“Sometimes we exist long enough to lead the next generation; other times, only to plant a seed and let its resonations of our time here on Earth ripple into new waves.”
― A.J. Darkholme
The Conductors Seedling Community
As Blooming Willow began to envision training students on facilitating our signature Healing Centered Community Coaching approach, we wanted to make sure that it was shaped by community. To achieve this, we recruited 14 dynamic Certified Coaches from around the world who have been developing innovative ways to incorporate coaching and healing in communities. These coaches dedicated hours of their time to help add depth and wisdom to the Conductors Healing Centered Certification Program Curriculum. Learn more about these dynamic Conductor Seedlings below.
Module 1 - Starting with Self - Conductors Seedlings
Jagruti Gala
Born in India, Jagruti Gala considers herself an agent of transformation. She wears multiple hats - educational reformist, entrepreneur, and transformational coach - all in service to inner growth and joy. Jagruti’s spiritual core enables deep healing and compassionate action, as her tribe finds the Hero Within! She learnt much about life through mothering her boys who are now young men! Jagruti is faculty at Leadership That Works and her coaching for transformation is also made available through her enterprise Shoonya Shakti and other partnerships. She is the founder and Managing Trustee of a non-profit,AURA - A Learning Place, that supports young people with less privilege to become connected and compassionate leaders. Jagruti is also co-founder of Stones2Milestones, an organization on the mission of Creating a Nation of Readers and at present she holds the role of Director of Culture and Learning and Development at Amrit Vidyalaya, a school in rural India.
Earl Simms
Earl is a 50 year old father and serves as the Bay Area Regional Director of the Timelist Group. Having grown up in the hard streets of Los Angeles placed him in a mental prison, which later led to a life sentence. After serving 22 years in prison, he is now a voice for many victims. Earl’s work helps to motivate many men of color to take innovative approaches to shift harmful community culture. Using his own experiences, Earl is intent on demystifying mindfulness and healing practices for currently and formally incarcerated people. Earl uses trauma healing and mindfulness practices in the facilitation of town halls with the Department of Children and Family services. He is also a Certified Life Coach that incorporates trauma healing as he works with the intense violent cases in East Oakland through Oakland Unite. Earl is also a member of the Anti-recidivism Coalition, Board member of Formerly Incarcerated Advisory Board (FIA) to the S.F. District Attorney's office (Gascon) and Member of the Timeliest Group.
Raynelle Rino
A long time Bay Area social sector professional, Raynelle is a certified professional coach through Leadership That Works. Her "Hike It Out Coaching" programs blend her science, environmental justice, and spiritual connection to nature by providing "Healing Hikes", where clients increase their capacity to create change with the support and guidance of the nature experience. In 2016 Raynelle started Rino Consulting Solutions, a nature-based consulting firm that provides coaching and consulting services for professionals and other businesses. Its mission is to support and inspire the leaders of today to live in the confidence of their identities as they move through a world in the midst of social, racial, and environmental transformation.
Module 2 - Acknowledging the Wise Self - Conductors Seedlings
Lina Bracero
Lina was raised in a strong union household that instilled in her the values of fighting injustice at a young age. Her work in the non-profit sector and the organized labor movement began with retiree members at UNITEHERE! Subsequently, she became involved in union organizing campaigns, connecting her with workers in various industries and allowing her to help build union membership across the country. In 2010, Lina began working with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). She was ultimately promoted to the National Political Training Director. In this role, she designed curriculum and skills development programs for members and staff within the union. She later became Deputy Director for Strategic Partnerships at SEIU.
Melissa Powless Chacon
Melissa is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, descendant of the Turtle Clan." She is a cause-driven organizational change and development consultant and a certified community transformational coach based in California. Her work includes working with nonprofits, schools, tribes, and philanthropic communities on a broad range of issues affecting Native American youth, families and communities. She is also devoted to creating opportunities that lead to the well-being, safety, and equal rights of youth, women, and families of color from urban, rural and tribal communities. She uses her ancient wisdom and design abilities in community, to produce cultural and holistic approaches to healing, empowerment and transformation.
Corirose Benitez Anjali
Corirose Benitez Anjali is a communication trainer and transformational coach. Rooted in passion for social and eco-justice, she is a connection activist, empowering self-leadership and the freedom to shift from what’s wrong to what matters. Corirose is called to support issues of diversity and inclusion in the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities that she is a part of. She lives, works and serves in an intentional community, helping create the conditions for healing at a community level. Coaching individuals and groups in the spirit of Healing Centered Engagement, Corirose draws on a deep devotion to nature connection and indigenous wisdom to co-create relationships that restore our sense of belonging and interdependence. Corirose is a Certified Community Coach 2018, Candidate for Certified Trainer, The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), Licensed Somatic Healing Practitioner.
Shara Smith
Shara Smith is a single mother who loves to bond with her daughters, family and friends. She is an enthusiastic educator with over a decade of experience in the learning and development field. She has spent her professional career helping individuals, teams, and organizations achieve a deeper level of greatness through the strategic design and delivery of engaging curriculum. Shara's truest passion is the art and science of facilitation. Shara roots her facilitation techniques and tactics in the knowledge and skills she gained from her coaching certification program. Shara holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Master of Science in Organization Development and Knowledge Management.
Module 3 - Asset Driven Mindset - Conductors Seedlings
Lily Hollister
Lily was raised with magnificent reverence and love for the Earth, which is home to the greatest artists, wisest teachers, and most generous hosts of all time – both human and non. Her purpose is to support people’s reconnection with their innate courage, in a way that revitalizes systems, in order to regenerate culture. These days she often shares her talent, treasure and time with others by organizing, facilitating, and cooking for community gatherings which connect people to Earth through sumptuous flavor, story and ritual
Kim Fowler
Kim is a Certified Professional Coach, an Organization and Relationships Systems Certified Coach, as well as a trainer and facilitator. Since 2011 she has been a faculty member of Leadership That Works (LTW), an international coach training school with a focus on social justice. She was on faculty of the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) from 2007-2015. Kim coaches executives and managers, as well as personal and professional partnerships and teams, toward effective, values-driven performance. She helps her clients discover greater clarity around their choices, further develop their leadership skills and improve communication with their colleagues and supervisees. She helps clients increase their awareness of how power, race, class, culture and privilege impact their beliefs and choices. Her aim as a coach is for her clients to make decisions and take action from a place of grounded and fulfilling choice rather than limitation. Kim is a writer and singer and finds joy and wisdom through nature and creativity. Kim lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Johnny Manzon-Santos
Johnny Manzon-Santos has been engaged in peace and social justice as an activist, organizer, and client advocate since 1985. His strategic thinking was honed in his role as executive director of health/HIV agencies in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He is co-principal ofpearldiving LLC, a coaching/consulting practice with clients in children and youth development, public health policy, environmental sustainability, racial/economic justice, community mental health, the foster care system, and the arts. Johnny is co-founder of the Coaches of Color Consortium (C3) and has worked with LeaderSpring, Gap Inc. Leadership Initiative, and the UCSF Center for the Health Professions. He is certified by the Coaches Training Institute and credentialed through the International Coaching Federation. He holds a bachelor’s from Brown University.
Module 4 - Partnering for Change - Conductors Seedlings
Belma González
Belma of B Coaching and Consulting has provided individual coaching, group coaching, and coach training since 2005. She believes anyone can learn coaching skills and that coaching and coaching skills can support personal growth and self-awareness, emotional intelligence, leadership enhancement, change management, work/life transitions, emotional-physical- spiritual balance and fulfillment, and can be utilized to further healing, equity and liberation. She holds a Professional Certified Coach credential through the International Coach Federation and a BA from San Francisco State University.
Inca Mohamed
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, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Inca was Executive Director for Management Assistance Group (now known as 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. 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. My experience taught me to listen deeply, honor what is distinct about each environment, and when appropriate, translate experiences from one place to another.
Mia Ramirez
Mia Ramirez is a Community Partner at The Colorado Trust where she works to encourage and strengthen resident and community-led funding initiatives. She has over 20 years of community health experience working both nationally and internationally, from the grassroots level to the federal and international health agency level. Mia has actively implemented her coaching skills to catalyze her efforts to organize, mobilize and advocate for community solutions to health equity issues. Mia earned a two bachelor’s degrees in arts and Sciences in Spanish and Biology from Regis University and a Master's degree in Public Health from Boston University.
Jonah Sheridan
Jonah Silas Sheridan is a long time non-profit technologist and consultant currently located in Berekeley, California. He has worked in or with a range of non-profit organizations and foundations including the Rainforest Action Network, The Global Fund for Women, Center for Media Justice, Forward Together, and Coaching Corps. Jonah brings over 13 years of IT planning, management, implementation, and support to his newest venture, Information Ecology, LLC, a Permatulture inspired technology and capacity building consultancy serving progressive organizations.
Curriculum Developer - Lead Conductor - Leslie Avant-Brown
Leslie is the CEO of Blooming Willow Coaching and has spent the bulk of her career supporting leadership development for courageous leaders. In 2018, Leslie began to notice that more and more community coaches were indicating that they were burning out. She also saw an increase in the number of coaches moving away from supporting communities living with deep pain. To get curious about this shifting, she began to conduct informal interviews with community coaches and learned that many didn’t possess the skill set necessary to decompress personal and secondary trauma. This revelation led her to acknowledge her own burnout which prompted her healing journey to decompress trauma. Through her process, she got an opportunity to work with multiple healers throughout the world. From this experience she began working on a new coaching training program that incorporated healing practices that support the coaches and clients both in real time and long-term. This intentional healing journey has culminated into the development of the new Conductors Community Coaching Training Program.