More than 30 years experience
I have more than 28 years of experience in non-profit management, organizational development, coalition building, and social justice advocacy. I conduct coaching, strategic planning, meeting and focus group facilitation, retreats, and grant writing, focusing on both the non-profit and government sectors.
I currently work as the Director of Human Resources and Administration at Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus. Previously, I was the Senior Director of Capacity Building at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF).
For 10 years I served as Executive Director of Massachusetts Asian & Pacific Islanders (MAP) for Health in Boston, Massachusetts. I served as a commissioner and as Chair of the Massachusetts Commission on GBLT Youth and was a member and Chair of the Boston EMA Ryan White HIV Services Planning Council. I have also served on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Public Health Association. The Philanthropic Initiative named me 2007 Boston Neighborhood Fellow. My first job was a reporter at Boston’s Gay Community News.
I earned my BA in English & American Literature from Brandeis University and have conducted graduate level coursework in Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. I am a certified professional coach through Leadership That Works, an Accredited Coaching Training Program (ACTP) by the International Coach Federation, as well as in the Tiny Habits methodology. I was certified in the Interaction Institue for Social Change’s Facilitative Leadership methodology, which greatly informs my training and consulting approaches.
I am a certified disaster service worker through Communities of Oakland Respond to Emergencies (CORE).
Vision Board
Vision boards are a tool I use in coaching. This is my board from my coaching certification capturing the key elements of my approach.
This René Magritte painting with a big eye with clouds represents the shift in perspective my coaching promotes.
Similarly, the figure gazing out the window signifies how coaching helps expand the view of what's possible. Reflecting back what you say so you can hear it is a new light, expressed by the figure holding a mirror up to its legs, is a key part of coaching and what leads to developing action plans.
Chairs facing each other evoke the coach-client relationship, where attention is focused on you. Coaching sessions are focused and contained, like the bright room depicted. Notice, the bump in the carpet between the chairs? My coaching aims to uncover what may be beneath the surface for you.
Coaching helps identify any internal or external constraints shown as the barbed-wire fence as well as that sense of not knowing what to do, feeling unmotivated, and "stuckness," see the faces looking stuck or inquiring in the lower right-hand corner. Similarly the steps with hardened cement express the impediments to your growth and satisfaction that we can work on together.
My coaching style is grounded and calm. My coaching will hold and work with you respectfully and empathetically, as reflected by the hands in white gloves,
The barking dog conveys multiple meanings. Through coaching, we can examine what is yearning for more attention in your life, and also any loud inner critics that might be holding you back.
Fierce coaching, making requests of and offering challenges to you that promote your personal and professional growth, is also a key part of what we can do together. Stripping away false perceptions is embodied by the Budhdhist protector Mahakala, in the center.
Coaching is also about getting the support you need to grow and make changes, represented by the smiling face being whispered to, to the left of the big eye.