with The CreatingWE® Institute, she co-led the international WBECS Conversational Intelligence® for Coaches Certification. She is currently writing a book about human well-being and the relational neuroscience of everyday leadership.

A lifelong curiosity about our minds and brains, and about what increases well-being for people and our planet, led Dr. Pearce-McCall to an interdisciplinary education and multi-faceted career. Being a corporate executive, business partner, leadership consultant, non-profit board member, educator, and clinician has given her deep understanding of how qualities of our minds and relationships intersect with positive spirals of resilience and growth, and how to catalyze these patterns across many levels of human systems, from brains to businesses.

Known for her engaging energy and ability to translate wisdom from the science of being human into everyday experiences and action plans, Dr. Pearce-McCall delights in sparking curiosity and compassion, inviting others to develop their presence and relational resonance, and empowering people to lead sustainable transformations—all part of what she calls developing prosilient minds™. Her clients and audiences are resourced by the breadth and depth of her wisdom, and inspired by her understanding of human possibilities and vulnerabilities, and the pathways to healing, connection, and innovation.

Dr. Pearce-McCall actually wrote her first paper on the mind at age 12 – and began mindful awareness practices soon after. More recently, she co-authored the article “Mindsight at Work”, applying IPNB to leadership and organizations, with Daniel J. Siegel, MD, one of the originators of the field of IPNB. A co-author on numerous research articles, she also edited/co-edited the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies’ (GAINS) publications for over a decade.

She is one of the founders of GAINS, an international, interdisciplinary non-profit organization. Dr. Pearce-McCall also co-designed two certification programs in this new field, and created ground-breaking courses applying IPNB to leadership, organizations, and professional ethics.

Dr. Pearce-McCall relishes co-creating with colleagues. With Marsha Shenk, business anthropologist and coach, she co-developed EcosystemiQ™ and Dignity Looping™: multi-science-based practices that extend and enrich patterns of conversations, tracked with a Vitality indicator. With Marcia Ruben, PhD, professor and executive coach, she forged the NeuroStroll®: an experiential immersion that advances/optimizes goal attainment, based on neuroscience, psychology, and studies of individual and organizational change.

Even with decades of study and inner work, she considers being a parent her most incredible journey in understanding minds. She loves traveling, music, biking and hiking, vital conversations, and the ‘mind traveling’ of reading.