Bio

Deborah Howard is a writer, coach and consultant who:

works with individuals, teams and organizations to brings insight and clarity to empower and enable positive change and healing.

She is dedicated to helping individuals, teams, and organizations:

maximize their potential
enhance their effectiveness, and
create and maintain work environments that are inclusive and just

She has over ten years experience guiding leaders, teams, and organizations through issues of leadership, team building, conflict resolution, diversity, strategic planning and overall organization development.

Her professional experience includes positions in:

Government agencies
Court systems
Law firms
Educational institutions
Non-profit organizations

Her professional life began in the field of law with:

A Bachelor of Arts Degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law
The goal of using the law to help create positive social change
Experience as a public service litigator in both Anchorage, Alaska and New York City

Disillusioned with the adversarial process, she:

Wanted to find ways to help people build and maintain connections rather than take sides in win-lose scenarios

It was that desire that led her to return to school to receive her Masters Degree in Organization Development from American University/NTL.

Deborah’s experience also includes:

Living, studying, and working in Japan.
One year at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan where she studied Japanese language and culture (and earned her black belt in Judo)
Returning to Japan after practicing law to study law for a year and a half at Doshisha University in Kyoto through a fellowship awarded by the Japanese Ministry of Education
Working for a Japanese law firm in Osaka.

Deborah’s background and training in the area of diversity includes:

A Certificate in Culturally Competent Human Services from the Temple University Multicultural Research and Training Institute
Coursework in human interaction and diversity at the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science of which she is a member

She became Project Director of the Law School Consortium Project while working as a diversity and organization development consultant. That project:

Funded by the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute
Was designed to study and promote models for supporting law graduates in meeting the legal needs of low and moderate-income individuals and communities

As a former Director of this one-person-staffed national non-profit organization, she brings insight into and understanding of the challenges non-profits face in promoting important organizational missions with limited financial and human resources.

Deborah provides:

Consulting
Facilitation
Executive leadership coaching
Training
Development and strategic services

To a wide variety of clients including:

Non-profit organizations
Government agencies
Hospitals
Unions
Educational institutions
Legal services organizations
Foundations

Deborah is author of Repairing the Quilt of Humanity: A Metaphor for Healing and Reparation and publisher of guidingchange.org/blog.

To purchase a copy, click here.