A Bit About Me Professionally:
For most of my career I have walked in the leader's shoes.
I know the excitement of designing and leading initiatives; structuring and optimizing operations; building, aligning, and supporting strong teams; and realizing rewarding impact.
I also know the stress and the weight of being responsible for the performance and success of an organizational endeavor, while also caring for a family and striving to stay whole and healthy in the process!
In 2019 I established Mandala Leadership Coaching to catalyze clients' success as they navigate the opportunity and challenge of being an organizational leader. To date I have coached over 200 clients in organizations ranging from local, national, and international nonprofits, to US Government agencies, to Fortune 100 companies.
Using a wholistic approach, I strive to create a space of safety, honesty, and encouragement for clients to grow in self-awareness, gain new insights and skills, and try new approaches on their journey to professional and personal leadership success.
Clients have described me as deeply thoughtful and empathetic, a great listener, able to help them consider new and different perspectives, push them out of their comfort zones, and hold them accountable!
I earned my Professional Certified Coach accreditation in 2022. I am also certified in administering the WE-I Profile, a relationship intelligence tool, and PrinciplesYou, a highly reliable personality assessment. I have additional training in organization and relationship systems coaching, emotional intelligence, energy leadership, and cross-cultural competence.
As an executive, I focused on organization building, team development, program design and execution, public relations, marketing, and revenue generation for organizations/business units with up to 125 employees and averaging $1mm to $2mm in annual revenue.
My experience includes serving as a field director for PLAN International, an international child welfare organization, for seven years in Haiti and Senegal. I am proud to have spearheaded the first literacy program in a local language for children and young adults in Senegal, which prepared thousands of youngsters for more successful futures, I also built and mentored a successful local senior team that became the first lead a field post for PLAN in West Africa.
Another notable accomplishment was my nine-year tenure leading Save One Life, also an international child welfare organization serving the bleeding disorders community. In collaboration with more than 50 local bleeding disorder patient associations in 15 countries, I more than tripled annual revenues and the number of sponsorship program beneficiaries, and launched two major program initiatives: a post-secondary scholarship program and a micro-enterprise grant program, which have now benefitted hundreds of grantees.
As an organizational consultant, I supported a large range of clients with strategic planning, workforce development, and organizational restructuring. My clients included international nonprofits, USAID and DOD contractors, and US organizations primarily in the education and health sectors.
A memorable consulting assignment was for a USAID-funded women's economic empowerment project in Afghanistan. I created the first coach training manual to be translated into Farsi, designed a training curriculum, and delivered two week-long workshops to over 50 Afghan community workers.
The international focus of most of my work is a valuable asset for clients who work in multi-cultural settings or serve diverse stakeholders. I have lived and worked in North Africa, the Caribbean and West Africa, and partnered with local teams in 20 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Haiti, and Honduras.
I have a BA in economics/urban studies from Wellesley College and an MSc in social anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
A Bit About Me Personally:
I am a mother of two now adult sons, Seth and Timothy, whom I raised solo from the start. After many years I remarried at the age of 52 in 2009, and unexpectedly nursed my spouse through his brief journey and passing from pancreatic cancer in 2014. His dear mother became my responsibility at that point, and I navigated the demanding waters of eldercare until her passing in 2017. In 2019 I left my executive position, launched my coaching business, and became one of 725 lucky residents living and working in bucolic Leyden, MA!
I am devoted to life-long learning and passionate about personal and spiritual growth. I enjoy studying our wisdom traditions, culture, geography and history, and never get bored looking at maps! I care deeply about the safety and sovereignty of women and girls and support organizations engaged in this advocacy around the world. Here at home I am engaged in promoting democracy and civil freedoms at the state and federal levels, and serve on the Board of Registrars in my town. I’m an avid gardener and adore connecting with nature and the big sky above my home. Other enthusiasms include biking, hiking, kayaking and dancing until I drop!
