Gwen Webber-McLeod

Gwendolyn (Gwen) Webber-McLeod, M.S., is President/CEO of Gwen, Inc. She has over 40 years’ experience in leadership/organization development, facilitation, strategic planning, the development of effective coalitions/collaborations, helping companies develop strategies for taking diversity and inclusion initiatives to the next level (Diversity 2.0©) and the strategic development of women and minority leaders breaking glass/cement ceilings in companies (Unexpected Leaders®).

Gwen is a frequently sought-after lecturer and conference keynote speaker on the topic of leadership. Her clients are CEOs, executive and mid-level managers, and leadership teams in public, private, health care and education businesses and organizations. Gwen, Inc. exists for the sole purpose of helping leaders achieve business goals by focusing on the leadership competencies of confidence, competence, courage and calm.

In 2009, Gwen founded You Can’t Fail: Because Your History Says You Can’t. A unique one of a kind conference designed to provide leadership development experiences for professional women of color. It was founded to pay her success forward to new generations of Black women leaders. In 2015 You Can’t Fail was incorporated as a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization You Can’t Fail, Inc. The organization now hosts its signature program the You Can't Fail Leadership Learning Community for emerging black women leaders across the country. To date the You Can't Fail Conference and Leadership Learning community have a combined impact on over 1000 Black women leaders since the inception of the original concept.

Gwen is a published author with contributions most recently featured in Resilience: Living Life by Design by Dr. Deana Murphy and published in 2015. The book is available on Amazon. Her chapter Thriving Through a Season of Grief chronicles how the vision for incorporating Gwen, Inc. was the result of thriving through a difficult moment in life. Gwen’s book Your Leadership Journey: Living and Leading In and On Purpose a business/leadership development book designed for emerging women leaders and their mentors will be published in 2023.

Gwen earned many prominent recognitions throughout her career. In 2019, Gwen was the first Black woman Since the founding of her hometown, Auburn New York in 1793 to run for the Cayuga County Legislature. She followed in the footsteps of her mother. Of special note, Auburn is the final home and resting place of Harriet Tubman. Gwen believes she is guided in her work and legacy building by the spirits of historical Black woman leaders. Gwen is also a proud member of the Syracuse Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Gwen attributes her success to the support of her loving family and working daily to simply be the type of leader she believes God called her to be – A Servant Leader.