01
Operational Focus
Enterprise Digital Adoption at Global Scale
Amgen
- The Focus
- Leading enterprise change management for global digital and sales enablement transformations across a highly regulated, scientifically driven workforce.
N° 001
Perspective
The Pine 33° Position
The Perspective.
Change Leadership · Adoption Psychology · Disciplined Execution
Pine 33° Partners is an executive advisory platform specializing in change leadership for banking, wealth management, and insurance organizations. Our perspective is shaped by years of leading transformation from both the executive level and the front lines—coaching sales professionals, leading field organizations, and guiding enterprise-wide digital and organizational change across thousands of employees, advisors, and agents.
Those experiences led to a simple conviction: transformation rarely fails because organizations lack strategy. It falters when leaders underestimate how people experience change. We call that adoption psychology—understanding the motivations, behaviors, and organizational realities that ultimately determine whether transformation takes hold.
The Executive Anchor™ is the leadership philosophy that guides our work, helping executive teams remain aligned around strategy, leadership, and execution through periods of organizational change. Guided by that philosophy, we design the Alignment Architecture™—an enduring organizational capability that equips institutions to lead future transformation with greater confidence, consistency, and organizational maturity.
We don’t help organizations simply complete transformation. We help them build the capability to lead every transformation that follows.
THE PRACTICE IS CURRENTLY COMMITTED AND IS NOT ACCEPTING NEW ENGAGEMENTS AT THIS TIME. USE THE FORM TO LEAVE A NOTE FOR CORRESPONDENCE.
( 01 )The Founder
Makeda Coleman.
President & Executive Advisor
( 01 )The Founder
Makeda Coleman.
President & Executive Advisor
With more than two decades of leadership experience spanning banking, insurance, wealth management, and technology, Makeda Coleman helps financial institutions translate strategic vision into organizational capability through a disciplined approach to change leadership grounded in her proprietary philosophy, The Executive Anchor™.
Her perspective is rooted in a simple conviction: transformation rarely fails because organizations lack strategy. It falters when leaders underestimate how people experience change. By integrating adoption psychology, organizational behavior, and operational execution, she helps executive teams create the conditions for lasting alignment, confident leadership, and sustained business performance.
Unlike many advisors who learn an industry through client engagements, Makeda brings an insider’s perspective shaped by firsthand leadership experience across financial services. Having led sales organizations, enterprise transformation initiatives, and digital change affecting thousands of employees, advisors, and agents, she understands the regulatory, operational, and commercial realities that influence successful execution.
Known for bridging executive vision with frontline reality, Makeda helps executive teams navigate complexity with practical insight shaped by years of leading transformation from both the field and the boardroom. Her work strengthens alignment, accelerates adoption, and supports lasting organizational change.
Financial Services & Tech Insider
Amgen
- — Information Systems Change Lead
- — Technology Program Manager
Farmers Insurance
- — Strategy Consultant
- — Chief of Staff
- — New Agent Trainer
- — Sales Coach
- — Market Sales Executive
Capital Group
- — WM Business Transformation Lead
- — WM & RIA Sales Strategy Manager
Broadway Bank
- — AVP Project Manager & Change Lead
Industry Licenses (previously held)
- — FINRA Series 6, 63, and 26
- — Property & Casualty
- — Life, Accident and Health
Professional Credentials
- — Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner
- — Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
- — Kaizen Facilitator
Education
Mercy College (New York)
— Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership
From Pine 33°Signal
Pine 33°Signal is a collection of essays and field notes drawn from years of leading transformation inside financial services organizations—from the boardroom to the field and every seam in between. These pieces explore the human side of enterprise change: adoption psychology, executive alignment, and the small decisions that determine whether transformation actually takes hold.
If you have made it this far, you may find the next piece even more useful.
Explore Pine 33°Signal →( 02 )Professional Footprint
02
Operational Focus
Transformation, Sales Culture & Agency Enablement
Farmers Insurance Group (Fortune 500)
- The Focus
- Partnering with independent agency owners to lead business transformation at the local level, helping agencies adapt to evolving market conditions, corporate initiatives, and changing customer expectations.
03
Operational Focus
Legislative Affairs, Public Policy & External Engagement
Farmers Insurance Group (Fortune 500)
- The Focus
- Helping an external-facing legislative affairs team translate complex regulatory and legislative activity into measurable business outcomes and organizational credibility.
04
Operational Focus
Wealth Transformation & Digital Engagement Strategy
Capital Group (American Funds)
- The Focus
- Building the behavioral change framework that turned top-down corporate initiatives into sustained, high-velocity field adoption.
05
Operational Focus
Advisor, Sales & Compliance Technology Modernization
Broadway Bank
- The Focus
- Architecting the change-leadership framework behind a multi-platform modernization of advisor, sales, and compliance capabilities.
( 03 )Enterprise Transformation
Institutional Assets
Broadway Bank
Beyond individual programs, this engagement produced two institution-level assets that continue to shape how the bank grows and evolves.
Generational Banking Strategy
Authored the bank's generational banking strategy—an enterprise blueprint for how the institution serves clients across the full customer lifecycle, spanning wealth management, commercial, retail, and private banking. Designed to preserve relationships and wealth through generational transfers while anticipating the evolving needs of emerging banking customers and wealth clients, with targeted affinity engagement at a high strategic level.
Enterprise Change Capability
Built the institution's first formal enterprise change capability—a permanent, internally owned framework that elevates change leadership as a discipline above traditional program governance and is inherited by every initiative, acquisition, and technology rollout that follows.
( 04 )Executive Reflections
What prior executive collaborators have said.
These are not client testimonials. They are reflections from senior leaders and colleagues who worked alongside Makeda at previous organizations, included to illustrate the working style, trusted-advisor reputation, and coalition-building character that define her approach.
“Makeda is an inspirational and strategic leader able to achieve results in the change management arena that few others can because of her commitment to a higher purpose, strong relationships and coalitions she builds with stakeholder groups, and helping organizations not lose sight or momentum of the ultimate objective. At Farmers, Makeda was recognized as a trusted advisor to the executive team, having deep relationships in the most troubled parts of the enterprise, and being able to engage influential stakeholders at all levels in the effort. She has a gift for consensus building and was an eloquent external spokesperson for the company—helping Farmers be a more effective company, while also attracting more top talent.”
“Makeda always offers a unique perspective to the most challenging tasks leading to a lean and business forward outcome.”
“While working with her on Lean Six Sigma initiatives in and out of the PMO, her exceptional communication skills and passion for efficiency and process improvement are clear. She takes the initiative to identify problems and devise solutions and efficiently excels at implementation and execution.”
“Makeda is a truly intelligent business professional with experience in both home office and corporate environments and front line field sales roles. She is adept at quickly reading situations, developing recommendations, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to implement. She is a true partner that can be trusted.”
“Makeda is an inspirational and strategic leader able to achieve results in the change management arena that few others can because of her commitment to a higher purpose, strong relationships and coalitions she builds with stakeholder groups, and helping organizations not lose sight or momentum of the ultimate objective. At Farmers, Makeda was recognized as a trusted advisor to the executive team, having deep relationships in the most troubled parts of the enterprise, and being able to engage influential stakeholders at all levels in the effort. She has a gift for consensus building and was an eloquent external spokesperson for the company—helping Farmers be a more effective company, while also attracting more top talent.”
“Makeda always offers a unique perspective to the most challenging tasks leading to a lean and business forward outcome.”
“While working with her on Lean Six Sigma initiatives in and out of the PMO, her exceptional communication skills and passion for efficiency and process improvement are clear. She takes the initiative to identify problems and devise solutions and efficiently excels at implementation and execution.”
“Makeda is a truly intelligent business professional with experience in both home office and corporate environments and front line field sales roles. She is adept at quickly reading situations, developing recommendations, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to implement. She is a true partner that can be trusted.”
“Makeda is a truly intelligent business professional with experience in both home office and corporate environments and front line field sales roles. She is adept at quickly reading situations, developing recommendations, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to implement. She is a true partner that can be trusted.”
“While working with her on Lean Six Sigma initiatives in and out of the PMO, her exceptional communication skills and passion for efficiency and process improvement are clear. She takes the initiative to identify problems and devise solutions and efficiently excels at implementation and execution.”
“Makeda always offers a unique perspective to the most challenging tasks leading to a lean and business forward outcome.”
“Makeda is an inspirational and strategic leader able to achieve results in the change management arena that few others can because of her commitment to a higher purpose, strong relationships and coalitions she builds with stakeholder groups, and helping organizations not lose sight or momentum of the ultimate objective. At Farmers, Makeda was recognized as a trusted advisor to the executive team, having deep relationships in the most troubled parts of the enterprise, and being able to engage influential stakeholders at all levels in the effort. She has a gift for consensus building and was an eloquent external spokesperson for the company—helping Farmers be a more effective company, while also attracting more top talent.”
“Makeda is a truly intelligent business professional with experience in both home office and corporate environments and front line field sales roles. She is adept at quickly reading situations, developing recommendations, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to implement. She is a true partner that can be trusted.”
“While working with her on Lean Six Sigma initiatives in and out of the PMO, her exceptional communication skills and passion for efficiency and process improvement are clear. She takes the initiative to identify problems and devise solutions and efficiently excels at implementation and execution.”
“Makeda always offers a unique perspective to the most challenging tasks leading to a lean and business forward outcome.”
“Makeda is an inspirational and strategic leader able to achieve results in the change management arena that few others can because of her commitment to a higher purpose, strong relationships and coalitions she builds with stakeholder groups, and helping organizations not lose sight or momentum of the ultimate objective. At Farmers, Makeda was recognized as a trusted advisor to the executive team, having deep relationships in the most troubled parts of the enterprise, and being able to engage influential stakeholders at all levels in the effort. She has a gift for consensus building and was an eloquent external spokesperson for the company—helping Farmers be a more effective company, while also attracting more top talent.”
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