Joan Brennan is a leadership coach, mediator, and curriculum designer specializing in emotional intelligence and conflict resolution for technical leaders. As Director of Research & Development at Startup Patterns, she co-created the Mindful Leadership curriculum and contributes to the Humanize platform, integrating neuroscience, story-based learning, and practical tools for building trust and alignment in modern organizations.

Before joining Startup Patterns, Joan spent over a decade as a professional dressage trainer, earning her U.S. Dressage Federation Silver Medal and coaching riders through ​h​igh-level competitions. She now applies those same principles of focus, feedback, and partnership to her equine-assisted leadership programs, helping executives and teams experience presence and communication in action. Joan’s work bridges high-performance coaching, organizational psychology, and embodied learning to help leaders navigate complexity with clarity and confidence.​