BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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The reason I serve on the C4CL Board of Directors:
As a white man in the U.S., I’ve come to understand how much privilege shaped my life in ways I didn’t see for many years. Since 2016, I’ve been on a continuing journey of learning, reflection, and action toward racial justice—guided by communities like Undoing Racism, Coaching for Social Justice, White Men for Racial Justice, and the Association of Coach Training Organizations (with their emphatic stand for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging).
Coaching for Community Leaders (C4CL), with its deep commitment to equity and belonging, feels like a natural home for this work and a clear answer to the question that continues to guide me: What is mine to do?
Director
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The reason I serve on the C4CL Board of Directors:
The time is now, for engaging with women across Maryland who are serving their communities in various ways and from various vantage points. Presidents, CEOs and executive leaders have benefitted from leadership coaching for years. Yet at the heart of change and impact are the leaders in the thick of it all, quietly working long hours and sacrificing their own time and energy to help their neighbors in greater need than their own. Those leaders, often looked over, are the ones that need our help to overcome challenges, build their confidence to make impacts, and advocate for themselves so they can better advocate for others.
C4CL is an organization that will link highly skilled coaches with passionate leaders who promote equity and justice for all. In doing so, we’ll create a powerful ripple effect that transforms change where it is most needed.
Director
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Kristen Lavender is an energetic, compassionate and driven leader. Throughout her distinguished seventeen year career with the National Security Agency, Kristen chartered her own career path. She genuinely believes that the professional development support she received from mentors (as a junior employee) and coaches (after moving into a leadership role) directly correlated with her professional growth. She knows that not all of her colleagues or friends from other non-profit organizations received the benefits of these opportunities. Her personal vision for C4CL is to see coaching and professional development services offered to ALL who are actively trying to further our communities equality and make a difference in our world.
Treasurer
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The reason I serve on the C4CL Board of Directors:
I believe deeply in the transformative power of coaching to strengthen leaders and, through them, the communities they serve. C4CL’s mission resonates with my conviction that investing in leaders—especially those navigating complex challenges—can create lasting change.
By helping leaders reframe their perspectives, C4CL can support them in becoming more strategic, grounded, and hopeful, enabling them to sustain their impact without burning out. This work matters because strong, supported leaders are essential to creating thriving, equitable communities.
President & Secretary
Staff
Executive Director
Grace Manley
Grace Manley is a highly sought-after Executive Coach, Workforce Strategy Consultant, Speaker, and Facilitator, known for her ability to empower leaders to embrace their full potential without leaving any part of themselves behind. After a distinguished career as an Executive Leader at the National Security Agency, where she honed her expertise in strategic leadership and team development, Grace launched With Grace, a thriving coaching and consulting firm dedicated to operationalizing human and organizational potential.
Deeply inspired by the untapped brilliance within people, Grace is uniquely skilled at helping individuals and teams amplify their strengths, surmount their challenges, and align their actions with their highest aspirations. With a direct yet compassionate approach, she creates space for transformative breakthroughs, instilling confidence and empowering leaders to achieve extraordinary results.
Grace’s passion for equity and social justice has led her to focus on organizations and leaders poised to amplify their impact in advancing these values. She founded Coaching for Community Leaders, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to bridging the gap in access from the transformative power of executive coaching to the community leaders who are driving transformative change. By partnering with her inaugural Board of Directors, Grace is expanding the reach of executive coaching to nonprofit leaders, grassroots organizers, and advocates working to promote justice, equity, and empowerment in their communities.
Grace is committed to building the capacity of organizations through their leaders, to create a more just, equitable, and thriving world. Her vision is rooted in the belief that when leaders are supported in their growth, they create ripple effects that inspire change far beyond themselves.