Accelerate your journey to the work that makes you come alive!
I’m Eleanor Smith (she/her), Somatic Leadership Coach.
I support mission-driven leaders with Somatic Leadership Coaching to help you clarify priorities, remove barriers and build confidence and resilience to realize your career dreams.
I understand the unique culture, career ladders, business models and challenges faced by professionals in nonprofits and philanthropic organizations. For more than three decades, I served as a:
Foundation Grantmaker
Front-line Nonprofit Staff
Development Director
Nonprofit Board Member
Fundraising Consultant
Strategy & Evaluation Consultant
Workshop Trainer
Philanthropic Advisor
Founder & Instructor of Nonprofit Management Certificate Courses at State Universities
Work with me!
On two occasions, I experienced work-related burnout from relentless external pressures complicated by my intense drive to succeed. Both times,I paid a steep price physically and emotionally. After lengthy recoveries, I had to transform my mindset, work choices and lifestyle.
Today, I am called to help hard-driving professionals consider your options and gently explore your impulse to achieve. Through transformative body-based coaching, you’ll gain clarity on what matters most. I’ll affirm your strengths and support you to build a career of deep presence, purpose and a joy.
I’m on a mission to guide you to the work you love without sacrificing your health.
I am a Certified Mindfulness Mentor and have completed training from the International Coaching Federation-accredited academies of Coaches Rising and Coach Training Alliance.
Core Values
I am curious, empathetic and eager to engage authentically with others and to listen and learn from them. I sometimes share relevant stories from my long career. Clients have said they appreciate my openness, compassion and sense of humor.
In life and in coaching, I am guided by the following values
Care and Compassion
Honesty and Transparency
Commitment to Social Justice and Climate Advocacy
Respect
Kindness
Patience
Humility
The belief that clients ultimately know what’s best for them
A consummate learner, I read about and write regularly on trends in leadership and self-leadership, management and other social sector topics. See latest posts here.
“I was planning to retire from full-time work and realized I needed a sounding board. Eleanor’s coaching was time well spent. She helped me clarify what was important from a global perspective before jumping into action.
Not only can she provide you with accountability for taking steps to reach your goals, she can help you see new options you might otherwise miss.”
Stephanie Casenza, MS, CFRE, Interim Development Director
“New to coaching, I felt shy and uncertain before my first session. I found Eleanor very easy to talk to. She has excellent active listening skills and doesn’t judge.
She’s motivational, encouraging and personalized all our sessions to my current needs. Her coaching was a great way to safely discuss work issues with someone trustworthy outside of work.”
Judith Ortiz, Executive Director, Monument Impact
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and two sweet cats. I enjoy daily walks, hiking, birdwatching, kayaking, reading, yoga, traveling and sharing and laughing with friends.
