Trauma is everywhere. It’s in our personal lives, our workplaces, our communities, our society. It’s also a hot topic, a buzzword that often gets tossed around without a deep understanding of what it truly means to be trauma-informed. And if you’re asking yourself, ‘Well, yeah… what does that mean?’ let us be clear: being trauma-informed is not the same as doing trauma-processing work. However, to be trauma-informed, it is essential to understand how trauma operates so we can recognize its impact without unintentionally causing harm or overstepping our expertise. This blog will give you a tiny taste into the frameworks that are important for understanding trauma, and should be used as a tool to guide your thinking, not as a “how-to” manual.

As humans it is our responsibility to care for ourselves and each other. We are leaders, learners, coaches and practitioners and our presence in spaces like organizations, communities, and families matters. In the simplest manner, being trauma-informed allows us to navigate the world with greater compassion and awareness—both for ourselves and for the collective. 

So let’s get into trauma, why the heck is everyone talking about it and why it demands our attention.

Trauma is More Than Just an Event

Imagine opening your refrigerator and finding only leftovers. Day after day, you eat the same old meals, never experiencing a fresh dish. Over time, some of the food begins to rot, clouding the space with a stale, unappetizing scent. This is what unprocessed traumatic experiences do to us. They linger, stagnate, and affect both our present and future. We move forward carrying a heavy load with us.

Trauma is not just an event that happened in the past — it is the unprocessed material left over from overwhelming experiences. If we don’t properly tend to it, it becomes embedded in our bodies, minds, and behaviors, shaping our responses to life in ways we may not even realize. In effect then, we relive the past over and over instead of designing a new future. 

This is true for individuals, families, teams, organizational cultures and societies:

  • For individuals – Chronic stress, anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, and physical symptoms.
  • For families – Unconscious patterns repeating across generations.
  • For teams & organizations – Toxic cultures, unresolved conflicts, and stagnation.
  • For societies – History repeating itself in cycles of violence, oppression, and division.

At every level of life, that which is undigested will reappear and call again for healing and restoration. It’s a promise.

For us to truly engage in trauma healing work, we must move through three stages:

  1. Building Resources & Capacity – Creating an inner foundation of stability and support so that we can approach trauma work without becoming overwhelmed.
  2. Processing Trauma – Engaging with and metabolizing past experiences in a way that allows us to release what has been stuck. 
  3. Integration – Practicing and embodying the gains we have made so that we are not endlessly cycling through processing without real change.

Each of these steps is essential. Attempting to process trauma without proper resources can lead to re-traumatization. Likewise, constantly processing without integrating can become an addiction to emotional excavation rather than true healing. 

Building Resources & Capacity

This is the area where we all can really sink our teeth into. Good trauma-informed resourcing work will address, among other things, self-regulation and co-regulation. We first learn to regulate through our caregivers and social environment. However, trauma can disrupt these foundational abilities, making it difficult to manage emotions and bodily responses effectively.

“The best gift you can give another person is a well regulated nervous system.” – Unknown source

For anyone aspiring to practice as a trauma-informed coach or leader, we must have practices for both co-regulation and self-regulation. Without them, we can not provide the kind of limbic resonance and repair needed for our clients or constituents to find new footing from which to act.

By developing inner resources, we create a stable foundation from which to process trauma safely. This stage is not a one-time task, but an ongoing practice that supports healing at every stage.

Essential Resourcing Practices

  • Somatic Awareness & Centering Techniques – Practices that help reconnect the body and mind, such as deep breathing, grounding exercises, and mindfulness.
  • Developing a Sense of Self – Inspired by frameworks like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Gestalt therapy, this involves strengthening the connection to an internal core self. I’d like to acknowledge that, for example, Buddhist psychology does not posit an essential self. This idea of self is a western construct. That said, given I am and likely you are operating within a western framework, supporting people to have a sense of “self” matters.
  • True Refuge & Coherence – From Buddhist Teachings and trauma specialists like Thomas Hubl, the ability to find an inner refuge of stability can help dissolve incoherence. As Dr. Joe Dispenza and my teacher Lynda Casaera say, all incoherence will dissolve in a coherent field. A trauma-informed practitioner provides such coherence in support of the digestion and integration of the incoherence of trauma.
  • Ceremony & Ritual – Cultural and spiritual traditions have long used ceremonies to create meaning, structure, and coherence for individuals and communities.
  • Engaging the Senses – Noticing body movements, sounds (humming, rocking), and sensory experiences can regulate the nervous system.
  • Connection to Larger Fields – Nature, ancestors, and elements can serve as stabilizing forces when we cultivate a felt connection to them.

Processing Trauma

Once we have built internal resources, we can begin the process of trauma engagement. The key is titration—the ability to work with trauma in small, digestible pieces. This stage is delicate, requiring careful pacing to avoid emotional flooding—and should be held by trained professionals. Attempting to process trauma without proper training can lead to harm, not healing.

Some Practices in Safe Trauma Processing (Not for DIY!):

  • Titration & Pendulation – Encouraging small doses of trauma engagement, moving between discomfort and safety.
  • Volume Control – Helping individuals increase or decrease the intensity of their emotional experience.
  • Space & Time Awareness – Recognizing how trauma locks past experiences into the present and learning to differentiate between the two.
  • Completing Unfinished Responses – Using somatic techniques to complete previously blocked survival responses (fight, flight, freeze).
  • Grounding & Support Practices – Holding a physical tether, like a hand squeeze, to maintain connection during difficult waves.

Integration

Healing is not just about understanding or processing trauma; it is also about integrating the work so that it becomes embodied wisdom. Without integration, we risk getting stuck in cycles of processing without truly healing. It is what transforms trauma work from an endless loop of excavation into meaningful, lasting change. Some examples include:

  • Pausing Between Processing Sessions – Avoiding the urge to constantly dig into trauma without giving the system time to recover.
  • Practicing & Embodying Gains – Bringing new awareness into daily life through mindfulness, movement, and behavioral shifts.
  • Recognizing Trauma Processing as a Cycle – Resourcing, processing, and integrating should be repeated, not rushed.
  • Understanding the Practitioner’s Role – Clear contracting, knowing one’s limits, going at the pace of the client, and setting boundaries are key to ethical trauma work.

Integration is the bridge between past trauma and a liberated future.

Recognizing Trauma-Based Coping in Society

2+2=4. If we zoom out from the personal domain to the interpersonal and collective domains, we can begin to understand why it’s pertinent that we pay attention to trauma. Unprocessed trauma shapes not only individuals but also societies.

There are many moves we humans make that are enacting trauma. Some of these moves or expressions are also mechanisms for coping with trauma once we have experienced it. Traumatized humans are both practicing trauma-based coping and living, enacting trauma, and perpetuating trauma, until we stop. Here is a list of behaviors to notice in ourselves and in our clients that are indicators of living within a traumatized culture: 

  • Minimization (could be coping)
  • Dissociation (could be coping)
  • An a-historical lens personally and collectively
  • A decontextualized sense of self
  • Urgent pacing without any down shifting
  • Continued movement
  • Yang leadership without healthy Yin
  • Silence (could be coping) not to be confused with quiet and stillness
  • Constant noise  (could be coping)
  • Numbing and practicing numbing  (could be coping)
  • Isolation
  • The enactment of colonization
  • Over stimulation
  • Objectification of self and other
  • Identity-based on things and achievements
  • As David Brooks calls it hyper individualism. As Jen and Gina would call it, the cult of I, me and mine
  • A culture of help (this is othering masquerading as support)
  • Situational and personal ethics instead of shared ethical values
  • Greed, hatred, and delusion and all other conditioned mind states based on separation
  • Not knowing who we really are and not knowing our place in relation to the rest of life
  • Power over
  • Extractive consumption
  • Productivity over health
  • The marginalization of heart and soul and emotion
  • Bodies as tools for others to use in all kinds of ways
  • Profit over all else

We have the power to unwind from these patterns and create real change. 

Life is original movement, flow. Life is the soul consciousness remembering itself through form. We come into separation to remember unity. Trauma is the interruption of that flow of movement, our life force, the life force moving through us and all of life. When life force is interrupted and movements are unfulfilled, stagnation occurs. This takes all kinds of forms in a human psyche, human body, in our collective bodies and in the earth body.

Moments where flow can get interrupted:

  • Coming through the birth door. This can be quite traumatic for both mother and child.
  • Original early developmental movements. Thwarted, exploited or allowed to flow:  Reaching, grabbing, pulling, pushing, yielding/letting go.
  • Our attachment with another creates flow or interrupts the flow of an inter-related life. This attachment pattern forms in part through how those original developmental movements are responded to by another; healthy attachment, avoidant attachment, anxious attachment, disorganized attachment. There are a few other names offered by others. These came from Dan Siegal’s book Mindsight.
  • Developmental milestones; moved through or arrested. Traumatic events like accidents, surgeries or medical incidents, being attacked or violated, natural disasters, war, racism, divorce, death in families can all impact how we navigate milestones and are traumas that live in us until metabolized. They start to be layers of developmental arrest and trauma combining. 
  • Our armouring becomes our shield, a hard crust covering and protecting the soft bread of our flesh and our hearts.
  • Habits of thought that become eddies we then erect towers of identity around.
  • In larger collective traumas that have remained unacknowledged, unaddressed, unhealed.
  • In traumas experienced by those that have come before us, our ancestors.

All of this (yes, even the lineage disruptions and societal ones) becomes what we call self, me. Then we set about reifying that or fixing it or bettering it all. 

We are here to restore flow, unwind from the knots created through the living of life, remember what has been forgotten or obscured from view by the distortions of our conditioning, give our gifts fully, and provide love and support to our most vulnerable, ill formed parts. 

When we unwind the knots, attend to the fissures, mine our own depths for our deepest knowings, we find a way home to living life on life’s terms, surrendering to the inevitable waves crashing and cresting, seeing clearly what life is and is not, and with some measure of grace, make our way to the final letting go into the everything.

Coming Home to Ourselves and Each Other

Trauma is not just an individual experience; it is woven into the fabric of our relationships, organizations, and societies. When left unaddressed, it shapes the world we live in, keeping us trapped in cycles of harm, disconnection, and unfulfilled potential. But when we choose to acknowledge, process, and integrate our experiences—when we resource ourselves and each other with care—we begin to reclaim our wholeness.

Healing is not about erasing the past or bypassing discomfort. It is about restoring flow, reconnecting with the life force that moves through us, and cultivating a deeper presence in the world. To be trauma-informed is not to have all the answers but to approach life with greater humility, compassion, and awareness.

As we unravel what has been knotted, soften what has been armored, and remember what has been forgotten, we create the possibility for something new. We move beyond survival into a fuller, more integrated existence—one where we can meet ourselves and one another with open hearts, steady hands, and the wisdom to hold both the pain and the beauty of being alive and being human.

This is our work. This is our practice. And this is the invitation: to wake up, to pay attention, and to walk this path together.

Jen Cohen is the Co-Founder of Seven Stones Leadership and a seasoned leadership coach and consultant with deep expertise in trauma-informed coaching. With over 30 years of experience, she has guided leaders through uncertainty and transformation, integrating insights from psychology, neuroscience, somatics, and systems thinking. She has designed and led programs exploring how individual and collective trauma manifests in organizations, supporting executives in fostering resilience and sustainable leadership. Jen is also a published author and faculty member at global leadership institutes, bringing a unique and multidisciplinary approach to executive coaching.

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Gina LaRoche

Co-Founder and Director

Gina LaRoche is an organizational leadership consultant, facilitator, and executive coach and co-founder of Seven Stones Leadership Group. Gina has 25 years of experience in delivering executive programs that have challenged leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to accelerate change and results. With a focus on the mind-body connection, Gina brings heart, courage, and a trauma-informed lens to her work. Some of her recent clients include: Kayak, Agoda, OpenTable, Boston Harbor Now, and Mozilla Foundation.

Before co-founding Seven Stones Leadership, Gina gained 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, and training in high-tech and emerging growth companies. She held positions such as Director of Marketing for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), where she managed product marketing for the e-Business group, and Product Marketing Manager at Vicorp Interactive Systems. She began her career as a sales professional at IBM in Waltham, MA where she received numerous excellence awards.

Gina received a MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSBA from Georgetown University. She is a Strozzi Institute-trained Somatic Coach and has studied Energy Mastery and Polarity Therapy. Gina is also a meditation teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition. She is a 2017 graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders Program, a two-year intensive meditation training and will enter the esteemed IMS/Spirit Rock four-year teacher training program in 2025.

Gina is also an accomplished writer and collage artist, having authored several books, including, “Living in Sufficiency: A Daily Journey” (2009), “Unstuck: Make the Shift” (2011), and co-authored “The Seven Laws of Enough” (Parallax Press, 2018), which was recognized as one of “4 Life-Lifting Books for 2019 and Beyond” by Black Enterprise.

Gina is the mother of two adult sons and resides in Cambridge, MA with her husband Alan Price.

Nilesh Parikh

Director and Co-Head of Financial Services Practice

Nilesh is an organizational leadership consultant, executive coach, and team effectiveness coach. He also serves as Director at Seven Stones Leadership Group alongside our two founders and is the Co-Head of our Financial Services Practice. Nilesh works with successful founders, executives, and leaders to embrace their full humanity while sharpening clarity and focus, increasing the impact of their time and energy, and attaining deeper fulfillment. Nilesh is currently keenly interested in supporting clients in developing deliberate practices to support sustained, embodied change. Nilesh works across a wide range of industries, from tech to financial services. Some of his recent clients include Open Table, UPenn, HotSpot Therapeutics, Goldman Sachs, LPL Financial, Accenture, Cox Enterprises, and Cribl.

Nilesh brings a unique combination of first-hand experience as an executive and extensive training and deep experience as a coach and consultant.  In his last executive role, Nilesh was responsible for leading Merrill’s business consulting, executive coaching, team effectiveness, and succession planning efforts.

Nilesh also led a key sleeve of Merrill’s DEI agenda as one of four leaders on Merrill’s 16-member Executive Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Before joining Merrill, Nilesh worked both domestically and internationally at UBS Financial Services. There, over the course of over a decade and multiple roles, he led their executive coaching and team development functions, built and led an acclaimed training program where he oversaw 500+ early career financial advisors and planners, played a central role in launching and scaling an internal startup and designed and delivered a national program to increase the leadership and coaching effectiveness of UBS’s over 300 field leaders.

Nilesh earned a BBA with Honors from the University of Miami and a MBA from INSEAD, where he studied in Singapore, France, and the US (Wharton). He is a Certified Financial Services Coach, Kolbe Certified Consultant, Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Positive Intelligence Certified Coach (CPQC), Leadership Circle Practitioner, Corentus trained Team Coach and is certified as an advanced practitioner in the 6 Team Conditions. Nilesh has also trained in somatics and somatic bodywork with the Strozzi Institute. Nilesh is the former Board Chair of The GrowHaus, a food access and social justice non-profit. He also recently completed two terms as a Director on the University of Miami Alumni Board and a term as an appointee on Colorado’s Workforce Development Council. Nilesh and his wife are based in Denver and spend as much time as possible with their two daughters playing in the mountains.

Jennifer Cohen

Co-Founder and Director

Jennifer Cohen is a seasoned leadership and organizational coach and consultant with over 30 years of experience. Throughout her career, she has coached hundreds of individuals and groups, specializing in guiding leaders to excel in environments characterized by uncertainty and rapid change. Her coaching approach is distinguished by a multidisciplinary foundation, including expertise in communication technologies, quantum physics, ontology, neuroscience, psychology, trauma (individual and collective), somatics, and systems thinking.

Jen’s coaching journey has been enriched by nearly three decades of work with executives across various industries, such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, and many of the world’s most prestigious professional services firms. She has pioneered innovative leadership development programs, taking executives from the boardroom to a “dojo-style” learning environment, where they sharpen their leadership capabilities through immersive training experiences that she both designed and led. Her contributions to leadership education include designing and delivering programs for the Next Practice Institute and Harvard Business School. Recently, alongside her co-founder Gina LaRoche, Jen developed and led a unique program to help executives explore how collective and social wounds manifest within organizational structures, a journey experienced by senior leaders globally.

Widely recognized as a “coach’s coach,” Jen has trained, supervised, and supported senior instructors at several top coaching institutions, while providing mentorship to countless coaches throughout her career. Her client portfolio spans organizations like Pfizer, Boston Consulting Group, Mila, The Wharton School, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, MIT Sloan School of Management, and Nike. She has also coached senior executives from Merck and EMC in her work at Simmons School of Management.  She has a particular niche in coaching world-class academicians from institutions such as MIT, UPenn, Berklee College of Music, Yale, Simmons, and Harvard Business School.

Jen has served as Director of Coaching Education at Mobius Executive Leadership, a global boutique consultancy for Fortune 500 companies, where she continues to contribute as a senior expert and faculty member, leading programs and intensives for senior leaders worldwide. Her coaching practice extends across five continents and includes engagements with some of the world’s most senior executives, including a U.S. presidential candidate.

Jen is also a published author, co-authoring The 7 Laws of Enough (Parallax Press, 2018) with Gina LaRoche, a book recognized by Black Enterprise as one of “4 Life-Lifting Books for 2019 and Beyond.” She has been featured in numerous NPR affiliate interviews and media outlets, sharing insights on how the principles of Sustainable Abundance can transform lives. Additionally, she has contributed a chapter titled “From Surviving to Thriving” in Being Human at Work, edited by Richard Strozzi-Heckler.

Jen is a Master Certified Somatic Coach with the Strozzi Institute and holds a master’s degree in Applied Psychology, with a focus on systems theory, from Antioch New England Graduate School. She completed her undergraduate studies in philosophy at Oberlin and Barnard.

Kelsey Glatts Burrell

Client Care Lead

Kelsey is the Client Care Lead at Seven Stones. A part of the team since June of 2019, Kelsey is dedicated to supporting our clients, coaches and practitioners by holding processes and creating experiences for transformational learning journeys. She is also instrumental in shaping the Seven Stone’s Online Community learning platform, and developing workshops for virtual, hybrid and in-person modalities.

Kelsey holds a B.A. in Media and Professional Communications from the University of Pittsburgh. Originally Philly natives, she and her husband currently reside in Dallas, TX and can be found traveling or spending time in nature with their two dogs.

Rynn Kneebone

Operations Manager

As Operations Manager, Rynn supports multiple business areas, including operations, administration, and client care. She brings nearly 20 years of operational and corporate program management skills to the business, in addition to her experience managing large-scale training efforts, key talent programs, and a myriad of small businesses.

Rynn earned her BA from the University of Delaware and furthered her education in international business at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham (UK).

She currently lives in Denver, CO, where she spends a great deal of her time volunteering for Canine Partners of the Rockies, raising and training future mobility service dogs. In her free time, Rynn enjoys hiking, practicing yoga, and spending time wherever dogs hang out.

Cassidy Lam

Administrative Lead

As Administrative Lead, Cassidy supports the Seven Stones directors and internal team with scheduling, email management, and operations. She joined the team in 2023, and brings a diverse background of program management, entrepreneurship, and customer support to the Seven Stones ecosystem.

Cassidy is passionate about creating organized, responsive environments that enable her colleagues to be fully present for their clients and community.

Cassidy earned her B.A. in Economics and Political Science at Colorado College. Formerly from Colorado, Cassidy now lives in Brooklyn, where she enjoys cooking for her friends, practicing martial arts, and pretending that the local parks are the great outdoors.

Sofia Mora Mirtz

Client Care Lead

As Client Care Lead, Sofia Mora Mirtz delivers impeccable care to our clients while also supporting our Equity, Power, and Belonging initiatives.

Sofia joined us in 2020 and holds a BA in Sociology and Spanish and a minor in Intergroup Relations from Skidmore College.

She is based in Brooklyn, NY and, in her spare time, enjoys attending concerts, riding her bike around the city, learning trapeze and spending time with her friends.

Aviva Luz Argote

Organizational Consultant, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

Aviva Luz Argote’s work at Seven Stones Leadership focuses on designing spaces for authentic leadership and fostering life-nourishing personal and organizational practices. Growing up in a bilingual and multicultural family in New York City, Aviva developed a unique perspective that informs her approach to leadership and strategy.

As an independent consultant, Aviva has partnered with nonprofit, government, philanthropic, and corporate entities to enhance their leadership, adaptive strategy, and equitable workplace culture. She served as Vice President and Faculty Director at the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, where she created a justice-centered nonprofit leadership curriculum and coached the management faculty team. Her previous roles include directing Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, managing global civil society research teams, and teaching courses on nonprofit finance and fundraising. She has also worked with the Harvard University Budget Office, the Rand Corporation, Los Angeles County, and Coro New York Leadership Center.

Aviva completed Margaret Wheatley’s three year program Warriors for the Human Spirit in 2017. She has actively engaged as a participant and team resource in the Carol Sanford Institute’s Change Agent Development and Regenerative Business Development communities since 2018. She has been an on-going member of the Re-Seeding the Future Community Program since its inception in 2020.  Aviva serves on the Board of Directors at the Post Growth Institute and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Vermont in the Leadership for Sustainability program. She holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Pomona College. Aviva resides in Cambridge, MA, where she builds community and facilitates nature-connected learning for her two children.

Anca van Assendelft

Executive Coach, Strategic Advisor & Leadership Consultant

Anca is a seasoned strategy consultant and senior executive coach with 20+ years of consulting and client-side experience with a strong passion for enabling extra-ordinary transformational growth. Her clients include Fortune 50, start-ups and scale-ups – where she supports key leaders, their teams, their organizations and BODs in connecting the dots between aspirational vision and operational realities. Anca’s focus is on creating breakthrough results, as she helps them answer the questions: “Who are we?” “What do we stand for?” “Who are we becoming?” and “How will we get there?”

Anca completed her Professional Executive Coach certification (IECC & PCC) thru IMD’s Management & Leadership Program in Switzerland and is a graduate of Wharton’s International MBA program, Princeton University, and SealFit Academy – with master certification in breath experience for business (be4b), psych-k alignment, and elementum somatic coaching.

Most recently, she led the $0.5B DCX (digital customer experience) service line at an innovative market leading BPO that ipo-ed. Prior to that, she led Cisco’s collaboration technology and customer business transformation Retail & CPG industry practice worldwide. She is fluent in English, Dutch, and German with conversational French. She is an adventure racer, triathlete, martial artist and inspired poet.

Robin Athey

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

Robin Athey joins Seven Stones Leadership Group with over 35 years of global experience as an executive coach, facilitator, senior leader, management consultant, and thought leader. Currently, she guides leaders and teams to bring their purpose and dreams to life, helping them cultivate their inner compass, align with natural power, and make wise decisions amidst complexity and uncertainty. Robin is deeply committed to fostering positive, sustainable change in today’s fast-paced world.

Robin has worked with clients including ABB, Microsoft, HP, Google, MIT, Delta Airlines, IBM, Fujitsu, Eli Lilly, Boise Cascade, Banco Santander, and Girl Scouts USA. She also partners with startups and non-profits. Her experience spans 27 countries, working with factory workers to CEOs. Notably, she volunteered with the Realness Project, bringing Authentic Relating into prisons. Robin’s gentle yet powerful approach enables clients to trust their innate wisdom, clarify their vision, and grow their emotional agility under pressure.

Robin’s academic credentials include a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Florida and an M.A. in International Economic Policy from Columbia University. She also holds an Advanced Certificate in OD and HR from Columbia University and the University of Michigan. Additionally, Robin has been a Fellow at Harvard University, taught the core leadership class at Simmons MBA, and served on the board of the U.N. Association.

Living in Boulder, Colorado, Robin cherishes time with her friends, community, and family. She loves dancing and hiking in the wilderness. A dedicated practitioner of meditation and yoga for over 25 years, she integrates various modalities of ego development, somatics, post-trauma growth, and transformation in her work.

Lenore Champagne Beirne

Executive Coach, Organizational Consultant & Advisor

Lenore Champagne Beirne brings to her role at Seven Stones Leadership, her extensive background as a Venture Investor, Executive Coach and Strategist who integrates best practices in management, leadership, and personal development to drive positive transformation in people, companies, industries and communities. Her mission is to bring every person into their full expression, and partner with people and companies to build an inclusive economy.

Lenore is Founder and Managing Partner at Bright Ventures, a firm advancing companies and diverse leaders through capital, coaching and community.

Utilizing her Inclusive Innovation model, Lenore helps leaders shape their companies to contribute to building an equitable economy. She excels in coaching clients transitioning to executive roles, growing their executive presence, leading through change, and building effective team dynamics. Her expertise includes fundraising for young companies, leadership in underrepresented groups, and creating scalable business systems. She connects her clients’ personal missions with their career goals, fostering greater satisfaction and effectiveness.

Lenore studied Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the MBA program at NYU, and went on to co-develop and co-teach graduate coursework on the intersection of bias and innovation. Her Inclusive Innovation framework for identifying and scaling venture opportunities has been applied by enterprises such as Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, and Meta. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from NYU Stern focused on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from American University. Lenore and Bright have been featured in Forbes, Fast Company , Yahoo Finance, Black Enterprise and Thrive, among other media outlets.

Laurie Bohn

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

Laurie is a trusted coach and facilitator with nearly two decades of experience partnering with people to enhance their self-awareness, build skills, develop higher levels of confidence, and achieve meaningful goals. She works closely with clients to deliver impactful leadership development programs, helping participants navigate complex challenges and lead more effectively. In addition to her extensive work in life sciences, Laurie has successfully coached and facilitated in the tech, financial services, insurance, and non-profit sectors, bringing a well-rounded perspective to her practice.

Known for her down-to-earth and relatable approach, Laurie’s engaging and flexible facilitation style resonates with both introverts and extroverts alike. She creates welcoming environments that drive business impact through her ability to connect deeply and quickly with participants, enhancing the learning experience and expanding perspectives.

Laurie’s holistic approach to growth combines deep expertise in leadership development with a commitment to continuous learning. Having navigated her own journey through pivotal career decisions, Laurie coaches with empathy and insight, helping clients gain clarity and confidently make empowered choices. Her clients often walk away with a clear plan of action, a stronger alignment with their core values, and a renewed sense of control and confidence in their careers.

Beyond her professional work, Laurie serves on the Board of WEST where she continues to contribute to the advancement of women in science and technology fields. Laurie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McGill University and an MBA from Boston University Questrom School of Management. She is an ICF Certified Coach (ACC), a graduate of Coach U, and a Licensed Practitioner of Insights Discovery®.

Nicola Brown

Facilitator, Executive Coach & Leadership Consultant

Nicola Brown joins Seven Stones Leadership as a seasoned facilitator, executive coach, and leadership consultant. With 19 years of experience, she excels in developing powerful dialogue skills that boost business results and personal satisfaction. Nicola empowers clients to embrace complexity, expand perspectives, and build resilience using foresight tools and systems thinking, effectively bridging individual growth with organizational success.

Nicola, a third culture kid and President of KOKORO, brings a unique perspective to transforming organizations through a relational lens. Her experiences across 25+ countries have honed her expertise in navigating uncertainty, fostering agility, and leveraging technology. As the leader of KOKORO, a pioneering professional learning platform and support network, Nicola draws on her first-hand understanding of the profound impact trusted partnerships have during periods of growth and change. Her mission is to empower leaders and organizations to thrive in an ever-changing global landscape, blending cultural intelligence with professional acumen to drive meaningful transformation.

Nicola holds a postgraduate certificate in relational health, a master’s degree (Social Work). Her commitment to service extends beyond her professional role. She actively contributes to her community by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, she lends her expertise to advisory roles, serving on both the Florida Advisory Committee of the United States Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and the Board of Directors for CDFI Friendly South Bend.

Stephen H. Brown

Leadership Consultant, Executive Coach & Co-Head of Financial Services Practice

Stephen joins Seven Stones Leadership as a seasoned business leader, coach, and consultant specializing in financial services. With a focus on developing high-performance cultures based on Respect, Relationships, and Results, Stephen brings 30 years of leadership experience in Asset Management, Private Capital, and Wealth Management to Seven Stones. His clients range from large Wall Street firms to RIAs and the organizations that serve them.

In his work as the founder of Hopkins Leadership Ventures and co-head of Seven Stones Financial Services Practice, Stephen continues to leverage his extensive background to provide leadership and executive development services. As the former Managing Director of a $500M revenue, 900-employee business, he achieved top-tier results by fostering a leadership based culture. This experience led him to become Head of Leadership and Executive Development at the world’s largest wealth manager, where he created programs to replicate his success. Amongst other accomplishments, Stephen and his team developed a multi-day offsite leadership experience that became the flagship offering to hundreds of the firm’s C-suite, Managing Director, and Executive Director level leaders.

Stephen is a Middlebury College graduate with further education from the Darden School of Business (UVA), the Wharton School, and The Leadership Challenge program. He is a Certified Private Wealth Advisor, a Certified Leadership Practices Coach, and holds FINRA securities licenses.

An avid outdoorsman, Stephen has summited alpine peaks in Europe, Africa, South America, and the Himalaya. He serves on the Boards of Big Sky Community Housing Trust and St. Francis House. Stephen and his wife, Lisa, reside in Weston, MA and Big Sky, MT. They have two grown sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and a truly exceptional grandson.

Jonny Camara

Executive Coach, Organizational Consultant & Facilitator

Jonny Camara joins Seven Stones Leadership as a People Development Strategist, Leadership Coach, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Facilitator. In his own practice, Jonny brings close to a decade of experience in developing leaders and organizations. Raised in Ireland by an Irish mother and a Senegalese father, Jonny navigated various challenges around identity and belonging, finding strength in relationships centered on vulnerability, empathy, and authenticity. His early experiences taught him the value of these components in personal and collective transformation. Today, Jonny partners with leaders and organizations to build cultures of belonging, growth, and impact.

Jonny’s work spans multiple industries, including tech, finance, pharma, health, and education. He has collaborated with industry leaders such as Trivago, Pfizer, Mercedes Benz, and SumUp. Through transformational coaching, Jonny guides individuals and leaders on their personal discovery process, helping them find clarity on who they are, what they want, and the impact they wish to have in the world.

Jonny holds a B.A. in French and Business Studies from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. He is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accredited Coach, with a diploma in Professional Coaching Practice and a certificate in Executive Coaching Practice. In 2019, Jonny earned a Certificate in Organizational Analysis from Stanford University and a Certificate in High Performance Collaboration from Northwestern University.

Outside of work, Jonny finds balance through sports and fitness, reading about human psychology and philosophy, filmmaking, music curation, and writing. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany, with his partner and their young son.

Bill Champagne Jr.

Executive Coach, Advisor & Leadership Consultant

William (Bill) Champagne Ed.D joins Seven Stones Leadership as an executive coach and consultant. He specializes in coaching men who are in the process of designing a new life for themselves and their families, using his FourR process, (Release, Renew, Recover and Restore).

In addition to his coaching practice, Bill is currently the Executive Director of the Houses of Change a residential program under the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHiDS).

Houses of Change manages clients who are working on the life skills which help to successfully reintegrate the clients to independent living. Prior to his work at the Houses of Change, Bill was the Men’s Support Service coordinator for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Healthy Start program. In his work with the Department of Public Health he served as the co-chair of the Community Action Network (CAN) working to create stronger relationships between fathers and families to combat the public health crisis of infant mortality.

Bill holds Master of Human Service from Lincoln University and a Doctor of Education from Fielding Graduate University. He is also the founder of Fathers for Peace (www.fathersforpeace.org), an organization that works to bring fathers who have a vision of peace and healing together to implement violence reduction strategies in their local communities. Bill is an adjunct professor at Harcum College where he teaches courses in Marriage and Families and Social Problems. He is an aspiring author with multiple projects under development. He is the proud father of three children Lenore, Aaron and Zahara.

Sara Den Besten

Executive Coach, Team Coach & Advisor

Sara Den Besten is the founder and managing partner of Den Besten Group, and joins Seven Stones Leadership with expertise in executive team solutions, coaching, leadership development, culture and engagement, and HR advisory. Orienting to business strategy and key objectives, Sara specializes in the positive alignment of leaders and teams so they can focus their maximum energy on winning together.

With a life-long passion for unleashing the best in people, and catalyzing collective excellence within organizations, Sara has over 20 years of career experience as a leader in human resources and communications, and as an independent consultant and coach.

In her previous role as Chief People Officer at Generation Bio, Sara established foundational people practices and infrastructure to rapidly grow a people-centric learning organization from 20 to nearly 200 people, and from stealth stage to a publicly traded company.  

Sara also spent more than a decade at Genzyme, and then Sanofi, driving leadership and organization development, and reimagining the role of patient advocacy in rare diseases and patient-centered medicine. As principal of her own firm, Sara provided executive coaching and leadership development services for global clients across multiple industries.

Sara earned a B.A. in Psychology from Bucknell University, completed the Greater Boston Executive Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and won a world championship as a member of the U.S. National Women’s Rowing Team. 

Alex Durand

Executive Coach, Team Coach & Organizational Consultant

Alex Durand joins Seven Stones Leadership as the founder of Frable, a boutique coaching & consulting firm that helps leadership teams get out of their own way. His clients are the best at what they do. They love striving to be great and aren’t afraid of staying on the edge. Like all great leaders and teams, they recognize the value of having a coach and advisor by their side to navigate the challenges of today’s business landscape.

Today’s teams are treading water. Between external and internal performance pressures, employee burnout, and relentless change, it is easy for teamship to remain low on leaders’ list of priorities. Today, however, teamship skills like shared candor, shared accountability, and shared execution are a high-performance imperative: for yourself, for the teams you lead, for your organization.

Alex believes the most effective team coaching happens when the coach can observe and engage with the team in real time, in their day-to-day environment, much like how a professional sports coach supports the performance of a professional sports team. Done in this way, executive team coaching allows a leadership team to experience continuous, intentional, and measurable improvement over time, making it a much more worthwhile investment in the future performance of the organization at large. Alex is a Columbia University credentialed Professional Executive Coach. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from George Washington University and received his MFA in Writing from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Alex is certified in several assessment tools including Korn Ferry’s Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) and Hogan Assessments. He is a PwC alum. Alex is fluent in Spanish, conversational in French, and is improving his Portuguese. Over the years he has lived in Mexico City, Istanbul, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. He and his wife are spending the year in Porto, Portugal. He collaborates with clients around the world. His current compulsions are writing short stories and playing tennis.

Dr. Edward M. Gurowitz

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Organizational Consultant

Dr. Ed Gurowitz brings over 40 years of experience in organizational change to his role at Seven Stones Leadership. He partners with executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations to enhance leadership, communication, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness through executive coaching and consulting. Ed has worked with a diverse range of clients, from Fortune 100 companies to startups and nonprofits.

Ed specializes in leadership development and organizational change, aiming to boost productivity and profitability by unlocking the potential of people. He has facilitated negotiations in mergers and acquisitions, union-management contexts, and coached CEOs and executives on decision-making, delegation, and leadership. His international experience spans North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia.

As a contract executive, Ed has established and managed HR programs for multi-agency firms and served as COO for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, where he fostered a culture of collaboration and high performance. He has also worked as a Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor for Citigroup Geneva Capital Strategies, assisting middle-market business owners in valuing and marketing their businesses.

Ed co-founded the Better Man Movement, focusing on inclusionary leadership and engaging men in promoting diversity and mitigating unconscious bias and macroaggressions in the workplace. He is a writer and blogger and an avid reader.

Ed holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and has 35 years of experience in Organizational Psychology. Ed is certified in administering and interpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), FIRO-B, DISC, and other assessment tools. He earned his degrees in Psychology and Brain Research from Cornell University and the University of Rochester. He is a leading thinker in the impact of brain function on leadership and communication and is a member of the NeuroLeadership Institute. He has authored “The Molecular Basis of Memory” and numerous articles on clinical psychology, organizational psychology, and management, including “Inclusion, The Role of Leadership: Why We Are Separate, Why We Need to Come Together” (Halo Publishing International) and the forthcoming book “A Comprehensive Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation.”

Sona Haratunian

Organizational Consultant, Leadership Consultant & Executive Coach

Sona brings a unique blend of experiences and skills from her executive-level positions in Talent and Learning Development cultivating high-performance cultures and unlocking the power of people to her role at Seven Stones. She excels in crafting creative solutions for sustained change, and empowering individuals to realize their potential by leveraging their strengths and capabilities.

Before joining Seven Stones, Sona designed and delivered innovative approaches to learning at two of the largest financial services firms in the United States.  She partnered with leaders to create tailored solutions to deliver on the people strategies for both entities that resulted in new onboarding experiences, culture building and sustainment initiatives, leadership learning journeys and high potential talent programs to accelerate the growth of top performers.

Sona’s background spans Human Resources and various lines of business, providing her with firsthand experience in achieving strategic goals through innovative, measurable, and sustainable performance solutions. She holds a BA in Economics from Boston College, an MA in Education from New York University, and is a Certified Financial Planner®.

Based in New York, Sona is actively involved in various private foundation boards focused on poverty alleviation and self-sufficiency in Armenia and the Middle East. She treasures spending time with her family and friends, finding joy in balancing her professional commitments with personal pursuits.

David Highley

Executive Coach & Team Coach

David Highley is an accomplished personal, executive, and leadership coach and joins Seven Stones with over a decade of experience in guiding professional and personal transformation. As the CEO and founder of Leading Global Change LLC, David is dedicated to helping individuals and organizations achieve significant and lasting results.

David’s work spans multiple industries, where he collaborates with senior executives, business owners, and entrepreneurs. His experience is particularly rich in complex, regulated sectors such as medicine, biotech, education, finance, law, and government. David’s recent clients include high profile leaders from the music industry, and CEOs of publicly traded companies.

David’s coaching is rooted in fostering authenticity, purpose, and clarity in leadership. He helps clients develop intentional communication and leadership styles that lead to healthier workplace cultures and enhanced strategic thinking. His clients often report a deeper sense of purpose and satisfaction, both professionally and personally.

David’s approach is deeply informed by his background in professional musicianship, government leadership, and education, which uniquely positions him to blend creativity with pragmatism. This allows him to bring depth and pace to his coaching, helping clients explore their full potential with confidence.

He is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and holds certifications in Leadership Coaching from the University of San Diego and Systemic Team Coaching from the Global Team Coaching Institute. David also coaches, mentors and trains accrediting coaches and senior leaders at USD and UCSD. Outside of his professional life, David is an avid musician and lover of nature. He is passionate about driving positive environmental and social change and enjoys fitness, yoga, running, travel, and DIY projects.

Lawrence James Jr.

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Advisor

Lawrence James Jr. brings to his role at Seven Stones Leadership his thought leadership specializing in diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DIB), executive development, and executive assessment. With expertise in creating inclusive cultures where employees thrive, he works across sectors such as healthcare, energy, financial services, retail, and manufacturing. Lawrence is known for assessing and growing senior executive and high-potential talent, enabling many to advance to C-suite roles.

In his current role, Lawrence focuses on senior and high-potential talent development, inclusive leadership training, diversity strategy, and organizational transformation through his consultancy founded in 2021.

Previously, he spent 12 years as a partner at RHR International, where he developed a holistic model for growing diverse talent, detailed in his white paper “Journey to the Top: Developing African American Executives.” His innovative approach has made him a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences and corporate roundtables. He also co-edited a special issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal on Black leadership entitled “The State of Black Leadership: What Can be Done to Create Sustainable Change,” published in March 2023. Earlier in his career, Lawrence led LJA LifeLessons, providing mental health services and consulting for non-profits.

Lawrence holds a BA in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Howard University, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is a licensed psychologist in Illinois and a member of several professional organizations.

Songya Kesler

Executive Coach, Team Coach & Leadership Consultant

Songya Kesler joins Seven Stones Leadership as a three-time Silicon Valley entrepreneur with 15 years of global business experience. She works with leaders, innovators, and disruptors on a mission to find their inner truths and unlock their highest potential. Her clients are ambitious, hyper-intelligent founders and tech leadership teams across various industries, including SaaS, Health-Tech, Fin-Tech, and more.

Songya provides executive coaching, team coaching, leadership consulting, and management training. She helps leaders and their teams develop key skills and self-awareness to uncover who they are and what they want so they can lead with confidence, certainty, and authenticity. She also helps businesses design and deliver leadership training programs that increase employee engagement, motivation, and overall productivity. She has worked with clients like Aztec, Contentful, Formo, Zalando, and N26 to enhance employee engagement and productivity.

As an adjunct faculty member at the University of Colorado, Songya teaches Leadership & Ethics in the Masters of the Environment program. She holds engineering degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. She has received PCC accreditation from the ICF and Team Coaching training from Corentus.

Songya relocated to the US from Germany in 2021 and lives in Boulder, CO with her family. In her free time, she enjoys making pottery and practicing tea ceremonies.

Dr. Bukky Kolawole

Trainer, Facilitator & Executive Coach

Dr. Bukky Kolawole joins Seven Stones Leadership as a trainer, facilitator and executive coach, with 14 years of experience working with individuals and organizations including NYC Department of Education and New York University (NYU). Dr. Bukky Kolawole is dedicated to the design and delivery of dynamic, evocative coaching and learning experiences in which clients increase their knowledge and skills and make meaningful changes, while feeling emotionally engaged through the process. Her* unique engagement style is racially sensitive, culturally informed, emotionally engaging and captivating of clients’ hearts and minds.

The combination of her* passion for helping others access their internal wisdom, her * value for effectiveness, and the emotionally attuned environment she provides sets her* apart from other coaches and facilitators. Dr. Bukky is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

Dr. Bukky is a Black, queer, gender non-conforming woman in pursuit of equity with love, boldness, empathy and vulnerability. Her* purpose is to boldly disrupt systems of oppression with love so that we can all show up in the fullness of our humanity (i.e., with authenticity and vulnerability). She* is also the Founder and Executive Director of Relationship HQ, a place that exists to nurture vibrant human connection so that anyone served feels whole, seen and celebrated in the mirror and in the world. Relationship HQ proudly centers the healing and growth of people of color and queer folx through a menu of offerings including psychotherapy, coaching, workshops and organizational transformation programs.

Dr. Bukky holds a doctoral degree (PsyD) in clinical psychology from Long Island University and currently lives in New Jersey with her wife and their two young children.

Jennifer Krier

Executive Coach, Advisor & Facilitator

Jennifer Krier, PhD is a coach and advisor at Seven Stones Leadership Group. She works by synthesizing multiple disciplines to bring leaders and teams some of the most cutting-edge thinking and practices in the field of coaching. Trained as a coach through Coaches Training Institute (CTI) in California, one of the premier schools for coaching, she also holds a degree as a clinical social worker, a certification as a yoga teacher and did her original training as a professional anthropologist.

Jennifer offers holistic and in-depth coaching in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. She uses her interdisciplinary approach to support clients to produce lasting positive change in themselves and in the organizations and communities in which they live, move and work. Her mission is to bring mind-body integration to the everyday culture of workplaces in order to create the physical wellbeing and thriving relationships that are critical to successful teams and individuals striving for innovation.

Jennifer received her BA from Bryn Mawr College, and her PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar studying gender and power. In addition to her CTI certification as a Professional Co-Active Coach, Jennifer is trained as a Master Somatic Coach through the Strozzi Institute of Leadership and Mastery. Jennifer has taught at Harvard University and was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Cornell University. She has had her own business providing coaching for over a decade. She offers executive coaching to senior consultants through her affiliation at Mobius Executive Leadership, as well as delivering coaching with Seven Stones and participating as faculty in their Somatic Leadership retreats.

Jennifer has served as the Boston area group facilitator of the Hoffman Process Graduate Group. She is the co-author of a published play, Eve-olution, which was produced and ran off-Broadway. In addition to coaching, Jennifer works as a depth psychotherapist at the Danielsen Institute, and teaches yoga classes and workshops in the greater Boston area. Jennifer lives with her husband and three children in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Annick Routhier Labadie

Team Coach, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

Annick Routhier Labadie brings over a decade of experience in supporting leaders at individual, team, and organizational levels, to her role at Seven Stones Leadership. Her work integrates leadership development, equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI), and change management. Annick’s approach is characterized by her playfulness, wit, and creativity, fostering shifts in how people view the world and their roles within it.

Annick founded Humans & Company, a Canadian boutique firm, where she develops lasting client relationships and leads a team of seven facilitators. Her professional journey includes roles in client development, curriculum development, and delivery across corporate and not-for-profit sectors. With a STEM background, 15 years in competitive sports, and experience in management consulting, she navigates diverse contexts with ease. Her clients include financial institutions and professional service, telecommunications companies and educational institutions.

Her educational credentials include IFS Level I training, Integral Facilitation certification from Real Life Facilitation Institute, and PPCC coaching certification from Concordia University. Annick holds master’s degrees in engineering science from the University of Oxford, where she researched designer biases in emerging technologies as a Rhodes Scholar, and a bachelor’s in physics from Seton Hall University.

Originally from Quebec City, Annick has lived in South Orange, New Jersey, Oxford, UK, Montreal, and currently resides in Orford, Quebec, near the National Park. Outside of her professional endeavors, she has completed an 80-hour woodworking course and enjoys hiking with her dog.

Shea O’Neil

Executive Coach, Team Coach & Advisor

Shea O’Neil brings her extensive experience to Seven Stones Leadership where she works with individuals, teams, and organizations to develop leadership skills, enhance collaboration, and achieve results through coaching and enterprise-wide programs focused on leadership principles. Drawing from a career in research and analysis, Shea offers evidence-based insights to clients of all sizes and stages, and across various industries, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, technology, finance, real estate, design firms and non-profit sectors. She works across functions and at multiple levels, helping clients make their next developmental leap, conduct a turn-around or transform and stabilize a team. Her domains of expertise includes effective communication, strategic thinking, change management, executive presence and team dynamics and skill-building.

Shea has contributed to the start up of several boutique consulting firms, including Mobius Executive Leadership and Seven Stones Leadership, where she developed client services and offerings from the ground up. Her work at Fuld & Company,
a global competitive intelligence firm, and Kelly Services’ Strategic Insights group, involved leading research and analysis
projects to support executive initiatives and go-to-market strategies.

Integrating somatic education and mindfulness practices with a passion for data and science, Shea brings tools and techniques from neuroscience and wisdom traditions to her coaching philosophy. Her whole person and customized approach supports clients in creating clarity, purpose, and results. Shea is a credentialed PCC level coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF), and is certified in KF360, Corentus Inc. Team Coaching, Team Management Systems, Leadership Embodiment, and 200-hour registered yoga training (RYT). She is progressing towards a three year professional certified Bodynamic Body Psychotherapist program and four year, 1000 hour, meditation training through the Karuna Mandala School. She is a published author in Harvard Business Review and is working on a book addressing a key polarity in top teams to unlock the braintrust of organizations’ top leaders, faster.

Shea earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Tufts University magna cum laude and certificates in peace and justice studies and The Global Leadership Institute. Residing in the Greater Boston Area, she loves hanging out with her two daughters, practicing meditation, writing and making art, and taking long walks in the woods with her friends.

Michelle Ridgley

Organizational Consultant, Team Coach & Facilitator

Michelle Ridgley brings to her role at Seven Stones Leadership over 30 years of experience in learning and talent development. She provides coaching and consulting to enhance the potential of human capital. As a strong practitioner of talent development, talent management, change management, needs assessment, learning strategy, and facilitation, she has demonstrated success in developing trust and building effective partnerships across businesses at all levels.

Michelle is the Founder of Aspire Performance Improvement Consulting, LLC. As a thought leader, her practice focuses on delivering customized impactful solutions and strategies. She helps organizations identify performance gaps/root cause, identify, design, and implement solutions. She specializes in advancing high performance in teams through assessment and group coaching. She expertly deploys leadership development solutions and leverages a portfolio of tools that foster individual, team, and organizational growth.

Her clients include a diverse range or industries: life sciences, biotech, renewable energy, aerospace, pharmaceutical, entertainment, healthcare etc.

Previously at Medtronic plc, Michelle worked as a Global HR Learning & Talent development leader, focusing on talent assessment and team effectiveness. Consulting with teams and workgroups to facilitate and administer tools that drive high-performing teams. She supported ExCom Leadership in global talent management by identifying top talent potential, organization and talent planning, VP development planning, and performance management. Michelle led an award-winning diversity & inclusion council.

Michelle holds an M.Ed. and a Certificate in Organization Development from Cambridge College. She is a graduate of the Partnership’s Fellows Program and UMASS Boston’s Center for Collaborative Leadership’s Emerging Leader’s program.

Certifications: Hogan Leadership, Insights Discovery, MBTI (Meyers-Briggs), EQi (Emotional Quotient) 2.0, Core Strengths, Drexler/Sibbett Team Performance Model, ToPS Strategic Planning, 4Stages™of Contribution, Building Competency Models, Kirkpatrick Learning Evaluation, HPI (Human Performance Improvement), Project Management, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Candidate for ACC Certified Coach. Michelle enjoys volunteering for local community orgs and other philanthropic activities.

She is most passionate about, spending time with her family and traveling to Martha’s Vineyard. She is a Peloton enthusiast, wine taster and greatly enjoys planning events and creating memorable experiences.

Suzanne Rotondo

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

A senior coach at Seven Stones Leadership Group, Suzanne is also the founding Principal of Redshift Leadership, a consultancy that specializes in leadership and culture, with a deep expertise in the brain science research underlying emotional intelligence and organizational dynamics. As an experienced executive coach, leadership consultant, retreat session facilitator, and advisor to Boards of Directors and senior teams, Suzanne leads Redshift Leadership and personally commits herself to supporting both innovative for-profit clients and social justice organizations across a range of areas including human rights, gender/racial equity, access to economic opportunities, progressive policy/advocacy, sustainability, state/local government, and game-changing problem solvers.

In this work, the focus is to build high performing teams through not only what is done, but how it is done, often to lead and implement change across organizations undergoing enormous transformation due to both internal and external shifts.

Over the last 15 years, Suzanne has worked with a variety of social justice organizations and non-profits including the Obama Foundation, Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Open Society Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Georgie Badiel Foundation, Sierra Club, The Ad Council, Ford Foundation, Mosaic, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Healthcare without Harm, NYC LGBT Center, Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, City Manager’s Office City of Eugene, DOROT Elder Services, and Trauma Support Services for Refugees.

Suzanne draws upon extensive experience from her on-going work with select private sector companies, primarily in the media/entertainment sector, including Netflix, BuzzFeed, MTV, ASCAP, Disney, Paramount Studios, CBSViacom, NBCUniversal, Downtown Music, Apollo, and Spinmaster.

Prior to Redshift, Suzanne was Executive Director at Teleos Leadership Institute, and was a Senior Editor at Harvard Business Publishing. Suzanne holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and is an alum of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland’s IOS program, as well as Robert Gass’s Art of Transformational Consulting program. Redshift Leadership makes annual donations of 5% of revenue to organizations that make a positive difference including Mijentes, Doctors Without Borders, Howard University’s Prince Jones’ Scholarship Fund, CARE International, God’s Love We Deliver (nutrition delivery), Philabundance, NY Lawyers for Public Interest, Healthcare for the Homeless Clinicians’ Network, UNHC for the Rights of Refugees, and Breast Cancer Research.

Suzanne lives with her spouse, Karima Zedan–who leads a large community investment program to close the digital divide for low-income Americans–and their teenager, in Philadelphia.

Ana Sanjuan

Executive Coach, Organizational Consultant & Facilitator

Ana Sanjuan, MSM, is a seasoned leadership coach, management consultant, and educator with a 25-year career focused on the intersection of personal mastery, leadership, and organizational performance.

Ana partners with individuals and teams committed to unlocking their fullest potential to achieve personal, professional, and collective goals of significance. Her services include executive coaching, management consulting, strategic advising, facilitation, and assessments.

As an experienced entrepreneur and business leader, Ana has worked extensively across sectors, including Corporate, Nonprofit and Higher Education. She has supported Chief Marketing Officers, Senior Vice Presidents, Founders,and Global Directors. Ana engages both the internal and external facets of leadership, enhancing capacity through team engagement, strategic planning, and decision-making, while also fostering personal growth in mindset, purpose, and authenticity.

As a veteran leader of personal and professional education, Ana has developed innumerable programs at the intersection of leadership, psychology, evidence-based holistic health, and contemplative practices that promote wellbeing and create environments where leaders thrive. 

As a first-generation immigrant and child of war refugees, Ana brings firsthand insight into the unique challenges and opportunities faced by emerging leaders from diverse economic, racial, or cultural backgrounds. She specializes in helping individuals leverage their strengths, overcome limitations, and embrace their personal history to maximize their impact in leadership and life.

Ana holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Adult Education, along with a BS in Research Psychology. Her extensive training and certifications include Executive Coaching, Purpose Guiding, Positive Intelligence, Trauma-Informed Coaching, and various modalities in contemplative practices and holistic health.

Ana and her husband, married for 25 years, reside in the Hudson Valley of New York, where they enjoy traveling with their two adult sons.

Rob Schilling

Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant & Facilitator

Through our partnership with Eurous Global Leadership Group LLC, Rob Schilling joins Seven Stones as a coach and facilitator. Rob has broad experience in talent management and learning, specializing in Developmental Coaching, Talent Development, and Experiential Learning. His practice spans the globe, serving clients across four continents. Rob currently leads global talent development initiatives in addition to managing a robust coaching portfolio.
For the past 20 years, Rob’s mission has been to bring leaders to a place of engagement, synergy, and mutual fulfillment with their organizations. He believes that establishing a mutuality of interest between the individual leader and the organization is key to sustaining and driving performance. His coaching method has evolved to encompass various dimensions of leadership, performance, and lifestyle coaching, tailored to each leader’s needs. Rob’s exposure to diverse cultures allows him to customize his coaching approach to suit the individuals, teams, and organizations he serves.
Beyond individual coaching, Rob helps organizations build coaching cultures through client-defined strategies and solutions. His work has spanned industries such as FMCG, Financial Services, Energy, Telecoms, the public sector, and IT. Rob has worked with corporate clients including ABG (India), Adidas (Asia-Pac, Europe), Tesco Thailand, Google, FedEx (Asia), Rolls-Royce, Tata Communications, TUI Travel, and Unilever (Asia/Europe). He has also coached leaders at all levels, from operational managers to managing directors.
Rob currently serves as Program Lead for Artgym’s Leadership Development Programs and leads continuing professional development for their Practitioner Community.

Rob holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire and numerous coaching certifications, including Certified Integral Coach (New Ventures West, San Francisco, CA), Certified Coaching to Excellence Facilitator (New Ventures West, San Francisco, CA), Certified Lominger Feedback Coach, Certified MBTI Facilitator/Coach/Consultant, and Leadership Coach (LifeSpring, San Rafael, CA). He also holds a Coaching Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching from The Coach Partnership and an ICF-accredited Professional Coach Certificate for Integral Coaching from New Ventures West.

Rob is a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and has based his practice from Singapore, his home for the past 21 years.

Sonika Tinker

Executive Coach, Advisor & Leadership Consultant

Sonika Tinker, MSW, Sonika has 40+ years of experience as an executive, business, life and interpersonal relationship coach and 20,000+ hours designing and delivering personal development programs to leaders across industries of all sizes. Sonika has coached leaders from a wide variety of companies such as Sales Force, The Federal Reserve, American Express, NASA, Warner Media, Intuit, Google, Deloitte, Meta, Chevron, T-Mobile, State Farm, Accenture, and Adobe.

Sonika is the President and Chief Financial Officer of Real & Free, Inc. DBA LoveWorks, a personal development training company she founded in 1991 focused on personal development, emotional intelligence, leadership & team development, interpersonal dynamics, conflict resolution, relationship and communication.

Sonika is a coach, facilitator, mediator, mentor, presenter, teacher, speaker, business owner, course designer and trainer all in one. She helps leaders, managers, business owners and professionals resolve challenging conflicts, improve difficult relationships, bust through limiting beliefs and habits, increase productivity, navigate complex changes, build resilience, regulate emotions, improve presentation skills, develop a confident executive presence, create work/life balance, experience more joy, passion and aliveness, and realize their full potential in life.

Sonika holds BA’s in Psychology and Sociology, and an MSW from San Francisco State University. She is a Certified Conscious Business Coach, Certified Mediator, Certified Enneagram Teacher, Certified NLP Practitioner and co-author of “Seize Your Opportunities.” She has participated in dozens of rigorous sales, leadership and personal development training programs, including Hecht and Associates, Robbins Research Institute, Landmark, The Option Institute, The Conflict Resolution Center and Thrive Academy. She brings a wide range of skills and strategies from which she can draw upon to help produce lasting positive change for anyone committed to raising the bar in their business and personal life.

Cheryl Wilson

Facilitator, Executive Coach & Advisor

Cheryl Wilson is a global brand strategist, beauty marketing expert and executive coach who empowers individuals and teams to pursue more powerful, productive and purpose driven results. After two decades as a brand management executive with Procter & Gamble, Unilever and small businesses, she has led and coached many business executives to strong business results and launched numerous, successful multi-million dollar products.

Cheryl is recognized for her winning global strategies, imaginative white-space innovation and passionate expansion of multicultural beauty products and services. Her imprint in multicultural beauty was recognized when she was named one of WWD Beauty’s Top 50 Multicultural Market Makers in 2015.

As a certified coach for Sustainable Abundance with Seven Stones Leadership Group, Cheryl has fully tapped into her expertise and gifts of empathetic listening, astute observation, courageous experimentation and resilient tenacity to help generate breakthrough, transformational results for clients. A strong supporter of linked prosperity, she encourages her clients to generate sustainable legacies that positively impact individuals, communities and the world.

For several years, Cheryl has been facilitating workshops and discussions on work/life balance, wellbeing, mindfulness and self-compassion for professional women. She is also an advocate for the dignity and increased quality of life for seniors suffering from dementia and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. A native of Baltimore and a proud double “Hoo” with a BA and MBA from the University of Virginia, she is a passionate believer in the endless possibilities available from a clear-eyed understanding of the past and a creative, hopeful and visionary approach to the future.