ABOUT LISA
My career has been dedicated to purpose -driven organizations. I have a strong belief that social impact and financial returns are not at odds with one another but can be co-created with mutual benefit, which has inspired the last 30 years of my work.
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I am the founder and principal at Danzig, Coaching & Consultancy, an executive coaching and organizational consulting practice that helps individuals and organizations unlock possibilities, craft intentions and tackle goals.​
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My work as a coach has been informed by my experience in community organizing, building non-profit organizations, city and federal government, consulting, and leadership positions at the White House and Walmart.
The beginning
I started my career as a community organizer and criminal investigator in the San Francisco County jail.
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Feeling frustrated by the small scale of my impact, my brother and I took a break and rode our bicycles across the United States. We had no cell phones and no electronic maps, just walkie-talkies!
Returning to San Francisco, I wanted to have greater impact and joined a start-up non-profit organization, the National Campaign Against Youth Violence, to work across the US. As a start-up, I became very interested in what made organizations and leaders successful.
I decided to focus on this by going to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Continuing my interest in organizational strategy, after I graduated I joined a strategy consulting firm (now Booz & Co) in New York City focused on how to make organizations successful through culture and talent strategies.
affordable housing
After several years, I missed mission driven work which led me to city government. I led strategic planning at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, a mayoral agency focused on the creation and preservation of affordable housing.
Interested in broader impact, when President Obama was elected, I joined the Department of Housing & Urban Development and led strategic planning to scale many of our NYC successes.
increasing scale of impact
A lot of our HUD successes became models for other federal agencies. I was recruited to join the White House as the Chief Performance Officer, responsible for improving government performance and talent strategies for the 2 million civilian workforce.
When the Administration changed, I wanted to continue improving organizations and consulted to federal agencies and private companies as a leader at Deloitte.
Several years later I wanted more continuity in the impact of my work and to continue to work at a larger scale. Walmart had a similar sized workforce to the federal government and was starting innovative talent approaches. I joined Walmart as the Chief of Staff to the SVP of Global Talent to build these talent strategies to deliver recruiting, recruitment marketing, workforce strategies, and talent expertise services globally.​
Coaching & Consulting
I’ve discovered that what I find the most rewarding is partnering to help people achieve their vision. I am at my best when I help leaders or teams move from feeling stuck, unsure or overwhelmed to being energized, intentional and successful.
AT HOME
I have two young kids (11 and 9 years old), a Golden Retriever puppy, a Siamese cat and a professor husband.
We usually live in Washington DC on the same block I grew up on, 4 houses down from my parents! For the academic year 2024/2025 we are living in Hanover, NH on a dirt road.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
I am a certified Co-Active Professional Coach (CPCC), with training through the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) and certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC).
I earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Carleton College in international studies.
HIGHLIGHTS
30 years of experience in non-profit, government, public companies, professional services
Breadth of Experience​
Experience working on the frontlines – as a criminal investigator in the SF county jail - to the highest levels of the White House and Fortune 1 company.
Builder & Entrepreneur​
Successfully built three new start-ups at the city and national level.
Leader & Innovator
An industry leader and architect of data-driven performance reviews and organizational strategy praised in the New York Times as a model for the federal government.
Proven
Coach
Proven track-record coaching leaders across a variety of levels, industries, and companies – from individual contributors to C-suite executives; from the Fortune 1 to global non-profit organizations.
Facilitator &
Transformer
Passionate about designing and facilitating in-person retreats and workshops to provide leaders with transformative experiences that serve as catalysts for personal and professional growth.