Interculturalist

What Interculturalist does

Interculturalist, LLC is a privately held, founder-led professional services firm founded in October 2009 in St. Paul, Minnesota by Akiko Maeker, PhD, and Paul Maeker. The company delivers intercultural competence and emotional intelligence development services to organizations in government, healthcare, higher education, nonprofit, and corporate sectors, with a stated operational footprint spanning Minneapolis/St. Paul, Basel (Switzerland), and Tokyo (Japan). Service delivery rests on the proprietary Workplace Efficacy® framework — a registered trademark linking emotional intelligence and intercultural competence as interconnected organizational development pillars — and on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which the team administers as Qualified Administrators.

The core product portfolio comprises organizational intercultural capacity building (multi-level engagements using the IDI), executive coaching (delivered by ICF-trained coaches), and the Intercultural Institute for Master Coaches (IIMC), a three-day advanced coach education program launched in November 2021. Distribution is direct-to-client with sales-led, enterprise-focused engagement, supplemented by a public-facing IIMC registration and a bilingual English/Japanese website. The firm holds woman- and minority-owned business certifications and has no disclosed external funding, headcount, or revenue figures; management indicates the business is independently and wholly owned by its two co-founders.

The firm's value proposition rests on the senior IDI credentials of its leadership (Akiko Maeker serves as faculty for IDI Qualifying Seminars; Paul Maeker is described as one of the most senior Qualified Administrators worldwide), the Workplace Efficacy® brand, and a 14-plus-year track record with a diverse client roster that includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cargill, Yale School of Management, Hazelden Betty Ford, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and the U.S. Peace Corps. Pricing is engagement-based and quote-driven across consulting, training, and coaching, with IIMC tuition publicly disclosed at $1,850 (early bird) and $2,000 (standard).

Name

Interculturalist

Legal name

Interculturalist, LLC

Website

https://interculturalist.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intercultural Consulting and Training Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Cultural Competence & Inclusion (EDABAMAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

DEI, Inclusive Leadership & Cultural Intelligence Coaching (EDABANAJ), Language & Cross-Cultural Training (BPACANAL), Pre-Departure Orientation, Re-Entry & Intercultural Training for Study Abroad (EDAIAAAH)

Keywords

• Intercultural competence training
• Emotional intelligence development
• Executive coaching services
• Organizational development consulting
• Diversity inclusion training

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Paul

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Training and Consulting Services: Delivers customized training programs, workshops, and consulting services to organizations seeking to develop intercultural competence and emotional intelligence. Revenue generated through engagement-based fees for organizational capacity building initiatives.
2. Executive Coaching: Provides executive coaching services to individual leaders and teams, focusing on intercultural competence development and emotional intelligence enhancement. Billed per coaching engagement.
3. IIMC Program Tuition: The Intercultural Institute for Master Coaches is a 3-day advanced coach education program offered annually with tuition fees. Includes IDI assessment, individual session, and ICSI inventory.
4. Assessment Services: Provides Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessments and related instruments (ICSI - Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory) to measure and guide intercultural development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Interculturalist provides intercultural competence development, emotional intelligence training, executive coaching, and organizational consulting services through its proprietary Workplace Efficacy® framework. Services leverage the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessment to help government agencies, healthcare organizations, higher education institutions, nonprofits, and corporations build inclusive, high-performing workplace cultures. The firm also offers the annual Intercultural Institute for Master Coaches (IIMC), a 3-day advanced coach education program for experienced professional coaches.

Product overview

Interculturalist offers a suite of professional development services centered on its proprietary Workplace Efficacy® framework, which is designed to build high-performing workplace cultures. The core offering combines Intercultural Competence Development and Emotional Intelligence Development as two essential pillars. The service portfolio includes organizational intercultural capacity building, executive coaching, and the Intercultural Institute for Master Coaches (IIMC) — an advanced coach education program. All offerings leverage the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as a foundational assessment tool, administered by their team of Qualified Administrators. The company operates as a certified woman and minority-owned business founded in 2009, serving clients across government, healthcare, higher education, nonprofits, and corporations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Workplace Efficacy®: A proprietary methodology and trademarked framework developed by Interculturalist for building collective confidence that empowers teams to thrive, creating a culture of psychological safety, collaboration, and high performance.

Products and services

• Workplace Efficacy® Framework A proprietary, trademarked organizational development methodology that creates collective confidence enabling teams to feel supported, perform at their best with positive emotions and manageable stress, and persist through challenges to drive organizational success.
• Intercultural Competence and Leadership Development Training and assessment programs that develop intercultural competence in professionals and leaders using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), helping organizations unlock the potential of diverse talent and fuel innovation.
• Emotional Intelligence Development Programs that cultivate psychological safety and engagement for individuals and teams, enabling cohesive and confident team performance through a structured Emotional Intelligence learning methodology.
• Organizational Intercultural Capacity Building Multi-layered organizational consulting engaging intercultural learning activities at individual, team, division, department, and organizational levels, utilizing the IDI to assess and build intercultural capacity.
• Executive Coaching Individual coaching services for leaders delivered by ICF-trained executive coaches to develop emotional intelligence, intercultural competence, and coaching skills for improved workplace communication and relationships.
• Intercultural Institute for Master Coaches (IIMC) A 3-day advanced coach education program for experienced professional coaches seeking to add intercultural competence to their coaching practice, delivered online via Zoom. Includes IDI assessment, individual IDI profile review session, Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory (ICSI), customized Intercultural Development Plan, and ICF continuing education credits.
• IDI Qualified Administrator Services Certified administrators who administer and interpret the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) for assessing intercultural competence of individuals and organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Teams experience positive emotions and manageable stress, enabling better performance
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterculturalist serves as faculty for IDI Qualifying Seminars, training and certifying other professionals to become IDI Qualified Administrators. Managing Partner Akiko Maeker is an instructor for IDI certification programs. Multiple team members serve as IDI Qualified Administrators and faculty.
• International Coach Federation (ICF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerICF-credentialed executive coaches deliver coaching services. IIMC program offers ICF Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEU) pending ICF approval. Team members are ICF-trained coaches.
• Emotional Intelligence and Diversity InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeam members including Akiko Maeker and Paul Maeker are certified trainers of the Emotional Intelligence and Diversity Institute, integrating emotional intelligence development methodologies into service offerings.
• Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to deliver intercultural programming. CIEE represents a client and strategic partner in international education exchange.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Winters Group: The Winters Group is a women-owned DEI and intercultural consulting firm serving corporations, government, and nonprofits. Highly comparable business model — boutique consulting practice, executive coaching, cross-cultural and inclusion training, anchored by a recognized founder — competing for many of the same RFPs as Interculturalist.
• Berlitz Corporation: Berlitz delivers language instruction and cross-cultural communication training to corporate and consumer customers worldwide. Comparable in combining language and cultural training, with a similar enterprise sales motion targeting the same multinational and institutional buyers as Interculturalist.
• Cultural Intelligence Center: Cultural Intelligence Center sells the CQ (Cultural Intelligence) assessment and certification programs for individuals, coaches, and organizations. A direct analogue to Interculturalist's IDI-based methodology and Qualified Administrator model, targeting overlapping corporate, government, and education buyers.
• RW3 CultureWizard: RW3 CultureWizard provides intercultural training, global mobility coaching, and cross-cultural assessment for enterprise and government clients. Directly comparable to Interculturalist in offering cross-cultural competence development and assessment-led consulting, with overlapping target customers in Fortune 500 and government.
• Kozai Group: Kozai Group provides global mobility, intercultural training, and cross-border assignment support for corporate and government clients with strong Japan and APAC expertise. Comparable to Interculturalist's trans-Pacific cross-cultural practice and similar institutional/government customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Mercer: Mercer is a global consulting firm providing HR advisory, talent, and inclusion/diversity consulting to large enterprises and government clients. A broad incumbent with dedicated inclusion practice lines that overlap with Interculturalist's enterprise/government intercultural and inclusion work but compete at much larger scale.
• Catalyst: Catalyst is a global nonprofit research and advisory organization focused on workplace inclusion and gender equity, offering consulting, benchmarking, and learning programs. Comparable to Interculturalist in serving enterprises and government on inclusion topics, but as a broader research-led incumbent rather than a boutique practitioner.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a large-scale corporate training and leadership development provider offering content around leadership, trust, and inclusion. Overlaps with Interculturalist's executive coaching and leadership development offerings but as part of a much broader portfolio rather than a niche intercultural specialist.
• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm with executive coaching, leadership development, and DEI practices. A broad incumbent that competes for the same enterprise and government mandates as Interculturalist, but with vastly greater scale and a wider portfolio of services.

Others

• IDI, LLC: IDI, LLC owns and licenses the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessment and runs the Qualifying Seminars for which Interculturalist provides faculty. A strategic upstream partner and ecosystem participant rather than a competitor — central to Interculturalist's methodology and go-to-market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Intrculturalst

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Interculturalist