Lisa’s early years as an Indigenous human rights organizer, conflict mediator, and funder seeded her curiosity about how leaderful movements build power and create change. Years later, the result of many experiments, much nurturing, and a shared commitment to supporting fierce change makers led to the launch of Leadership Reimagined in 2021. LR’s own Movement Madrina, Elsa Riós, co-founded Leadership Reimagined alongside Lisa, building on over a decade of shared work together.

Lisa is a skilled facilitator and coach committed to social justice and movement building. Through gMoxie, she has provided capacity building, leadership development, and coaching to leaderful organizations and coalitions for over 25 years in ways that center culture, joy, love, and liberation. Her intergenerational, transformative approach supports systems change at all levels and engages multiple stakeholders to ensure that the results are sustained over time.

Previously, Lisa served as the Program Director for Native American Funding Programs at the Seva Foundation in Berkeley, California, and as the Executive Director of the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FYCO) in New York City. Abroad, she served as an Indigenous program officer with Oxfam Australia's International Youth Parliament, bringing a gender, disability justice, and racial justice lens to the team. Lisa has also served as a trainer and delegate with the Indigenous Environmental Network and the International Indian Treaty Council, focusing on connecting local to global and building leadership in impacted communities.

Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and is a faculty member at the Institute for Life Coach Training, having co-designed the ICF-certified course, Coaching for Social Action. Drawing from her experience as an accomplished martial artist and certified fearlessYOGA instructor, Lisa works with various practices to bring awareness to how change makers embody their commitments to change. She has offered yoga and reflective leadership practices at retreats and trained yoga teachers to mind power dynamics as a co-founder of Bending Towards Justice. Since the pandemic, she and her family split time between NYC and Castro Valley, CA, and Lisa is starting a podcast at her daughters’ enthusiastic request.

Elsa is the Founder and Principal of Strategies for Social Change (SSC), a woman of color-owned consulting and leadership coaching practice dedicated to serving social change organizations and movements. She has more than 25 years of nonprofit experience in the areas of management, grant writing, program design, community organizing and public policy analysis and writing. She is a nationally recognized expert in organizational development and has advised many movement and philanthropic leaders in the social justice space throughout the years. She has led numerous community organizing and social change initiatives addressing gender violence, HIV/AIDS, reproductive justice and child welfare reform, among others. Elsa started as a young organizer fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico, one of the oldest colonies in the world. She continues to be dedicated to the cause.

Elsa also served as the Co-founder of RoadMap Consulting and Leadership Reimagined. She also served as core faculty for the Movement to End Violence, a ten year initiative. During her public service career she held several executive level management positions and engaged in extensive fundraising, program and policy development. Her accomplishments include having served as the Founding Director of the Violence Intervention Program, Director of Education for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and Senior Policy Analyst for the NYC Mayor’s Office. Elsa has also served as an adjunct professor teaching leadership and management courses at Baruch College. She holds a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law and an MSW from Columbia University. She is a certified coach, currently in training as an enneagram coach and a graduate of the Columbia University Nonprofit Institute. She has particular skills in Strategic Advisement and Organizational Culture Change.

With a background that bridges science, education, and design, Surei Quintana is passionate about helping people and organizations learn, grow, and thrive. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology, she taught college-level biology labs as an adjunct, an experience so rewarding that it inspired a transition to teaching middle school science in the Bronx public school system.

Her love of teaching, designing learning experiences, and translating complex ideas for students later evolved into an interest in communications and design for organizations. After several years in the classroom, Surei embraced the chance to expand her communications and design skills by teaching herself graphic and web design, communications, and technology management to support people and organizations in new ways. Along the way, she has applied her teaching experience to helping plan and facilitate transformative learning experiences for nonprofit leaders. Today, Surei combines adaptability, creativity, and self-taught expertise to help mission-driven organizations communicate powerfully and grow with vision.

Miki is an intuitive and caring coach, facilitator, and teacher with over two decades of experience in K-12 education, race & equity facilitation, recruitment & hiring, and holistic wellness. Her approach is grounded in empathy and unconditional positive regard, aiming to infuse joy, ease, and love into every interaction. She excels at helping individuals find belonging and navigate transitions, and she curates welcoming spaces that evoke feelings of home, love, and safety.

Faith’s life mission is to creatively support the health of communities through self-care and mindful leadership. For over 20 years, she’s worked with diverse communities throughout the US and internationally. She’s worked in the field of philanthropy, doing program work and technical assistance. As an Integrative Chaplain, Faith does healing justice and systems work with patients, staff and organizations. Her focus is the intersection of integrative health and spiritual formation. Using this framework, Faith’s served thousands, doing individual spiritual care, conducting retreats with community based and national organizations, self-care workshops and healing circles; and as a public speaker staunchly advocating for health equity. She’s worked with organizations like the NYC Department of Health’s Center for Health Equity, Annie E. Casey Foundation, NOVO Foundation, National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy, the Community Resource Exchange and Columbia University.

Faith is an alumnus of Howard University School of Divinity and educated in Psychology at Long Island University- Brooklyn Campus. She’s a licensed minister, certified RYT- 200hr Yoga teacher, essential oil and a Reiki I practitioner, certified in Medical Reiki, trained in Mind-Body Medicine and the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program. She is currently working at New York-Presbyterian Hospital towards chaplaincy board certification.

Corita Brown has two decades of experience supporting community change and movement building through her work supporting culture building, system change, organizational learning, leadership development, and team building. She is nationally recognized for her experience supporting teams, organizations, networks and community groups to navigate generational differences and racial-generational divides. 

Corita is passionate about partnering with leaders and organizations who work to build values-based, equitable, inclusive environments. To help clients improve their effectiveness and impact, she works with them to strengthen collaboration, cultivate authentic communication, navigate power dynamics, and approach conflict as a positive catalyst for learning and transformation. Her work incorporates kinesthetic awareness, creativity, and mindfulness-based approaches, in addition to action research and more established organizational theories and models. She strongly believes in supporting leaders to deepen their relational intelligence and is often engaged to support leaders with compassion and accountability along their racial justice learning journeys. 

Corita's educational background includes a Masters in Organizational Psychology and Adult Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a PhD in Urban Studies from Temple University. She holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University, and is a certified professional coach through ICF certified coaching school Leadership That Works.
  

Marquita James's work as a conflict transformation consultant and coach is animated by her passion for empowering people to be agents of their own change. Her consulting practice centers love and liberation as she helps leaders build language, skills, and practices for stepping into more courageous leadership.

Marquita provides impact-driven, equity-immersed consulting services using innovative solutions to help social change organizations transform the world. Her work centers the growth, learning, and development of organizations and the individuals within them. Marquita delights in helping organizations embrace healthy, sustainable approaches to conflict transformation, strategy, organizational change, leadership development, and deep exploration of “why are we here doing this thing in this place at this time?”

She has been facilitating difficult conversations and providing training and coaching since her time with the Harvard Mediation Program at Harvard Law School. When Marquita is not elbows deep in the consulting and coaching worlds, you’ll find her hunting for live music, attempting to dance bhangra, or pining for gumbo from her home state.

Internationally recognized for her group facilitation and training skills, Inca A. Mohamed has many years of experience managing and working with nonprofit organizations addressing youth development, sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice, gender equity, and, racial equity. Inca has helped hundreds of organizations create effective and powerful management teams and strategies for change.

Inca's previous experience includes her role as the Executive Director for Management Assistance Group (MAG) (Change Elemental) where she spearheaded the organization’s initiative to go beyond one-on-one consulting with single organizations to providing leadership coaching as a stand-alone service, facilitating high-stakes meetings, and working with coalitions and other multi-organization groups. Inca’s approach to consulting is rooted in her experience as a Caribbean immigrant from a multi-ethnic family, "I had to develop 'border-crossing' skills to survive and thrive, and I know the power of cross-cultural learning. My experience taught me to listen deeply, honor what is distinct about each environment, and, when appropriate, translate experiences from one place to another." Inca’s racial equity work is informed by the understanding that an organization’s willingness and commitment to consistently and systematically address issues of equity, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to its health and its capacity for sustained impact.

Before joining MAG, Inca was a Program Officer for human development and reproductive health at the Ford Foundation where she oversaw a $60 million dollar portfolio aimed at strengthening youth development domestically and internationally. Working as consulting philanthropic advisor to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inca engaged in grantmaking and capacity building for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Trinidad and Tobago for 7 years. Inca also works as a coach, supporting social justice leaders to fully express their leadership strengths and vision. She has held leadership positions at a diverse range of organizations including the YWCA of the USA, Hawaii Department of Health, The Door (comprehensive youth development center) and Northern California Planned Parenthood (formerly Alameda-San Francisco Planned Parenthood in San Francisco.)

Inca is currently a LeadersTrust Capacity Coach. Inca has completed training through Visions, Inc., The Social Transformation Project (Robert Gass), the Interaction Institute for Social Change's "Conversation about Racism" course and is certified in Community Coaching through Leadership That Works. Inca is also IDI certified.

Lawrence Barriner II (he/him) is a Black Queer coach, facilitator, trainer, narrative strategist, writer, and liberation worker. He thinks about his work in the world through the lenses of paid and unpaid work.

His paid work has moved from communications and into individual and organizational development. His communications work included network strategy with the Center for Story-Based Strategy, directing the community media program at the MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab), and managing communications at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. He transitioned into individual and organizational development in 2017 with his firm, LQB2 & CO. His facilitation, coaching, and consulting has brought him to collaborate and work with/for over 70 east coast and national organizations and foundations including CoCreative, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. He is a Liberatory Consultant with the Leadership Learning Community, and a transformative futures coach of the Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation coaching school.

His unpaid work centers on men’s work and healing/transformative justice work. His men’s work can be most easily seen in his work to develop the theory and practice of uncling and in his work to establish the Greater Boston-Area Men’s Network. Two visible examples of that work are through his participation in the Ujima Boston Loving Men film and his online course that helps men imagine and practice post-patriarchal futures. His healing and transformative justice work is largely mycelial/underground but sometimes fruits in public conversations.  

Born in the US South, he came to live on occupied Massachusett and Pawtucket territory (aka Cambridge, MA) by way of earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in City Planning from MIT. There he studied and practiced food justice, food sovereignty, and taught film photography and served ice cream to make ends meet. He is the child of a teacher and a pastor and learns more about how those identities shape him year after year. He has one younger brother and many nibblings. Transformation, intention, and practice are the values he is prioritizing these days.

Jesse León, an award-winning author, Harvard/UC Berkeley/UPENN graduate, and renowned executive coach, draws on his unique journey and cross-sector experiences to transform resilience into results. His extraordinary path from overcoming adversity to becoming a trusted advisor to leaders and organizations globally showcases his exceptional ability to navigate complexity and drive success. Jesse specializes in helping individuals and teams thrive during transitions and challenges, offering tailored strategies that foster growth, innovation, and sustainable impact.

As a certified executive coach and president of Alliance Way, Jesse leverages his profound personal and professional experiences to create meaningful change. His strategic work in developing public-private-philanthropic partnerships, particularly in affordable housing and real estate development, demonstrates his ability to manage complicated large-scale projects and organizations. His initiatives, including the financing of the first LGBT senior housing development in Florida, highlight his commitment to advocacy and belonging.

Jesse's international background and fluency in multiple languages enhance his capacity to connect with a wide range of clients, offering insights that bridge divides. His roles as a TEDx and motivational speaker, and inspirational award-winning author amplify his message of hope and potential, making him an inspiring figure for those seeking transformative growth. Jesse León's unparalleled blend of resilience, expertise, and compassion makes him an invaluable resource for executive coaching, aiming to empower individuals and organizations to achieve their fullest potential.

Belma González learned about the Black Power and Chicano movimientos on TV, as a working class kid in San José, California. This led to participating in demonstrations, school walkouts and voter drives. In 2004, Belma became one of the first people of color from the nonprofit/social justice sector to be a “certified” coach.

She has coached hundreds of clients from the social justice, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, primarily BIPOC activists and allies. In 2010, she joined the faculty of an accredited coach training organization. She co-led fourteen 9-month trainings resulting in ~ 300 certified coaches; most are BIPOC activists. She believes coaching with an awareness of systemic oppression and a commitment to equity (one-to-one coaching, team coaching and providing training in coaching skills) supports personal growth, self-awareness and healing, leadership enhancement, change management, emotional-physical-spiritual balance and unlearning/unearthing white supremacy norms.

She is a founding member of the With/In Collaborative, until recently a faculty member with Leadership that Works, a core associate with RoadMap Consulting, and a vetted member of more than 15 coaching “pools” for numerous leadership programs, including The Equity Lab’s Nexus Fellowship, Rockwood Leadership Institute, and programs associated with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. Prior to becoming a coach, Belma worked in the social sector for 26 years; as the Director of a community clinic and with a California leadership program for BIPOC women’s health leaders.

Belma identifies as Chicana/Mestiza/Latina with light skin privilege and, with humility, as La Madrina Chingona, (“Badass Godmother”) a nickname given her by trainees. She lives on unceded Ohlone land (Oakland, California) and has ancestral roots in the borderlands of what is now called US/México. Married twice, a widow and wife to musicians, she is most proudly, the godmother to six god kids who inspire all that she does.

Sonya Kharas is a facilitator, trainer, and certified coach who supports individuals, teams, and justice-oriented organizations to operate from a place of deep presence and alignment. Drawing on practices from mindfulness meditation, nonviolent communication, and various spiritual and psychological traditions, Sonya helps clients identify what’s most important to them and live out their values in authentic, embodied, and open-hearted ways.

In her individual coaching practice, Sonya works with clients to explore any aspect of their lives – big or small, professional or personal, tangible or abstract. In a space that is at once grounded and alive with possibility, she invites people to pause, explore different possibilities, navigate roadblocks and limiting beliefs, and connect with inner wisdom and intuition in order to identify next steps and take action in service of themselves. She is also a certified administrator of the EQ-i 2.0 and EQ-i 360 assessments, and co-developed a racial equity feedback tool that can be used alongside training and coaching to help supervisors recognize how white supremacy culture pervades common management practices, and reorient towards more liberatory models of leadership.

Sonya is also training to be a conflict coach and mediator and can guide individuals or dyads to ground in moments of intensity or activation, express themselves with courage and clarity, listen empathically, and consider new perspectives and solutions that have the potential to meet the needs of all.

In an organizational context, Sonya facilitates spaces for groups to articulate and unite around their vision, purpose, and theory of change; develop values-aligned operational systems; and build cultural practices that contribute to experiences of belonging, psychological safety, and trust. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, is a proud aunt to two niblings, and experiences true happiness at the beach.

Maria Elena Pérez is a bilingual, first-gen Latina that works with changemakers, leaders, caregivers and folks of service doing the most (you know, over-giving and over-functioning) to come back into right relationship with themselves. A self-proclaimed nervous system evangelist, Maria Elena worked for fifteen years in social and reproductive justice organizations before suffering a concussion and subsequent mysterious illnesses, which she healed through nervous system regulation and ancestral practices, after countless failed attempts with doctors and treatments. This journey led her deeper into eft/tapping, polyvagal theory, and somatic internal family systems, all while coming back home to herself and reclaiming her ancestral gifts. Her work is a mix of science and bruja.

A licensed master of social worker, Maria Elena is also a certified EFT/Tapping practitioner leading workshops and healing circles centering BIPOC folks. She holds an M.S.W from Hunter College, City University of New York and a B.S. from New York University. She currently also serves as an organizational consultant to social justice organizations. Maria Elena lives in New York City with her multi-generational family and rescue named Magic and loves bachata.