Meet Astrid Baumgardner

Throughout my career, my approach has been to make choices based on my values, strengths and passions. This principle has guided me through my evolution from lawyer to non-profit executive and consultant to coach, workshop leader and university administrator and faculty member. The key for me has been to remain authentic to myself. The result is a deep feeling of personal success and fulfillment, as well as insight into many different worlds, all of which I share with my clients and my students.

  • I was among the early wave of women lawyers to join large NYC law firms in the mid-1970’s. I began my career as a litigation associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges and Debevoise & Plimpton and became a partner at O’Melveny & Myers. I then joined New York office of the Paris-based firm Gide Loyrette Nouel in order to achieve work/life balance and combine my love for France and my French-language skills with the law.
  • While practicing law and raising a family, I studied piano and became involved in a number of arts organizations in New York City, including The Acting Company, Manhattan School of Music, Musica Viva of New York and the American Composers Orchestra.
  • After practicing law for 25 years, I transitioned to arts management where I could apply my professional skills in service of the Arts, and became Deputy Executive Director of the French Institute Alliance Française of New York.
  • I then became an independent consultant to non-profit boards and did extensive pro bono legal work.
  • I currently serve as Chair of the board of So Percussion, a member of the board of the American Composers Orchestra (which I chaired and co-chaired for 12 years) and a member of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Advisory Board.
  • I am a Certified Professional Coach specializing in career success and personal and leadership development coaching.
  • I am the Coordinator of Career Strategies and Lecturer on Careers in Music at the Yale School of Music.
  • I am a frequent speaker, workshop leader and guest lecturer on music entrepreneurship and arts leadership development.

Education, Coach Training and Credentials

  • Mount Holyoke College, A.B. Magna cum laude; elected to Phi Beta Kappa
  • Rutgers Newark School of Law, J.D.; member of the Rutgers Law Review
  • NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Coaching Program
  • IPEC, the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, the country’s leading coach training institute, which I attended and graduated from as a Certified Professional Coach
  • Member of the International Coach Federation (ICF)
  • Professional Certified Coach (PCC), the ICF credential which is your assurance that I have met rigorous standards of training, ethics and professionalism

IPEC

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