Our Purpose
To create profound, equitable, and enduring change in the world.
Our Approach
I believe that executive coaching is a deep partnership with my clients in which you are in the driver’s seat, as you know your context and needs best. As such, we begin our partnership by establishing a foundation of deep trust and empathy while exploring your leadership context. From there we will:
Gather
data, insights, and perspectives from those most proximate to your leadership
Engage
in rigorous self-reflection to help you deepen your understanding of the current strengths and liabilities of your leadership
Set
concrete coaching goals targeting the specific behavior change you most desire
Provoke
learning through cycles of experimentation, practice, and analysis of new executive skills, behaviors and mindsets
Assess
progress and adjust course until the desired behavior change is achieved
Our Values
Equity
People have been marginalized based on various aspects of their identities since the beginning of time. This means that we don’t all have the same starting point or likelihood of success and that is just not right. So… we strive to coach in ways that are culturally affirming and responsive to the intersectionality of your identities, fuel equity, and support leaders from all walks of life to achieve their full potential.
Joy
Life is short. Leadership is hard. So… we will full-belly laugh every chance we get. We will celebrate. We won’t take ourselves too seriously.
Constant Learning
None of us has figured it all out. In many ways, that is the beauty of life. So… we will experiment together. We will learn from each other. Some stuff we try will work amazingly. Some, not so much. We will let our curiosity guide us and stay focused on the goal.
Asset-Based
We are each extraordinary, powerful, capable beings with the potential for greatness. We can choose to focus on our deficits or we can choose to focus on our assets. We choose to be asset-based. So… we support you to know, value, and leverage your superpowers, values, and experiences. We offer feedback and insights from a place of respect and fundamental positive regard. We recognize and seek to understand the complexity of your role, team, organization, and life. We support you to cultivate compassion for yourself as a learner, leader, and human being.
Courage
Leaders have positional authority and that leads to people treading carefully when around them. This means that leaders often don’t get the benefit of hearing what people really think or feel. So… we will ask the hard questions and share observations that others may be uncomfortable raising.
My Story
I was born in Trinidad and moved to the United States when I was almost five. Growing up Black in the United States, with a single mom, and never having enough money meant that we had to rely on free school lunches and other government assistance to survive.
After teaching, I joined Teach For America’s staff and quickly rose through the ranks, serving in various executive positions before leaving to become the President of OneGoal in 2016. Looking back, I know that the life I lead is a miracle and a blessing. There was almost no margin for error and constant landmines along the way.
Not many of us attended a predominantly white Ivy League institution; were selected into a prestigious and highly selective organization like TFA after college; and became an Executive Director of a non-profit by age 27, Senior Vice President, managing a portfolio of regions, by 31, Chief Regional Operations Officer, managing all of TFA’s 50-plus regions, by the age of 33, and President of an organization by 36.
I know that this journey was made possible by the models of leadership, perseverance, and resilience I saw in my parents. I know it was made possible by a group of high school teachers, college advisors, managers, and executive coaches I have had along the way who helped me to see and appreciate my unique gifts, confront my greatest leadership liabilities, and who supported me to try my damndest to be the best version of myself.
Like many, the past couple of years of social, economic, and political unrest, punctuated by lots of quiet time during the global pandemic, pushed me to reconsider how I could do the most good with my unique talents and all that I have learned over the past 20-plus years of leadership.
All the times I have felt most alive, inspired, “in the zone,” and living a life of impact have been when I have been coaching and developing others.
It was true when I was a manager and leader of individuals, teams, and entire organizations.
It is just my truth. So, I decided to take a leap of faith and launch an executive coaching and consulting practice to see if I could be as helpful to clients as I believed I could. I started working with my first set of clients in the Fall of 2020, and with the support of my wife Trisha and our two dogs — Teddy and Valentina — I have never looked back.
“Working with Kwame holds me accountable to being the kind of leader I want to be. Setting goals, practicing new skills, debriefing successes and failures — these things make personal development bite-sized and accessible instead of feeling like a full-time job. Our touchpoints keep me on-track and allow me space to stop and reflect and to celebrate successes. Senior leadership can be lonely, so having someone who focuses on my development allows me to focus on my team’s development more fully because I know I have a dedicated space where I’m coming back to how I am doing in my own growth.”
— Amber Daniels, Chief Operating Officer, OneGoal
“Kwame’s coaching has transformed my leadership. He has helped me unearth the type of leader I want to be and has guided me to identifying and systematically address the barriers that stand in the way to that vision. His approach is thoughtful, joyous, and actionable. I walk out of each session with clear next steps that elevate my leadership bit by bit every week.”
— Monica Milligan, Chief Program Officer, Gradient Learning
