Accredited Compassionate Leadership Teachers

Keesha Jean-Baptiste

Organization: The People + Culture Method
Website: www.thepeopleandculturemethod.com
Email: keesha@thepeopleandculturemethod.com
Phone: +1 973-960-1434
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: New York Metropolitan Area, USA

Keesha Jean-Baptiste is a distinguished Chief People Officer specializing in HR transformation. With a nearly three-decades-long career, she has driven organizational and cultural change at renowned companies such as Hearst Magazines, Wieden + Kennedy, and Richemont International. Keesha holds a certification in compassionate leadership and is a coach for the Shift Positive 360® feedback method, further elevating the deep respect held among Chief People Officers. Her insights have been featured extensively in leading trade publications like ADWEEK and numerous podcasts, underscoring her influence and thought leadership on various HR topics. Her signature coaching method, PAUSE, is a structured methodology promises groundedness by addressing gaps and disconnects while fostering clarity on the professional journey’s direction. This method empowers individuals to achieve purposeful impact, aligning ambitions with business objectives. Often described as "quietly fearless," having "a level of energy that never stops," and being "a true visionary and business partner," Keesha is a change agent inspiring the C-suite and other executive leaders. Her zeal and caliber are evident in her work, as she uses her purpose-driven approach to uncover insights that help organizations align their business strategy through their most prized assets, their people. Keesha was named one of the Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs in 2024, and Top 5 Trailblazing & Dynamic Leaders in 2025.

Janaina Roque Betteley

Organization: reCompass
Website: www.recompass.co.uk
Email: janaina@recompass.co.uk
Social: Linkedin, Instagram
Phone: +44 7523 529 229
Languages: English, Portuguese
Location: London, UK

Janaina Roque Betteley is a seasoned executive, growth strategist, and founder of reCompass, a consultancy helping leaders, founders and board members to thrive through compassion. With over 20 years of global experience across banking, consulting, and startups, she has built and scaled businesses, led transformation programs for Fortune 100 companies, and co-founded a fintech venture. After her own journey through burnout and self-healing, Janaina embraced the science of compassion, blending it with her strategic expertise to inspire meaningful change. She deepened her knowledge by completing an 11-month course on Compassion at Stanford and earning a teaching certification from the Center for Compassionate Leadership. Through her talks, workshops, and programs, she empowers leaders to drive sustainable growth while fostering human connection.

Victoria Brookbank

Organization: Minds that Work
Website: https://mindsthatwork.com/
Email: victoria@mindsthatwork.com
Phone: +44 07474873838
Language: English
Location: London, UK

Victoria Brookbank is the visionary founder of Minds That Work, a consultancy dedicated to creating thriving workplaces through the transformative power of compassionate leadership and employee wellbeing. With over seven years of experience, Victoria specializes in helping organizations and leaders cultivate environments where people feel valued, supported, and empowered to excel. Grounded in neuroscience and psychology, her work blends cutting-edge research with practical strategies to foster meaningful and sustainable change. Whether she’s delivering impactful training, designing workplace solutions, or speaking at conferences, Victoria’s mission is to inspire leaders and teams to succeed with heart and purpose. A passionate advocate for compassionate leadership, Victoria is renowned for her expertise in building workplaces that prioritize empathy, resilience, and connection. Her innovative programs address the unique challenges of modern work, from managing stress and thriving under pressure to supporting employees through transitions such as menopause. By equipping individuals and organizations with tools to lead with compassion and courage, Victoria helps them navigate complexity, embrace challenges, and create cultures where everyone can flourish personally and professionally.

Leisl Bryant, PhD, ABPP

Organization: Leisl M. Bryant, PhD, ABPP
Email: leisl.bryant@comcast.net
Language: English
Location: United States

Dr. Leisl Bryant is a seasoned, board-certified psychologist with extensive teaching, training, and leadership experience in which she promotes personal and organizational change as a means to improving the world. With over two decades integrating clinical, forensic, and consulting psychology, ethics and risk-management, non-profit leadership, as well as various meditation, sustainability, and earth-based practices, Leisl's life-work manifests a compelling blend of professional intelligence and wild heart. In the roles of psychologist, consultant, teacher, and mentor/coach, Leisl brings a rigorous and sensitive understanding of personal and organizational dynamics to her efforts to facilitate awareness, growth, and transformative change.

Irene Chan

Organizations: Cynthia Goh Palliative Care Institute, National Cancer Centre, Singapore; Office of Patient Experience, KK Women and Children Hospital
Email: irenechan.cc@gmail.com
Phone: +65-81265955
Social: LinkedIn
Languages: English and Chinese
Location: Singapore

Irene Chan is a healthcare administrator with over 25 years of experience spanning most settings of healthcare in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, she is the Director of the Cynthia Goh Palliative Care Institute, National Cancer Centre, Singapore and Director, (Special Project) Office of Patient Experience, KK Women and Children Hospital. Irene’s career highlights include being senior management leader to hospital, hospice and healthcare business. Irene holds a Master of Science in Management Studies from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from the University of Reading.

For years, Irene sought to answer the question of how to bring healing back to healthcare. Her quest brought her to be a certified teacher of compassionate leadership with the Centre for Compassionate Leadership. Irene advocates for compassionate leadership to be practiced and operationalized at the systems level so that individuals may flourish and organizations thrive in today’s world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

Helene Creager

Organization: Independent Consultant
Website: https://helenecreager.com/
Email: helene@helenecreager.com
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA

Helene Creager is a retired U.S. Probation Manager from the Central District of California, and a licensed clinical social worker, with over 30 years of experience in the criminal justice field. Throughout her distinguished career, Helene has been committed to integrating effective and evidence-based interventions with a strong sense of accountability, always striving to make a positive impact on individuals, staff, organizations, and the community. Recognizing the critical need for staff well-being, Helene co-founded a national wellness committee and established a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team, providing essential support for staff during times of crisis and high stress.

Helen Curtis

Organization: Vintis
Email: helen.curtis@vintis.net
Phone: +44 7725 758989
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Helen Curtis is a qualified trainer with the Center for Compassionate Leadership and a TAP-certified facilitator, dedicated to fostering compassionate leadership in organizations. Helen’s "why" lies in her belief that compassionate leadership isn’t about ticking boxes but about genuinely living and practicing these principles daily. By embedding compassion into leadership, Helen aims to reduce physical and mental health challenges in the workforce and create environments where individuals and teams thrive. Collaborating with the University of Huddersfield in the UK, Helen is delivering Leading with Compassion to small businesses across the region, helping leaders integrate these principles into their organizations. With over 17 years of corporate experience and 11 years running her own business, Helen brings a wealth of practical knowledge to her work. She is the founder of Coterie Marketing, a globally recognized partner marketing agency, and the Coterie Community, a not-for-profit advancing partner marketing practices. Helen also delivers marketing modules for the  UK 'Help to Grow' program, combining her business expertise and compassionate leadership insights to inspire leaders and drive meaningful change in workplaces.

Lisa Meredith Everitt

Organization: The Alberta Teachers' Association
Website: www.teachers.ab.ca
Email: lisa.everitt@ata.ab.ca
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: Edmonton, Canada

Dr. Lisa Everitt began her teaching journey in 1993 as a mathematics and physics teacher in the Northwest Territories of Canada. During these formative years, she not only honed her skills as an educator but also embraced her roles as a coach and community member, learning valuable lessons from the people around her. These early experiences shaped her commitment to compassion and connection, laying the groundwork for her subsequent teaching roles in Alberta, where she deepened her understanding of the importance of supporting students and families with empathy. Since 2006, Dr. Everitt has served as an Executive Staff Officer with the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). Over the years, she has taken on diverse roles, gaining expertise in labor relations, employee benefit plans, educational research, and advancing women in leadership. Her work is driven by a passion for fostering a sense of belonging and enabling teachers and school leaders to thrive. Drawing on her early classroom experiences, Lisa’s approach to supporting teachers is deeply rooted in compassion, resilience, and a commitment to professional growth, forming the cornerstone of her impactful work at the ATA.

Sandrine Gouallier

Organization: The Mindful Workshop
Website: www.themindfulworkshop.com
Email: sgouallier@gmail.com
Phone: +33 6 20 38 15 47
Social: LinkedIn
Languages: English, French
Location: Paris, France

Sandrine Gouallier spent 20 years of her career in international corporate businesses leading change management initiatives, process redesign & business transformation as well global accounts service management. She worked with teams in the US, Europe, Eastern Europe, India and Asia. In 2015, she founded the Mindful Workshop is now a seasoned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, coach and consultant specialized in sustainable performance, resilience, change management, emotional intelligence and leadership development. In 2019, she completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Mindfulness Approaches, Neuroscience, and Teaching at Bangor University (UK). She is passionate about sharing her experience and knowledge to contribute to a better world and workplace, helping organizations and individuals flourish and thrive. She is designing and delivering training and keynotes to companies all over the world and from a diverse range of sectors including consumer goods, pharmaceutical, luxury goods, technology and finances. Sandrine is fluent in French, English and German. Outside work, she loves spending time horse-riding and swimming.

Wendy Grant

Organization: Leadership Magic LLC
Email: wendy@theleadershipmagic.com
Language: English
Location: Connecticut, USA

Wendy Grant is a seasoned business and leadership development professional who specializes in crafting and implementing culture and behavior change initiatives at scale. She worked at consumer goods giant Unilever for 19 years, first in the field of technology, change and transformation and most recently as the Global Leadership Development director. In this role she partnered with the Unilever exec and gained extensive experience developing Senior Leaders and General Managers. After moving to the United States 2 years ago, she is now the founder of Leadership Magic, a Leadership Consultancy, working to bring the leadership learnings from her corporate background to many different clients. Wendy possesses a robust understanding of organizational dynamics and human behavior. She specializes in designing systematic learning programs that drive tangible improvements in leadership capabilities and team performance. She is a passionate leader of 'Purpose', Compassionate Leadership and is also a CTI coach.

Vandana Iqbal

Organization: Health Service Executive, Ireland
Website: hse.ie
Email: gillvandanai@gmail.com
Social: LinkedIn
Languages: English, Hindi, Punjabi
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Vandana Iqbal is a nurse leader with over 25 years of nursing experience spanning healthcare settings in Ireland and India. She was awarded the Florence Nightingale Global Scholarship from the prestigious Florence Nightingale Academy for nursing leadership in 2024. Currently, she is Director of Nursing in a nurse-led facility under the Health Service Executive of Ireland. She holds a M.Sc. in leadership in healthcare, an M.A. in public administration, a PG. Dip. In quality in healthcare, and a B.Sc. in nursing. Vandana is a Level 1 certified dementia trainer, and her primary skills are grounded in emotional intelligence-based facilitation skills. Vandana believes that the answers are already present and that facilitating meaningful conversations that result in meaningful, long-term transformations is both an art and a skill. Since COVID-19, Vandana has been seeking answers to the question of how to support nurse leaders to make compassion the forefront of their leadership in healthcare. And this journey led her to become a certified teacher of compassionate leadership with the Centre for Compassionate Leadership. Vandana advocates for compassionate leadership at all levels of leadership and envisions compassion-empowered healthcare.

Gabriela Jones

Organization: Psykologbyrån Jones
Website: https://www.psykologbyranjones.se/
Email: gabriela@psykologbyranjones.se
Languages: Swedish, English
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

Gabriela Jones is a licensed psychologist specializing in work and organizational psychology, with a thriving practice in the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her professional expertise spans two distinct yet interconnected areas: clinical work and leadership/organizational development. In her clinical role, Gabriela is extensively trained in Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) by some of the foremost researchers in the field, including the method's founder, Paul Gilbert, as well as Deborah Lee (UK) and Russell Kolts (USA). Over the past decade, she has trained psychologists and professionals in caring roles across Sweden in this therapeutic approach. Additionally, Gabriela is a trauma-specialized psychologist, certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), further broadening her clinical toolkit. Gabriela is also a certified mindfulness instructor, trained to deliver mindfulness programs for individuals and corporate settings through the Potential Project and Mindfulness Center in Sweden. As a trained coach, she has long been dedicated to integrating compassion into workplace cultures—supporting both leaders and employees and designing impactful training programs. Together with her colleague Alexandra Thomas, she co-authored Sweden's first book on Compassion-Focused Leadership, tailored to the Swedish workforce. Deeply committed to addressing the climate crisis, Gabriela is currently co-authoring a book on Climate Leadership, scheduled for publication in 2025. This project reflects her passion for combining psychology, leadership, and sustainability to inspire meaningful change. Gabriela’s interest in meditation began at a young age and led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Religion from Uppsala University. She remains an active member of a meditating community in Gothenburg and finds joy in books, art, and gardening. Originally born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gabriela grew up in Sweden, where she has built her career at the intersection of psychology, compassion, and leadership.

Astrid Kendrick, EdD

Organization: University of Calgary
Website: www.heartcareeducators.ca
Phone: 1-403-968-4619
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: Calgary, Canada

Astrid Kendrick, EdD Before taking on her current role of Director, Field Experience (Community-Based Pathway), at the Werklund School of Education, Dr. Astrid Kendrick was a K-12 classroom teacher for nineteen years specializing in Physical Education and English/Language Arts. Dr. Kendrick has two main research areas: firstly, on compassion fatigue, burnout, and emotional labor in Alberta educational workers, and secondly, on building the instructional capacity of preservice teachers in online and virtual learning environments. She is committed to improving the health and wellness of children through establishing partnerships with local school districts and Alberta Health Services. For the past several years, she has served as the co-chair of the Health Promoting Schools Collaborative for the southern Alberta region and currently serves on the Board of Directors for PHE Canada. Dr. Kendrick is the co-producer of the Ed Students in Conversation podcast series on voicEd Radio Canada and developer of the HEARTcare Educators website. She was the recipient of the 2020 Online Teaching Award from the Werklund School of Education as well as an Emerging Scholar Award from The Learner research network in 2019

Caroline Mason

Organization: Seeds To Thrive Ltd
Website: www.seedstothrive.com
Email: caroline@seedstothrive.com
Phone: +44 07968501954
Social: LinkedIn, Instagram
Language: English
Location: Shrewsbury, UK

Caroline Mason is a Sustainability expert with over 20 years of experience working and traveling across global and domestic food systems. During her time at leading UK food retailer brands including Co-op and Waitrose, she has fostered collaborative relationships across the entire food value chain. As a change agent, she specializes in providing practical expertise to help organizations make impactful, positive cultural and behavioral changes towards their sustainability targets. Outside of her professional work, Caroline is a keen sportswoman and horsewoman with a deep-rooted passion for the outdoors. She recently completed the GROW for Good Challenge, working on farms and taking part in an epic 75km cycling adventure in Kenya raising valuable fund for Farm Africa to support and empower African female farmers . Caroline also serves as the Co-Founder and Chair of an industry Agriculture Wellbeing incubator hub, is a Trustee for LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), is a trained ICF Embodied Systemic Executive Coach, a trained Compassionate Leader Teacher Trainer, a mentor for Catalyse Change and coach for Future Food Movement.

Anita Sharma McLevich

Organizations: Registered Clinical Counsellor and Government of BC
Website: Children, Youth Therapy South Surrey | Anita Sharma Clinical Counselling
Email: anita.rehabspecialist@gmail.com
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: Traditional lands of Semiahmoo First Nations (South Surrey, BC) Canada

Anita Sharma McLevich is a Director at Ministry of Health responsible for provincial programming and policy and is a well-loved family therapist, often with her therapy dog Toby, in her community of the traditional lands of the sɛmiˈɑːmoʊ First Nations. Her previous work has included provincial programming with youth with developmental disabilities, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and autism spectrum disorder as well as leading diversity and inclusion for the WorkBC portfolio. Anita uses her skills a Compassionate Leadership facilitator to help bring compassionate to organizational culture and offers many mindfulness and cognitive tools in her clinical therapeutic background. Anita is South Asian and was born in Denmark, with a master’s degree in counselling psychology and a bachelor’s degree in management & organization studies. She aims to bring equity and compassion to her work with the government of BC.

Patrick Regan, OBE

Organization: Brighter Days
Website: www.patrickregan.co.uk
Email: patrick@patrickregan.co.uk
Phone: +044 07768074828
Socials: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook
Language: English
Location: London, UK

Patrick Regan, OBE is an activist who is passionate about speaking on themes such as resilience, courage and wellbeing. He has founded two award-winning charities; XLP, a Schools and Community Charity which he ran for 22 years and pioneered Kintsugi Hope which has Wellbeing Groups all over the UK to help people in the area of their mental health. He is a mental health first aider, a campaigner on issues of social justice and was awarded an OBE for his services to young people by the late Queen Elizabeth II. He is an Honorary Fellow of the South Bank University for his contribution to Justice and Wellbeing and recently was awarded CEO of the year 2023 for mental health training.

Justin Shelley

Organization: Justin Shelley Coaching
Website: https://www.justinshelley.co.uk/
Phone: +44 07973755325
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: East Sussex, UK

Justin Shelley is a facilitator and leadership coach dedicated to fostering compassionate and human focused leadership. As the founder of Justin Shelley Coaching, he empowers leaders to cultivate awareness, resilience, and compassion in their leadership approach. Justin draws on his years of contemplative practice and his 20 years of professional experience working within Financial Services. His first-hand experience burnout brings a genuine authenticity to his workshops on topics such as mindfulness, emotional intelligence and resilience. Justin has over 20 years’ experience of training and developing people, which he has woven throughout his career.

Haleh Hashemi Toroghi

Organization: Brunel University London
Website: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/
Email: Haleh.HashemiToroghi@gmail.com
Social: LinkedIn
Language: English
Location: London, UK

Haleh Hashemi Toroghi is a Doctoral Researcher at Brunel University London, passionate about developing a compassionate leadership model that empowers leaders to create human-centered workplaces. Her research focuses on how leaders can lead with compassion at the individual level and lead for compassion at the organizational level, driving wellbeing, inclusivity, and long-term success. She has contributed to the field through publications such as:

• Frontiers | Cultivating staff equality, diversity, and inclusion in higher education in the post-pandemic era: an organizational compassion perspective

• A More Compassionate Mode of University Leadership | Emerald Insight

She was honored to receive the Best Paper Award at the Global Conference on Innovations in Management and Business for her presentation, 'Compassionate Leadership Matters within Higher Education.'

Haleh is deeply committed to the idea that small actions can lead to big change, and is passionate about providing leaders with the tools they need to create supportive and compassionate environments within their organizations. She believes that compassionate leadership is a powerful catalyst for positive change at all levels of an organization.

Kingsley Weber

Organization: CEO Solutions Sdn Bhd
Website: www.ceosolutions.com.my
Phone: +44 (0)7782162114
Language: English
Location: Thirsk, UK

Kingsley Weber is a business and organizational development practitioner operating in senior positions with global multinationals for over 20 years, with roles as Global HR Director, Organizational and Leadership Development Head, International Business Manager and Key Account Management. He specializes in Inclusive Leadership and connecting Business and People Strategies, especially in organizations where leveraging diverse thinking, gaining alignment amongst the leaders and developing talent are keys to success. Pre-Covid he spent much of his time operating globally in the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe working with his leadership peers, building and delivering business and functional strategies. His experiences in complex corporate change programs motivated him to research, understand and make the connection between leadership behaviors, inclusion and exceptional performance. Kingsley’s desire for helping people to reach their full potential has led him to focus his energies on mentoring and coaching in cross cultural setting which matches his own corporate and international consulting experience. His coaching and facilitating style in a safe, compassionate and confidential environment combines deep understanding, active listening and the earning the right to provoke and really challenge clients in a non-judgmental and culturally respectful manner.