Community Faculty

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.

Surei loves to help people! She uses her investigative and creative problem-solving skills to help teams achieve their goals.

A firm believer in the empowering potential of a quality education, she leveraged her science background to advance educational equity through teaching middle school science in NYC public schools. She has also been a part of the SSC team for over 10 years, as a “Jane-of-all-trades,” pitching in as needed in research and special projects.

Surei is responsible for our strategic communications work including overseeing our website and digital media, email campaigns, infographics, as well as researching and designing our educational and training materials.

Caroline is a self-professed nonprofit nerd with over 30 years of management experience in small community-based nonprofits and philanthropy.
Skilled in fundraising, board development, management, strategic planning, capacity building, program development and evaluation, Caroline provides timely and vital support to pivotal, visionary organizations and movements.

For almost a decade Caroline was a community organizer working on environmental advocacy and justice on the U.S.-Mexico border in rural Arizona and Sonora, where she became involved in philanthropy through a rural community foundation. She was also appointed by the President to the International Subcommittee of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. EPA.

She later moved to NYC and became the Manager of Strategy and Planning, and then the Program Officer for Capacity Building for the largest and oldest women’s fund in the U.S., the Ms. Foundation for Women. At Ms. she created the first immigration portfolio for the Foundation, and built a tailored capacity-building program focused on financial management and individual donor fundraising for community-based grantee partners across the U.S.

In her free time, Caroline is active with her meditation community.

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.

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.

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.