Candice Crawford-Zakian

Candice Crawford-Zakian, Psy.D. is a psychoanalytically oriented consulting psychologist and executive coach specializing in leadership development and organizational dynamics. Her expertise focuses on the intersection between the individual and the organization, with an emphasis on the convergence of leadership, social identity, and unconscious group dynamics. Her consulting and teaching methods are interdisciplinary, drawing from principles of psychology, design thinking, and the creative arts. She brings together theories from systems psychodynamics, adult development, and adaptive leadership to create impactful experiential learning programs that equip leaders with the cognitive agility, creativity, socio-cultural awareness, and self-awareness necessary to build and lead healthy, innovative, diverse organizations.
 
She is the lead instructor and coach for Practicing Leadership Inside and Out (PLIO), a two-year course series on leadership development for students in the Doctorate of Educational Leadership (Ed.LD) Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Prior to joining HGSE, she was an assistant professor at William James College of professional psychology and an adjunct lecturer/executive coach at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
 
In addition to her work at HGSE, Crawford-Zakian is a leadership consultant and executive coach within executive education and degree programs at INSEAD (France) International School of Business. She is also principle and co-owner of Human Studio, LLC., a consultancy, providing experiential learning programs for commercial and non-profit organizations. Previous clients include Blue Cross Blue Shield, NYC Department of Education, The Ford Foundation, Optum Health, Southern California Edison, World Bank, and Macquarie Group Investment Banking.
 
Crawford-Zakian received her B.A. from Howard University, and her Psy.D. from George Washington University. She completed post-doctoral training in psychodynamic research at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance.
 
Outside of her teaching and consulting practice, she is a vocalist who records and performs in a broad range of genres including alternative rock, progressive metal, jazz, and hip-hop.