Catherine McCarthy is COO at The Energy Project, a company that helps individuals and organizations fuel energy, engagement, focus and productivity by harnessing the science of high performance. Catherine McCarthy is the co-author of Leading at the Edge, a book based on Ernest Shackleton's Antarctica expedition which outlines 10 key strategies for helping leaders and teams optimize performance in the face of adversity. In October 2007, Catherine's article "Manage Energy Not Time: The Science of Stamina," co-authored with Tony Schwartz, was published in the Harvard Business Review. The article describes the impact of the Energy Project curriculum on engagement and performance at three Fortune 100 companies. Catherine McCarthy also co-authored The Way We're Working Isn't Working: The Four Forgotten Needs that Energize Great Performance with Tony Schwartz and Jean Gomes, which was released in May 2010.

At The Energy Project, Catherine McCarthy has delivered keynotes, facilitated training, coached executives and helped to develop the core curriculum. She has worked with senior leaders and teams at companies including Chubb Insurance, Credit Suisse, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Kaiser Permanente, Kraft Foods, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Starbucks, UBS and Wachovia as well as organizations ranging from the FBI to the Boys & Girls Club of America.

Prior to joining the Energy Project in 2003, Catherine McCarthy was a Senior Consultant at the Syncretics group, an organization devoted to helping leaders perform at their best in the face of difficult challenges. Before that, Catherine spent five years as a Consulting Psychologist for MICA Management Resources, a consulting firm based in Chicago. Catherine began her career as a leadership consultant to large family-owned businesses.

Catherine McCarthy got her BA in 1990 from Princeton University, where she was also an All-American lacrosse player. Catherine earned her PhD. in clinical psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and went on to do a fellowship at Yale University's Consultation Center. As a competitive athlete, she has completed eleven marathons and eight 141 mile long Ironman races.