Deb Ingersoll
A trusted guide in times of transition
When people bring me in
Usually, something isn’t working, and no one can quite say what. Someone is struggling, a team has gone quiet, a leader has lost the room. Sometimes a big change is on its way: a restructure, a merger, a partnership, an ending. Sometimes it’s personal: a feeling that something needs to shift, or something new nudging to begin. These are the moments I walk alongside.
What I do
I listen deeply for what sits beneath the change: the needs and root causes, so we find the real problem that needs solving. That makes room for the hopes and dreams no one has said out loud yet to become real possibilities, and then a plan. We do the work together, with the people who will live with whatever changes, so people, systems, and the planet can thrive. Dreaming matters, and so does building the path.
Who I work with
I love working with people who bring humility and curiosity, who are ready to look honestly at themselves and the systems around them, and who hold justice and the planet close. People who want to leave the world better than they found it, and to become the ancestors they had, or wish they had.
What you leave with
New skills, clearer insight, and more confidence. Your values and actions in line. And a lighter load, having set down what was never yours to carry, so you can live and work with more care, kindness, and compassion.
Why me
I have lived the in between many times. I left countries, ended careers, survived restructures, watched my kids build lives of their own, and moved from corporate work to humanitarian work, then to social impact and civil society. I have lived across cultures and economic realities, often as an outsider. I know what it means to live by my values, and what it costs when I haven’t.
I come to this work as an elder, aware of my privilege and power, and grateful to those who walked before me. I convene, make sense of things, listen, and build community, with courage and care.
Thirty years across NGOs, nonprofits, social impact organizations, and companies. Master’s degree, ICF PCC coach, faculty at Awaken Coach Institute.
Ways to work with me
Facilitation
Getting the thing said in the room, rather than in the corridor afterward. I design and hold sessions where groups can think together, including about what they have been avoiding, and leave with something they actually agreed to. Retreats, strategy sessions, workshops, and large gatherings, in person or online, across cultures and languages. I make room for every voice, especially the quieter ones, so the outcome belongs to everyone in the room.
Strategy, change, and culture
For leaders, boards, and teams in mission-driven organizations at a turning point: a funding shock, a merger or partnership, a restructure, or a responsible ending. I help you decide what comes next and build the plan and the culture to carry it. We explore more than one possible future, keep justice and the planet in view, and shape the way forward with the people who will live with it.
Coaching
For people in transition, or sensing one coming, ready to step beyond the roles and expectations they’ve been living inside. This is the work of becoming. We look at what you carry, including beliefs repeated so often they feel like truth. You choose what to keep, what to pass on, and what to set down because it was never yours to hold. Everyone around you has a stake in what you decide. I don’t.
How I Show Up
People and planet over profit. Exploration over perfection. Connection over convention.
The right conversations unlock what no one person can see. I create spaces where clarity, trust, and bold thinking can grow.
We all have superpowers ✨. Imagine what we can create when we bring them together.
My Training
I’m a lifelong learner - the more I know, the more curious I become. Here’s a snapshot of what has shaped my practice so far.
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M.A., Digital Management (Distinction), Hyper Island and Teesside University, 2023
Thesis: Cultures (th)at Work: A Systems Approach to Creating and Sustaining Organizational Cultures
Strategic Marketing, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
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International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Coach, 2025
LEGO® Serious Play® Certification – 2024
Systems Mapping – The UnSchool of Disruptive Design, 2024
Group Coaching Certification – Awaken Coach Institute, 2023
International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accredited Coach, 2022
Dare to Lead™ Facilitator Training, Brené Brown via Awaken Coach Institute, 2021
Design Thinking Facilitation Mastery – Design Thinkers Academy, 2019
…and more!
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As Kelly Diels says, “Footnotes are a feminist practice.” I honor all the teachers, mentors, and organizations that have shaped me and informed my tenets and specific practices in business. Specifically,
Andrea Leda: bravercoach.com
Humentum: Humentum.org
Rachel Rodgers: helloseven.co/townhall-2
Kelly Diels: www.kellydiels.com
Christi Byerly: AwakenCoachInstitute.com
Liz Wiseman: TheWisemanGroup.com
Kirsty Lewis: SchoolofFacilitation.com
Bob Ramstorf: aka my dad
I also acknowledge the ancestral and unceded lands where I live and work and honor the Indigenous communities who stewarded these spaces long before me.