Former Mayor 

Jen Cavenaugh is a leadership coach, facilitator, speaker, and governance consultant who has spent the past several years building a practice at the intersection of local government leadership and human development. She served eight years on the Piedmont City Council, including as Mayor, while simultaneously developing her expertise as a certified coach and facilitator. That combination of civic leadership and professional training shapes everything about how she works.

Jen partners with city councils, city managers, department directors, and senior leadership teams across California to strengthen governance, navigate conflict, build team cohesion, and develop the kind of working relationships that allow local government to function at its best. Her work spans one-on-one executive coaching, council and leadership team retreats, strategic planning and goal setting, curriculum design and leadership development programming, and performance evaluation processes that foster open dialogue and clear direction.

Her facilitation approach draws on a range of methodologies, including the iEQ9 Integrative Enneagram for individual and team self-awareness, participatory facilitation techniques, and applied improvisation. She uses improv-based methods to create highly engaging group experiences that help participants identify blind spots, shift mindsets, and build the flexibility and presence that complex leadership environments demand. Her sessions are custom-designed for each client and grounded in a trauma-informed understanding of the unique pressures of public service.

Jen is an ICF-certified coach trained through the Co-Active Training Institute, with additional credentials in positive psychology, interpersonal dynamics, and the Art of Hosting. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. She is a Cal ICMA Coach volunteer, a member and Master Class Speaker with Women Leading Government, and has presented at Cal Cities conferences on council-staff relations and governance effectiveness. She chaired Cal Cities’ Environmental Quality Legislative Policy Committee and has served on regional boards including the Alameda County Transportation Commission, AVA Energy, and the Alameda County Waste Management Authority.

Her civic and professional networks span local government leaders throughout California, and she is actively engaged in conversations about how practitioners, professional associations, and academic institutions can better collaborate to meet the growing statewide need for governance support.

Jen brings both the credibility of lived civic leadership and the rigor of formal professional training to every engagement. Elected officials, city managers, and senior staff consistently describe her work as practical, human-centered, and immediately applicable to the real challenges they face.