Cathy Rose Salit

As one of Performance of a Lifetime's lead trainers, designers and coaches, Cathy Salit has developed hundreds of training programs for a wide variety of clients. The tools of theatre and improvisation are integral to all of her designs; she relates to all organizations as theatrical ensembles which have the capacity to create new, varied, and collaborative performances -- both with one another and with their clients.
Cathy's recent work has included an extensive program for a leading professional services firm focusing on leadership development and difficult conversations, a global communications training program for analysts at a major credit rating company, a creativity and innovation module at a Fortune 100 financial services organization, patient-doctor communication programs at several major hospital centers in the New York area, creative sales skills training for global sales leaders at an international credit card institution, and diversity programs at Fortune 500 banks and consulting firms, to name a few.
Cathy began her career as an upstart and risk-taker at the age of 13, when she dropped out of eighth grade and started an alternative school in New York City. The success of this innovative and groundbreaking educational institution led to her co-writing her first book, entitled Starting Your Own High School, published by Random House.

Cathy has spent her adult career as an educational pioneer and social entrepreneur, launching innovative, performance-oriented programs and businesses designed as centers for change, learning and growth. These include The Social Therapy Group, a national network of psychotherapy clinics, where she is a managing partner. She is trained in the social therapeutic approach, a humanistic, non-traditional clinical method which is used in youth development programs, private and public mental health centers, innovative alternative school initiatives, and in agencies and organizations servicing a wide range of populations in varied settings -- from New York City to Toronto to Bosnia to Johannesburg.

An accomplished singer, actress, director, and improvisational comic, Cathy is a 20-year member of the Castillo Theatre, a leading avant-garde off-Broadway theatre company, newly relocated in the heart of New York City's theatre district on 42nd Street. Among other offerings, Cathy can be seen there in an improvisation comedy series entitled "This is Your Ridiculous Life."

The work of Performance of a Lifetime and its antecedents is the subject of eight books (that we know of!) Titles include: Post-Modern Psychologies (Routledge), Performing Psychology (Routledge Press), Schools for Growth (Erlbaum & Associates), Performance of a Lifetime (Castillo Press), etc. Cathy is a featured contributor in From Clinician to Coach, Jason Aronson Publishing, NY (forthcoming 2004), and the Zone of Excellence Journal, a Canadian on-line publication that features articles on the pursuit of human excellence. She and Performance of a Lifetime have been featured in numerous publications including the New York Post, Wired, O the Oprah Magazine, Working Woman, and Fast Company, as well as in televised features on New York 1, WABC TV, WNBC and CNNFN's "Business Unusual." Cathy's recent conference presentations include Creating an Optimistic Future (Tampa and Denver 2003), The Future of Learning (Stockholm 2002) and Performing the World (New York 2001, 2003), and the Improvisation in Business Summit.

Website: performanceofalifetime.com