Our Team.
About Us.
Cortex Leadership Consulting partners with leaders and their teams to solve their toughest people problems. Our interactive and customized approach is based on proven methods and practices to guide leaders to more effectively and efficiently reach their business objectives and desired outcomes.
Our team of expert coaches is dedicated to providing high-quality executive coaching services that are tailored to meet your unique needs. We believe that every client deserves individual attention and personalized coaching that is designed to help them achieve their goals.
Lynda McNutt Foster
CEO & Founder
Named a Business Icon by Valley Business Front magazine, Lynda McNutt Foster, is a recognized leader in executive coaching and organizational transformation, specializing in guiding leaders and their teams through successful digital transformations. As the CEO of Cortex Leadership Consulting, Lynda combines years of research, training, and over 10,000 coaching sessions that provide leaders with practical strategies and tools for achieving impactful results.
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Lynda's strategic expertise and that of her expert team, extends beyond coaching, as she actively facilitates leaders in their digital transformation journeys through proven change management, talent acquisition, and training techniques. Her approach has been instrumental in transforming outcomes for numerous clients, ensuring that their organizations are equipped to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.
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In addition to her role at Cortex, Lynda has contributed to Forbes and served as an expert commentator on WFXR's Coffee with a Coach series for more than four years. She has written over 400 articles, blending her own insights with the latest research in building culture, conversational and relationship intelligence, time mastery, team alignment, peak performance, engagement, and conflict resolution.
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Lynda is a certified coach in Emotional and Conversational Intelligence® and a Certified Trainer for The 3 Vital Questions®. She is an expert in integrating the sciences of DISC, Motivators (Driving Forces), and Cortex Team Strength assessments, providing predictive people analytics essential for organizational growth and role alignment. As the co-founder of goMonti, a technology company dedicated to personalized coaching and team engagement, she continues to push the boundaries of leadership development.
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Her work is further highlighted by her co-authorship of the whitepaper A Leader’s Guide to More Fresh, High Quality Ideas from Their Teams, published by the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. She is also the author of 4 Keys to More Effective Leadership and Time Mastery: 7 Simple Steps to Richer Outcomes, and the creator of the EPIC program for high performers, Leading a Winning Team, and Coaching for Peak Performance.
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Lynda’s clients have included: Metis, PenAir Credit Union, Carilion Clinic, City of Roanoke, County of Roanoke, The Glebe, ValleyStar Credit Union, Real Chemistry, Snow Peak, Orvis, Warm Hearth Village, Harmony Senior Services, Home Instead Senior Care, Kissito/Pace Health Care (now Innovage), Delta Dental VA/Corvesta, Excel Truck Group (VA, NC, SC), CMG Leasing, Federal-Mogul, Roanoke College, Roanoke Rescue Mission, MB Contractors, Better Building Works, Quick Fix Real Estate, HH Hunt, and many others.
Lynda's international clients have included: The Haskell Company, Yokohama.
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Originally from Miami, FL, Lynda now calls Roanoke, VA home, where she balances her professional life with being a mother to an empowered daughter and wife to an incredibly supportive husband. She enjoys weekend gardening, day hiking, and bird watching.
Lynda’s unique blend of strategic acumen and practical experience makes her an invaluable resource for leaders looking to drive successful digital transformations. Her insights into change management, talent acquisition, and leadership coaching have consistently delivered measurable results, making her a must-listen speaker at conferences.
Allen Foster
Vice President & Co-Founder
Allen Foster is Vice President and co-founder of Cortex Leadership Consulting, a leading firm dedicated to executive coaching, talent acquisition, and organizational training. Allen’s extensive experience includes customized 1-on-1 coaching, strategic consulting, talent acquisition specializing in benchmark and search, and the facilitation of over 1,000 leadership training/facilitation sessions. As Cortex’s lead trainer and facilitator, Allen is a Certified Trainer in DISC (CPBA), Driving Forces (CPDFA), and The Empowerment Dynamic, 3 Vital Questions. His expertise further extends into customized workshops focused on DISC, Team Alignment, Conflict Resolution, Team Values Creation, Team Building, Time Mastery, and Problem-Solving strategies.
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Before co-founding Cortex, Allen launched his professional career in retail management, quickly distinguishing himself by leading successful multimillion-dollar store openings and renovations, eventually becoming one of the youngest store managers at a major national big-box retailer. Driven by a passion for marketing, Allen later joined his wife, Lynda, in her advertising agency. Over 15 years, he guided numerous businesses on their marketing and advertising strategies, eventually leading the agency to significant growth. He continues to support select long-standing clients in their advertising efforts today.
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Allen holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Virginia Tech. He is married to Cortex CEO and co-founder, Lynda McNutt Foster, and is the proud father of Melody Kappler. A passionate Virginia Tech football and wrestling fan, Allen is also an avid reader with particular interests in history and science. In his leisure time, Allen enjoys hiking and can regularly be found exploring the Roanoke Greenway or Mill Mountain trails with Lynda.
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Allen’s wealth of hands-on experience, combined with his deep knowledge of behavioral assessments and training methodologies, makes him a trusted resource for organizations looking to enhance leadership capabilities, optimize team performance, and drive sustainable growth.
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Contact: allen@cortexleadership.com
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Jeanne (Jackson) Newby
Principal Consultant
Jeanne is a dynamic HR leader with over 20 years of business and HR operations with fortune 500 companies. Jeanne provides insight into how to structure and maximize the effectiveness of the HR function to develop talent and align to the company vision and goals.
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Jeanne is passionate about coaching top talent, helping managers foster a highly engaged, motivated workforce, and developing employees to achieve their full potential.
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Jeanne is highly proficient in using tools and technology to assess leaders and their teams, providing feedback and coaching to increase communication and teamwork that drive desired business outcomes.
Jeanne is facilitator of the EPIC Leadership Program. This contemporary, fast-paced, interactive experience provides a launching pad for leadership learning for the highest engaged team members in an organization looking to lead in the future. Provided in small group coaching experiences, Jeanne facilitates a virtual experience that can propel ambitious professional careers forward.
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Contact: jeanne@cortexleadership.com
Kim Levings
Coach & Master Facilitator
Kim Levings is an experienced leadership development professional with over 35 years of expertise in people and leadership development. With career experience in both corporate and nonprofit sectors in the USA and South Africa, Kim provides training facilitation, leadership development, and coaching services. She has held executive leadership roles in Human Resources, Manpower Development, Training, and Operations and has partnered with leadership teams and consulting firms to help scale development teams and programs.
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As a Master Trainer and certified partner in Everything DiSC® and 5 Behaviors® of Effective Teams, Kim equips individuals to bring their best selves to life, building healthier teams and cultures. Offering services globally and remotely, Kim spends part of each year in South Africa, continuing her work with leaders and teams around the world.
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Originally from South Africa, Kim has always been passionate about helping individuals and teams reach their full potential. Through her years of leadership in Human Resources and Operations, she saw firsthand the challenges leaders face. These experiences inspired her to focus on leadership development, training, and coaching to create lasting impact.
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With a candid, transparent approach, Kim aims to connect with people in meaningful ways, building trust quickly. Whether working with organizations like River Ranch Foods, Nex-gen Pharma, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, or facilitating programs like Thinking into Results and Serving Leadership, her goal remains the same: to support leaders and teams in creating healthier, more effective workplaces.
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As a “nomad,” Kim splits her time between the USA and South Africa, providing leadership development services to clients across the globe.
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Contact: kimlevings@cortexleadership.com
Megan Dickhans
Business Strategy Consultant, Facilitator, Leadership Coach
Megan Dickhans is a seasoned Business Strategy Consultant and Leadership Coach who helps organizations bring clarity, discipline, and momentum to their most important initiatives. She works at the intersection of strategy, execution, and culture—guiding leaders to align vision with operations, strengthen organizational maturity, and build systems that support long-term, repeatable success.
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As Founder of Sage Consulting and a partner at Cortex, Megan works closely with executives and department heads to design strategic plans that are both ambitious and executable. Her approach combines rigorous project and change management disciplines with a strong focus on team alignment and practical accountability. She is known for turning complex, fragmented challenges into actionable direction, and for helping leaders and teams adapt quickly as priorities evolve.
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Megan’s background includes five years of digital product leadership and consulting in the healthcare sector, where she led enterprise mobile and web initiatives across the full product lifecycle. She created and deployed continuous improvement systems that increased portfolio productivity by 50% and improved alignment between product strategy, operational capacity, and organizational outcomes. As a people manager within the PMO, she coached project managers in both technical execution and leadership, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement and high performance.
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Prior to her work in healthcare technology, Megan served as Assistant Director of Student Support at the Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. She managed large-scale academic and student programs, facilitated peer evaluation systems for 250+ students, launched the college’s first virtual job fair, and strengthened academic and behavioral conduct policies. Her contributions improved student engagement, leadership development, and operational consistency across the college.
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Megan has also served as a lecturer at Virginia Tech, teaching business management, marketing, economics, and personal financial management. A highlight of her academic work was developing and leading an international study abroad program in Ireland.
Across all roles, Megan is recognized for her ability to rapidly diagnose organizational challenges, cultivate trust across diverse stakeholder groups, and distill complexity into clear, decisive action. Her clients and colleagues describe her as strategic, collaborative, and exceptionally effective at building alignment in environments where priorities, people, and pressures converge.
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Her blend of strategic insight, operational discipline, and cross-industry experience positions her as a trusted advisor for leaders navigating transformation, growth, and the need to deliver meaningful, measurable results.
Contact: megan@cortexleadership.com
Darryl Agee
Principal, Cortex PMO Division
​Darryl Agee is a certified Project Management and Agile Certified Practitioner, currently serving as a Solutions Architect for Perficient, a global AI-first digital consultancy that helps leading brands transform how they connect with customers and drive business growth. In this role, he partners with product, technology, and business stakeholders to deliver strategic digital solutions at enterprise scale.
With over 25 years of experience, Darryl has led software development, system modernization, and digital transformation initiatives across industries including retail, healthcare, supply chain, and high-tech. His recent work includes serving as a senior consultant embedded within the digital product organization of a Fortune-ranked retail client, helping to modernize operations, enable agile delivery, and elevate enterprise digital capabilities.
Previously, Darryl served as PMO Practice Lead for More Better Technology (MBT), a Roanoke-based technology startup where he established a Strategic Realization Office and led enterprise clients through Agile and DevOps transformations.
In addition to his consulting work, Darryl is an experienced educator with over 20 years of teaching experience in project management. He is a professor at Virginia Tech and teaches PMP® and PMI-ACP® prep courses at Virginia Western Community College and other institutions. He is a frequent speaker and active board member for the Southwest Virginia PMI Chapter.
Darryl holds an MBA from Auburn University at Montgomery, an MS in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix, and a BA in English from the Virginia Military Institute. He earned his PMP® in 2006 and PMI-ACP® in 2017.
In recent years, Darryl has embraced the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, integrating AI literacy and innovation themes into his client work and course instruction. His curiosity and adaptability continue to drive his passion for continuous learning and professional growth.
Contact: darryl@cortexleadership.com
Kimberly Kolb Eakin
Professional Mentor/Coach
Kimberly Kolb Eakin is a seasoned leadership consultant and founding leader at Cortex Leadership Consulting, where she has over 12 years of experience guiding organizations in leadership development, strategic growth, and organizational effectiveness.
A retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class, Kimberly has an extensive background as an instructor in the military, training soldiers, cadets, and peers in marksmanship, tactical operations, and leadership skills. Her military career instilled a commitment to resilience and precision, which she now channels into helping global clients cultivate strong, cohesive teams and foster collaborative cultures.
Beyond her work with Cortex, Kimberly was instrumental in the creation and direction of The Gauntlet, Virginia’s largest business program and competition, showcasing her commitment to supporting small businesses and innovation. Known for her strategic insight, creativity, and ability to inspire growth, Kimberly’s experience spans from empowering emerging entrepreneurs to coaching established leaders on a global scale.
Through a blend of DISC assessments, mindfulness techniques, and tailored consulting practices, she equips her clients with the tools to navigate complex challenges while building trust and driving impact within their organizations.
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Contact: kimberly@cortexleadership.com
Jenna Miilu
Client & Operations Coordinator
Jenna is a strategic thinker who brings a unique blend of operational excellence, team dynamics, and customer satisfaction to every project. With a deep commitment to lifelong learning, her passions span emotional intelligence, AI, and musicology—each enriching her ability to approach challenges with creativity and insight.
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Jenna thrives on fostering trust and collaboration, valuing direct communication and empathy as the foundation for solving complex problems. She is driven by opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals and continuously grow through shared experiences and innovative projects.
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Jenna supports the CEO and coaches/consultants through personalized service to the clients we serve. She is extraordinary at driving projects to deadlines with excellent results like our EPIC Leadership Program, Leading a Winning Team, and workshops. Jenna has worked alongside our CEO to develop innovative solutions that help support our coaching clients to get what they want, faster.
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Contact: jenna@cortexleadership.com