Jenny Swanson, PhD

Jenny Swanson is an Executive Talent Assessor with Crenshaw Associates and an experienced partner in the talent assessment and development space where she provides guidance around selecting, developing, and engaging top leaders. She has held in-house advisory roles, board positions, and external consulting roles, all lending to her understanding of how leaders grow and succeed in business. Jenny’s specialty lies in talent assessment, where she utilizes psychological testing to provide in-depth profiles of executive talent to aid with selection, development, and succession planning. She is also well versed in the areas of coaching, surveys, adult learning and neuropsychology, facilitation, and team building. 

Jenny has over 15 years of utilizing assessments in small to Fortune 50 companies for selection, development, succession planning, and team building applications, serving clients in various industries, including: retail, grocery, manufacturing, private equity, healthcare, construction, insurance, finance, engineering, and hospitality, primarily at the Director level and above.  She has deep expertise in executive assessments, 360° feedback, employee engagement, competency modeling, and development planning, along with delivering sensitive feedback with candor and understanding. Jenny has also built and implemented talent development and organizational assessment strategies that assist companies hire and retain top talent. 

Jenny’s work has established her credibility with senior-level stakeholders, gaining respect from countless client organizations, leadership, and boards for providing exceptional service and quality results. She continually partners with organizations to design and execute development programs involving assessment, 360° surveys, developmental feedback, action planning, 9-box mapping, team meetings, and coaching. She has analyzed data on over 5,000 individual executive assessments for pre-hire and development and has conducted over 1,000 executive interviews with high-level candidates, many holding C-suite roles. She is also a contributing author to numerous scholarly research journals.   

Jenny received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Northern Illinois University. She received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Northern Illinois University and her B.A.S. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.