
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here.
I’m Sheila. I help people slow down to understand the patterns behind their reactions, communicate better, and step into leadership grounded in empathy and clarity.
ORIGIN
I grew up in a vibrant, multilingual South Asian immigrant household with a close-knit global extended family. This reality sparked a lifelong obsession with language and culture. Quickly, I discovered …
Communication breakdowns are rarely just about the words we choose. Beneath every conversation lies a matrix of unspoken expectations, assumptions, and interpersonal dynamics.
Learning to recognize this matrix has transformed how I relate—to myself and the people I love, as well as colleagues and strangers. The result has been greater empathy and understanding, and with them, more acceptance and curiosity about difference; greater clarity about why things go sideways and what I can do to shift relational and conversational trajectories; and stronger skills in compassionate repair. Ultimately, this realization and growth have enriched my life and shape how I work.
Return to Self. Return to Relationship.
Return to Purpose.
WHO I PARTNER WITH
My clients come from many different circumstances and walks of life, and I aim to create a culturally responsive space grounded in an awareness of how identity, power, and systemic conditions shape our experiences. Let’s explore what’s possible.
For individuals:
Individuals ready to come home to themselves. I support you to slow down, look beneath the surface of behavior and patterns, and gently meet what is asking for tender attention, what wants to be seen, held, and understood.
For leaders and teams:
Executive leaders and teams who recognize that how they are leading, communicating, and navigating relationships is costing time and quality — and they are ready to change and commit to the consistent effort required for sustainable change.
For everyone:
If you are navigating change, noticing relationship patterns, questioning identity and belonging, experiencing burnout, or feeling stuck, and you are seeking greater agency, leadership, and connection — a richer life!
HOW I WORK
The structure and grace my clients experience in sessions and consultations reflects a pairing I deeply believe in: trauma-informed practice and measurable results.
With 500+ client session hours and a decade of coaching, consulting, and real-world facilitation, I use RQ frameworks and the EQ-i 2.0 / EQ 360—a globally recognized psychometric assessment—to make the invisible visible through data. Because transformation deserves both a compassionate witness and a trusted map.
Emotional intelligence, relational intelligence, Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Ganz’s Leadership and Organizing principles and frameworks, and Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry® form a comprehensive framework for enhancing interpersonal dynamics.
Together, these modalities create a robust framework for building relational capacity, leading to richer connections, trust-based dynamics, and effective conversations.
My expertise builds the container I work within, and at the heart of everything I do is a simple belief: leading with love opens up possibility.
RQ
Understanding the dynamics between people and teams to build trust, navigate conflict, and create stronger conditions for collaboration.
EQ
Developing the ability to recognize emotional dynamics, regulate responses, and lead with greater clarity, empathy, and impact.
NVC
Building the skills to communicate difficult truths clearly, hold accountability without blame, and preserve trust when the stakes are high.
PN
Applying Harvard leadership and Marshall Ganz’s organizing principles to help leaders turn personal stories into public narrative, shared purpose, and collective action.
CI
Deep exploration of the patterns and beliefs that influence leadership, relationships, and decision-making.
ROOTS OF MY PRACTICE
Since 2015, I have held space weekly for people who are incarcerated, facilitating trauma-healing, Nonviolent Communication, and direct- practice restorative justice programs.
Through this work — which includes developing incarcerated participants into compassionate leaders inside prison — I remain in sustained relationship with difficult, sometimes violent human realities, including the ongoing impacts of past harm and the ways people have tragically attempted to meet fundamental needs under extreme circumstances.
It asks me to sit at the edges of some of our most painful attempts to meet needs without turning away from, simplifying, or dehumanizing people.
It keeps me honest, humble, and deeply rooted in my belief in every person’s capacity to return to themselves, their relationships, and their community without abandoning accountability, and with compassion.
Come as you are. We’ll start there.
EXPERIENCE & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Certifications & Qualifications
01
Professional Coaching
- PCC — International Coaching Federation (ICF)
- CPCC — Certified Professional Co-Active® Coach (CTI)
- Member, International Coaching Federation (ICF)
02
Communication & EQ
- Certified EQ-i 2.0® / EQ 360® Practitioner
- Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Certification Candidate, first BIPOC cohort
03
Education
- University of California, Berkeley, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
- Brooks Institute of Photography, Master of Science (M.S.)
04
Leadership
- Harvard Kennedy School — Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change, Executive Education Certificate (Marshall Ganz)
- Certified Co-Active® Leader — Co-Active® Training Institute (CTI)
- Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Leadership Program, Graduate
05
Compassionate Inquiry
- Certified Compassionate Inquiry® Practitioner
- Compassionate Inquiry® Mentorship Program
- Compassionate Inquiry® Professional Training, first BIPOC cohort
06
Community Work
- Safer Communities Project, NVC in Prison since 2015
- Insight Prison Project, Victim-Offender Education Group (VOEG)since 2016
- Advisory Board, Transformative Programming Works (TPW)






10+ Years in Practice
By the Numbers
1200+
High-Stakes Facilitation Hours
500+
Client Session Hours
200+
Accredited Training Hours
100+
Trauma-Informed Practice Hours
