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.
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.
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.
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 10 years old), a Golden Retriever puppy, a Siamese cat and a professor husband.
We live in Washington DC on the same block I grew up on, 4 houses down from my parents!
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 also have some training in Internal Family Systems (IFS).
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.