Susan
Misra

Pronouns

She/her

Location

New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA

Organization

Aurora Commons

Website

Demographic Composition of Leadership

Queer BIPOC

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Executive Transitions / Succession Planning, Governance, Embodied Leadership Practice, Change Management Processes, Organizational Development, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Shared leadership, and Team Development.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation.

Key Values/Pillars

Weaving liberation for all living beings (human, non-human kin, and the planet).

Values/Pillars Embodied

We align our practices and policies with our values, spending time developing a collective vision, having difficult conversations, and tending to our collective well-being, growth, and liberation.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


LaShonda
Taylor

Pronouns

She/her/ella

Location

Remote

Organization

Strong Minds Consulting Firm

Website

Demographic Composition of Leadership

Black-Led

Languages

English w/Bi-lingual support in Spanish

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Executive Transitions / Succession Planning, Fund Development Strategy / Donor Engagement Projects, Governance, Conflict Resolution / Mediation / Transformation, Embodied Leadership Practice, Change Management Processes, Organizational Development, Personal Resilience / Wellness / Self Care / Mindfulness, Narrative and cultural organizing, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Healing, Behavioral Health Therapeutic Services.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation, Training / Workshops, Group Therapy (i.e. Grief & Loss).

Key Values/Pillars

Strong Minds Consulting Firm was born out of love to serve, in community, guided by a lens of liberation.

Values include:
– Partnership: Deep, reciprocal, and impactful relationships of support and inspiration.

– Empowerment: Equipping with tools so people have power and control over their own lives

– Equity: Individualized supports, networks, and opportunities necessary to thrive.

– Integrity: Honesty, accountability, and trust in actions and relationships.

– Excellence: Quality services to elevate reach and impact.

Values/Pillars Embodied

These values show up in relationships, conversations, facilitations, and wellness activities through the care and concern with which each client is held. Imperative and urgent is the need to feel whole, held, and supported—all of which we do through the key values of Strong Minds Consulting Firm.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


Gail
Watts

Pronouns

Any pronouns

Location

Hayward, CA

Organization

Tribesy Consulting

Website

https://tribesy.net/

Twitter & Instagram

@Tribesy_21

Demographic Composition of Leadership

General partnership – 50% BIPOC, 50% White.

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Executive Transitions / Succession Planning, Fund Development Strategy / Donor Engagement Projects, Governance, Conflict Resolution / Mediation / Transformation, Embodied Leadership Practice, Change Management Processes, Organizational Development, HR: Planning and Policies, Personal Resilience / Wellness / Self Care / Mindfulness, Communications: Digital Strategy / Social Media / Strategy / Planning, Team Search / Recruitment, Narrative and cultural organizing, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Healing, All aspects of JEDI organizational transformation, power analysis.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation, Training / Workshops, Transformative questions, healing, journey, truths/knowledge, strategy.

Key Values/Pillars

4 pillars: healing, truths & knowledge, journey and change. We practice JEDI internally as well as with partners. We center impact (not intent) to marginalized, minoritized, and/or vulnerable groups/communities.

Values/Pillars Embodied

Leading through building relationships and transformative questions that open possibilities.

Worked with LLC In the Past

No


Deborah
Meehan

Pronouns

She/her

Location

Oakland, CA

Organization

Deborah Meehan Consulting

Website

Twitter & Instagram

@deborahmmeehan

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Network Development, Leadership Development, Research, Writing.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Training / Workshops.

Key Values/Pillars

I believe strongly in embodying now the values of the just and equitable world we are trying to create, and I am constantly learning from LLC about what this looks like in practices of wellness and care. I also believe strongly in centering the wisdom and experiences of those at the margins and most impacted by the oppression of WSC.

Values/Pillars Embodied

Humility about my limitations as a white woman and referring opportunities sent to me on to others who will bring an important needed equity lens by partnering with BIPOC consultants to extend opportunities, by not facilitating as a white woman, and by speaking up to other white people when I see something wrong.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


Cherice
Hopkins

Pronouns

She/her

Location

Alexandria, VA

Organization

In Harmony, LLC

Website

Twitter & Instagram

Demographic Composition of Leadership

Black woman

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Racial Equity / DEIB, Coaching, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, trauma-informed workplace, program development, policy review/development with DEIB lens.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation, Training / Workshops.

Key Values/Pillars

In Harmony’s key values are joy, consideration, collaboration, bold vision, and consistent growth.

Values/Pillars Embodied

In our own practices and through the support of our clients, we embody our values in the following ways:

Joy: Adopting an abundance mindset and appreciation for people’s uniqueness and interconnectedness. 

Consideration: Being mindful of how our choices impact others (particularly those subjected to marginalization) and making an intentional effort to contribute to the well-being of others. 

Collaboration: Building trusted relationships, working alongside others, and following the lead of those who have lived experience and expertise. 

Bold vision: Being courageous, believing in the possibility of thriveability for all, and actively working to move away from dominant culture standards. 

Consistent growth: Learning from the wisdom of different communities, honoring their contributions, and moving into a more expansive way of being.

Worked with LLC In the Past

No


Catherine
Labiran

Pronouns

She/her

Location

New York, NY

Organization

Catherine Bisola Labiran Consulting

Website

Twitter & Instagram

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Conflict Resolution / Mediation / Transformation, Embodied Leadership Practice, Personal Resilience / Wellness / Self Care / Mindfulness, Narrative and cultural organizing, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Healing.

Approaches

Assessment / Tools, Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation, Training / Workshops.

Key Values/Pillars

A core pillar of my work is building and nurturing relationships. I care about the people that I have the honor to work alongside and this care is reflected in what we are able to accomplish together. For me, leading from a place of love also means making room for forgiveness, conflict transformation, and grace.

I center rest by creating spaciousness in my offerings and by infusing somatics into the spaces that I create so that we can collectively engage in healing practices. All of my work centers people at the margins — their safety, perspectives, needs, desires and dreams.

Values/Pillars Embodied

My everyday practice involves connecting with my communities both locally and globally. I understand my interdependence with my family and I prioritize nurturing that bond. As I connect with people, I am always interrogating my own intentions to ensure that I am speaking from my deepest well of love and compassion. I make a lot of room to daydream, nap, and sleep — I am most creative and open when I’m rested.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


Bess
Bendet

Pronouns

She/her

Location

San Fransisco, CA

Website

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bess-bendet/

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Executive Transitions / Succession Planning, Organizational Development, Personal Resilience / Wellness / Self Care / Mindfulness.

Approaches

Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation.

Key Values/Pillars

I value (and do my best to apply to my work) honesty, trust, relationships, presence, listening, compassion, joy, and kindness.

Values/Pillars Embodied

I bring a lot of compassion and love to my work with organizations and leaders. We face enormous challenges; individually, organizationally, and collectively as a movement for justice. I enjoy partnering with teams and facilitating collaborative processes that ensure work is managed smoothly, with clear communication and strong relationships. I apply my own personal journey with meditation, mindfulness, and compassion cultivation, helping clients navigate challenges with compassion for themselves and others. I bring an open, broken, and full heart to my work and my life.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


Ari
Sahagún

Pronouns

She/they

Location

Mexico City, MX

Website

Twitter & Instagram

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arisahagun/

Demographic Composition of Leadership

I’m independent.

Languages

English/ Spanish

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Racial Equity / DEIB, Coaching, Network Mapping, Network Strategy, Network Weaving.

Approaches

Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Training / Workshops.

Key Values/Pillars

Collectively building just alternatives to crumbling systems of oppression, connecting personal and systemic transformations.

Values/Pillars Embodied

Grounding in long-term vision; addressing microaggressions if/as they show up; experimenting with equitable and reparative governance systems within networks; building network structures that move toward decentralization of resources.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes


Ana
Polanco

Pronouns

She/her/ella

Location

New York, NY, US Remote

Organization

Ana Polanco Coaching

Website

Twitter & Instagram

@coach.ana

Demographic Composition of Leadership

Afro- indigena or afro-latina

Languages

English/ Spanish

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Transformational Leadership Coaching, Somatic Practices, Organizational Development, Narrative and Cultural Organizing, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Healing, Team Development, Family and Systems Constellations.

Approaches

Coaching, Facilitation, Strategy, Interventions, Training / Workshops

Key Values/Pillars

  • “Yolteotl”- the Nahuatl word for the movements of a divine heart. Our clients are moving hearts. They have often been harmed or experienced a form of dissonance with a world that has refused some part of their identity. By seeing and hearing them, we yoke the heart open.
  • Compassion – to fully acknowledge and witness the client’s circumstances, pain, and the pressures of colonization. The coach applies patience, wisdom, warmth, and resolve in the process of transforming that pain into passion.
  • Liberation – to be free from the limitations and expectations we have taken on in society. We trust our client’s experience 110%, and we believe in 1 million other possibilities. Clients turn their personal narratives, family dreams, and societal expectations into a pulp that helps them reimagine a new narrative fit for authentic leadership.
  • Remembering – We use Indigenous and modern mind-body-energy methodologies from multiple continents to apply movement to a diverse community who needs to remember who they are and find their place in the environment.

Values/Pillars Embodied

My values show up in all the work I do and how I engage with partners, clients, contractors, and allies. They define my engagement as a human being and as a liberatory leadership practitioner.

Worked with LLC In the Past

No


Ada
Palotai

Pronouns

She/They

Location

Oakland, CA

Organization

StarLion Collective

Website

Twitter & Instagram

Demographic Composition of Leadership

SLC is an all-women-of-color non-hierarchical team, with current members identifying with the lived experiences and cultures of the peoples of the Asian diaspora. Multiple members of our team identify as mixed race and queer, and all members of our team identify with immigrant experiences from our own migration stories, those of our families, and our ancestral lineages.

Languages

English

Skills, Expertise, and Areas of Practice

Evaluation and Learning, Racial Equity / DEIB, Strategy Development / Strategic Planning, Coaching, Conflict Resolution / Mediation / Transformation, Embodied Leadership Practice, Change Management Processes, Organizational Development, Personal Resilience / Wellness / Self Care / Mindfulness, Liberation / Liberatory Leadership, Healing.

Approaches

Consulting: Long-Term, Consulting: Short-Term / Project-Based, Coaching, Facilitation, Thought partnership, Radical collaboration, Co-conspiratorship.

Our approach is deeply informed by adrienne maree brown’s principles of Emergent Strategy, as well as Human-Centered Design/Design Thinking, and includes the following key elements:

 

1. Equity & Liberation

  • Attending to power, agency, and voice within and outside of re:power 
  • Interrupting habits of white supremacy and internalized oppression
  • Inviting people to bring their whole selves into the work with passion and joy 
  • Affirming the self-determination of those most affected by the problem, who are best able to identify what’s needed and develop solutions with adequate resourcing and support

2. Co-Design & Participatory Inquiry

  • Working in relationship with people and contexts rooted in respect, reciprocity, and responsibility
  • Using a strengths-based approach to enhance the skills and capacities of all involved
  • Interweaving collective wisdom, multiple ways of knowing, and expertise from across disciplines
  • Integrating trauma-informed, research justice, and language justice principles

3. Emergence & Experimentation

  • Being nimble and adaptive in response to a constantly changing landscape
  • Supporting creativity – utilizing art, poetry, storytelling, data visualization & graphic recording
  • Encouraging inquiry, iteration, and the willingness to risk making mistakes

Key Values/Pillars

– Collective Wisdom
– Wholeness
– Sacred Responsibility
– Radical Love

Values/Pillars Embodied

A revolution involves making an evolutionary/revolutionary leap toward becoming more socially responsible and more self-critical human beings. In order to transform the world, we must transform ourselves. Grace Lee Boggs

We at the StarLion Collective believe in a fractal approach to transformation, in which equity and justice must be practiced internally in order to effect structural and systemic change externally. What we do is grounded in our belief in the inextricable link between inner transformation and outer social change. What we foster in our environment has to begin with us and those closest to us. How we are is where we start, as we like to say. So, if we are to dismantle “imperialist white supremacist capitalist (cis)heteropatriarchy” in the world, it requires that we rigorously and proactively interrogate our own default logics and desires and the assumptions, biases, and blindspots that uphold them. Most importantly, we understand that this challenging work of growth is never done. It is a path we are always on, and we welcome this opportunity to be co-journeyers alongside our partners, clients, and co-conspirators.

In our team’s work externally, we focus on deep listening and collaboration with our partners, applying an equity lens to both processes and outcomes and centering those most affected by the injustice as the ones with the knowledge and wisdom to best guide the way forward. We thrive in roles where we bring diverse communities and perspectives together to build alignment towards a shared vision for the future, in ways that are attentive to power and ever-changing conditions. We believe that change efforts must start with the creative and diverse contributions of grassroots stakeholders, such that those most impacted are fully involved at every step and making decisions about matters that affect their lives. We view our role as facilitators of processes of reflection and learning from credible evidence gleaned from a diverse range of sources and perspectives and position ourselves as ‘learning alongside’ our partners rather than imposing ourselves as ‘experts,’ even where we provide subject-matter expertise and capacity-building support.

Worked with LLC In the Past

Yes