Pelema brings more than 25 years of experience through a variety of leadership roles in higher education. He is currently a Partner at Buffkin/Baker, a global firm that recruits outstanding leaders who transform organizations large and small. In this role, Pelema is perfectly positioned to teach and mentor those who aspire to lead at the highest level.

Pelema believes strongly that people are the soul of every organization and drive value creation. Throughout his career before Buffkin/Baker, he served as a thought partner for entrepreneurial people and organizations to navigate the process of identifying and attracting talent and cultivating organizational and business strategy. Pelema brings a design and systems approach to all of his leadership roles with an emphasis on human relationships and human talent acquisition/retention.

Previously, Pelema served as president at Great Bay Community College, leading a comprehensive reorganization of the college’s leadership structure. Before that, Pelema was the Vice Provost for Enrollment and Strategic Development at the University of Missouri, where he led the development and launch of the university’s first strategic enrollment management committee as well as its first integrated strategic enrollment management plan. Most recently, he was Vice Provost at the University of New Hampshire, where he led efforts to increase net tuition revenue. As a campus thought partner, Pelema demonstrated success in institutional-wide strategy development and planning to foster innovative, collaborative, and high-achieving environments.

Pelema holds a PhD in higher education from the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, a Master’s degree in higher education, and a Bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from San Jose State University. Pelema is a noted speaker in the higher education field and has made numerous media appearances regarding the future of higher education.

Through The Sweet Spot Leader program, Pelema seeks to pass along his experience and wisdom to those who, like him, are dedicated to leading transformational change to make our world a better place for everyone.