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Dr. Fahad Alshawan
The founder

Dr. Fahad Alshawan

Works with leaders to align purpose and priorities, improve ways of working, and turn strategy into disciplined execution.

Experience: major national programs and strategic organizations, public and private, with international experience across research and professional practice.

Focus areas: organizational effectiveness, organization development, and change leadership — leadership alignment, leadership-team development, stronger collaboration, and employee and client experience.

Education: Ph.D., Penn State University.

Certifications: Prosci · Hogan · Insights Discovery.

“Sustainable effectiveness begins with a leadership team united on purpose and agreed on how it will work — before any initiative is launched.”

Professional experience

2026 – present

Independent advisory practice in organizational effectiveness & transformation, Riyadh.

2023 – 2026

Senior Organization Development & Change Expert — Middle East & Africa (Regional Lead), Bechtel, Saudi Arabia.

2017 – 2023

External OD & Change Consultant, The Pennsylvania State University — USA & Saudi Arabia.

2015 – 2017

External Consultant, Southern Illinois University — USA.

2004 – 2012

Entrepreneurship & business leadership — founded and managed ventures across multiple industries.

Education

Ph.D.: Workforce Education and Development — emphasis in Organization Development & Change, Penn State University, USA.

M.S.: Workforce Education and Development, Southern Illinois University, USA.

B.Ed.: King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.

Certifications

Certified Change Practitioner — Prosci · Hogan Assessment Certification · Insights Discovery Practitioner · Global OD Competency Framework Series · Post-Crisis Leadership Certificate — University of South Florida · Graduate Online Teaching Certificate — Penn State.

Thought leadership & speaking

Publication: Organization development & change case study published with Edward Elgar Publishing — documenting his experience on major Saudi projects (co-author).

Workshops: Leading Engineering Organizations to Organizational Effectiveness and Excellence — Bahrain Society of Engineers & Saudi Council of Engineers; Compatibility and Resolving Conflicts in Work Environments — Al-Ahsa Forum 2025, sponsored by Aramco and Al-Ahsa Development Authority.

Conferences: Presenter, AHRD 2024 — HRD/OD in the GCC; Penn State OD & Change Webinars, 2022 and 2023.

Breadth of experience across sectors

Consulting, transformation, and leadership experience across major national programs and public, private, and international organizations

Giga-projects & national programs

  • Bechtel
  • NEOM
  • Trojena
  • New Murabba
  • Riyadh Metro
  • King Salman International Airport
  • Expo 2030 Riyadh
  • Jubail Industrial City
  • National Company for Mechanical Systems

Corporate & institutional

  • Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA)
  • Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
  • Saudi Council of Engineers
  • Bahrain Society of Engineers
  • Al-Ahsa Commercial Arbitration Center

Education, health, coaching & entrepreneurship

  • Healthcare & nonprofit — United States
  • Private education
  • Penn State College of Engineering — Leadership in Organizations (instructor)
  • Executive coaching — locally & globally
  • F&B — former owner, current advisor

Names are the property of their respective organizations and are displayed solely to illustrate the founder's professional experience through employment, projects, consulting, coaching, workshops, memberships, certifications, and collaborations.

From the field

Challenges — and how he addressed them

A brief selection from his consulting work — with client confidentiality fully preserved.

01

Building a leadership partnership between the project team and the client

The challenge

A multinational leadership team with divergent styles of leadership, communication, and priority-setting; a complex client relationship with trust deficits on both sides; heavy time and delivery pressure — and a prevailing belief that alignment was out of reach.

How he worked

Individual interviews and diagnostics; a staged awareness journey using validated team-dynamics assessments and a team charter; separate sessions with the internal team and the client; then an extended joint workshop locking agreement on priorities, ways of working, and decision-making — carried forward by task forces and follow-through.

The impact

Strong client recognition, including a formal letter of thanks; genuine alignment that reset the relationship; measurable gains in client satisfaction and employee engagement — and follow-on work built on the partnership.

02

Accelerating delivery through organizational effectiveness

The challenge

A major national project with a client that values expertise and faces complex demands: diverging priorities, slow coordination, overlapping responsibilities, and communication gaps — and an urgent need for pace and a single operating model.

How he worked

Interviews, diagnosis, and an effectiveness analysis across delivery, process, collaboration, communication, and the working environment. A team charter and leadership workshops unified effort; a joint client workshop set priorities, responsibilities, and ways of working — supported by change leadership and a clear implementation plan.

The impact

Client recognition; faster delivery; clearer accountabilities; stronger coordination and alignment across parties — and a tangible acceleration of the project.

03

Raising organizational effectiveness in a sensitive national company

The challenge

A national company of a sensitive nature, leading strategic projects: weak integration and horizontal working across functions, diverging priorities, and communication gaps — with a clear need for change leadership and a step-up in organizational effectiveness.

How he worked

Interviews, diagnostic sessions, and root-cause analysis following an Action Research methodology — leadership fully engaged, solutions co-created, the lens spanning leadership, process, and the human and organizational systems. The program closed with ranked priorities, initiatives, assigned ownership, and a standing committee for continuous improvement.

The impact

High satisfaction and full adoption: CEO endorsement, agreement across every function, stronger collaboration — and work, follow-up, and improvement that continued beyond the program.

Discuss an organizational challenge.

A short note is enough to begin — the introductory session carries no obligation.