Working at the intersection of
personal healing & social change
Who I am
Hi, I’m Vanessa. I am a leadership and life coach, strategy midwife, facilitator, trainer, and management and organizational development consultant. I have over two decades of experience building and leading teams, starting and scaling winning campaigns, organization-building, and developing high-impact strategies. I bring warmth, humor, and an incisive ability to cut to the heart of the issues in my work.
I am passionate about supporting the inner healing and transformation that is essential to the systemic transformation we are seeking in our social change efforts.
I’ve had the privilege of running high-impact campaigns, building vibrant organizations, and working in deep partnership with philanthropic organizations. As a result, I’m equally comfortable in a conversation about organizing and leadership development as I am coaching someone building out a new portfolio in a foundation. Fundamentally, I’m passionate about helping social change makers be more effective in achieving impact.
My View
I believe that in order for our social change movements to have the impact in the world they need to have, we must fundamentally transform the culture and ethos in which we are operating.
I believe that the frantic pace at which we are operating does not allow us to tap into our creativity, our ability to relate deeply and powerfully with one another, and that it impedes our ability to access our inner wisdom.
I believe we need to be more responsive than reactive; we need to use our hearts in addition to our minds as we problem solve; and we need to operate from a place of centeredness and groundedness more often.
I believe that we will be incapable of achieving the transformed systems that we advocate for – economic, political, social — if we do not tend to our own personal healing. Our wounds were created in the very systems that we are trying to transform, and if left unhealed, we will replicate our own suffering in the organizations, campaigns, and movements in which we work.
My Approach
At the heart of my work with clients is the space I create for us to engage meaningfully together.
I bring compassion, warmth, humor, and a non-judgmental presence to every meeting, whether we're strategizing, designing retreat agendas, or engaging in executive coaching. I deeply value the process of co-creation and find immense joy in supporting change-makers as they navigate organizational, strategic, and personal challenges.
Though the frameworks I use vary — executive coaching tools are quite different from those I use for strategy development — the approach I take in relating to clients is consistent.
In our time together, I create a calm, spacious environment amid the busy demands of work-life. By slowing down and encouraging deeper connections, I help clients quickly gain clarity on what truly matters.
My Professional Background
I have spent over 20 years in the social change space. I started my career in the U.S. and in that context, served as an executive director, board member, manager, and community organizer. For the past decade, I’ve mentored, supervised, and coached leaders across Europe, Australia, Asia, India and the US.
Most recently, I served as the Chief of Staff at the Sunrise Project where I supported the rapid growth and scaling of a global organization across a dozen countries, while tending mindfully to supporting high-impact programmatic work, and supporting a vibrant organizational culture. Prior to that, I was a consultant and advisor to the Climate Breakthrough Project where I supported visionary climate leaders in developing and launching high-risk, high-impact climate mitigation strategies. Before my consulting career I was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Citizen Engagement Lab, and served as the Sierra Club’s Eastern Region Director for the Beyond Coal Campaign where I helped build and scale one of the highest-impact climate campaigns in the U.S. I also learned the in’s and out’s of state-based advocacy serving as the Executive Director of HEAL Utah, an NGO working on nuclear waste and energy policy issues.
I am a certified Integral Coach, an alumna of Green Corps, the field school for environmental advocacy, and received my B.A. from Grinnell College.
Where you can find me outside of work
I live, work and play in the traditional lands of the Ute and Apache people now known as Pueblo, Colorado.
You can often find me walking my puppy around my neighborhood, marveling at the brilliance of educators as I help my young kids learn to read, sitting on my meditation cushion, and trekking to the mountains to enjoy the snow.
