Meet the Team

Edgefield Group brings together leadership experience across higher education, organizational strategy, coaching, systems redesign, and institutional transformation. Our work is grounded in practical leadership experience and shaped by a commitment to helping organizations navigate change with clarity, alignment, and purpose.

Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, PhD, CEC, CSAEd

President, CEO, and Managing Partner

Dr. Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, looking at camera with long blonde wavy hair, green eyes, and wearing a gray blazer and white blouse, smiling in an office setting.

Julie brings decades of senior-level leadership experience in higher education and complex organizations. She has led system-wide student success initiatives, organizational redesign, strategic planning, and large-scale change efforts across multiple institutions—often in environments shaped by financial pressure, political constraint, and deep equity considerations. A sought-after consultant, educator, keynote speaker, and coach, Julie has worked with colleges and universities of all types to help them identify, enact, and realize sustainable and important change on behalf of the students they serve.

Julie holds the CSAEd (Certified Student Affairs Educator) credential and has served in national leadership roles with NASPA, providing deep credibility with higher education leaders across student affairs, academic affairs, and executive leadership. She is a Certified Executive Coach and licensed to administer the EQ-i 2.0® and EQ360® Assessment Administrator. Her facilitation and coaching approach blends systems thinking, human-centered leadership, and practical strategy—supporting leaders as they navigate visibility, power, identity, and change with clarity and courage.

Learn more about and follow Julie on LinkedIn.

Anthony C. Kirchmeier, MS

Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Partner

Tony Kirchmeier, A smiling man with gray hair and a beard, wearing a dark suit, light blue dress shirt, and patterned tie.

Tony brings a grounded, operational lens to coaching, informed by experience in organizational leadership, execution, and systems management. His work emphasizes clarity, follow-through, and sustainability—helping leaders translate insight into action. Tony has won multiple awards for systems and technology design in support of modern learners in higher education environments.

Tony is an MBTI® Certified Trainer and counselor-trained student affairs leader, bringing additional depth to coaching engagements that focus on leadership style, communication, team dynamics, and decision-making. His leadership and coaching approach is human-centered, practical, steady, and execution-oriented, supporting professionals who want to strengthen effectiveness in both day-to-day leadership and long-term organizational work.

Learn more about and follow Tony on LinkedIn.