Nida Backaitis, Ph.D. is the founder and principal of Edge Brilliant, LLC where she works with leaders who are creating the conditions for resilience, adaptability, creativity, belonging, and innovation in their teams and organizations.

Nida brings over 25 years of experience in working with leaders at all levels in the private, public, and educational sectors.  Her clients have included founders of startup organizations and senior executives in large, established firms and government.   Having founded 2 small organizations and served in senior corporate leadership positions herself, Nida has deep empathy and respect for leaders committed to developing the capabilities needed for today’s complex, global marketplace. Educated at Columbia University and University of Virginia, Nida continues to be an avid student and practitioner of leadership and organizational development, systems and complexity theory, and the rapidly evolving field of vertical leadership development. Her worldview has been greatly influenced by W. Edwards Deming, with whom she had the privilege to work early in her career. 

Nida has extensive experience coaching senior leaders and their teams to greater levels of performance, and effectiveness.  She holds the designation of Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and serves as adjunct faculty for the year-long Professional Coaching Certification program at New Ventures West.  She is a highly rated, Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator (CDTLF), trained by Brené Brown in 2019. 

In both internal and external roles, Nida has created award-winning leadership development, customer, and employee engagement programs. She has led the design and implementation of enterprise-wide change initiatives, realignments, organizational assessments, and has facilitated executive transitions.  Nida’s work with leaders has spanned a range of organizations, including General Dynamics, the MITRE Corporation, the American Association of School Administrators, U.S. Navy, Brilliant Leap, Outbrain, DataRobot, Celo Foundation, Chanel, White Horse Village, Third Bridge, Lockheed Martin, VaynerMedia, Package Free, and Walmart. She has served as faculty at The Marshall School of Business at USC and on the Advisory Board for the Deming Scholars MBA program at Fordham University. 

Nida is an accomplished speaker, having delivered keynote presentations and facilitated workshops in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Her work has been featured in several books, including Free, Perfect, and Now: Connecting to the Customer Imperative: A CEO’s True Story, by Robert Rodin with Curtis Hartman, and The New Economics for Industry, Government, and Education by W. Edwards Deming.