Susana Rinderle, MA, PCC
Hi there! I’m the Founder, Owner, and Principal Consultant of Words, Wisdom & Wellness. I help heal what ails us through creativity, heart and insight. I’m a professional coach, people developer, system designer, and writer.
A native of Los Angeles and a Spanish speaker, I hold a B.A. in sociology (emphasis in race, ethnicity, and social stratification) from UCLA and completed studies at UNAM in Mexico City. I earned an M.A. in intercultural communication from the University of New Mexico, and conducted my thesis research in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Coaching & Somatic Stress Management
I am a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) with 13 years of experience, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credentialed by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and an ICF Mentor Coach. I have extensive training in Parts Work, based on Internal Family Systems (IFS), and identify as both a therapeutic coach and intuitive.
In my coaching practice, I’ve coached entrepreneurs, individual contributors, middle managers, and executives in multiple geographies and industries, including high tech, nonprofit management, healthcare, financial services, higher education, and manufacturing. My clients say our work has improved their clarity, confidence, direction, and influence, and helped them “lead the way [they] always imagined.”
Since early 2020, I’ve been a Certified Facilitator of The Resilience Toolkit, a trauma-informed, body-focused, social justice-oriented stress management modality. My own life was transformed by these tools, and I’ve taught them to hundreds of people in multiple walks of life in eight countries. I’ve also trained dozens of coaches how to be more trauma-informed through my workshops and invited presentations.
DEI & Leadership Development
My first career was in diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and leadership development, where I spent nearly 30 years garnering results for employers and clients as an internal subject matter expert, organizational leader, and external consultant. I worked across the U.S. and abroad in multiple sectors including nonprofit, corporate, healthcare, education and government. In the late 90’s I managed an international business graduate program for the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and served as a consultant to Hewlett-Packard de México in international business development and intercultural effectiveness.
I was the co-founder and first Manager of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for University of New Mexico Hospitals (UNMH), where I oversaw or started all health equity and health literacy initiatives, LGBT advocacy, interpreter services, and cultural competence training. I participated in the Disparities Leadership Program through Massachusetts General Hospital and co-authored an award-winning diversity strategic plan. Shortly after I left, UNMH was recognized as one of the Top 10 Hospital Systems by DiversityInc, and as a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.
For twenty years, I was the President of Susana Rinderle Consulting, LLC, delivering training, coaching and consulting solutions to corporate, nonprofit and education clients in cross-cultural communication, diversity & inclusion, unconscious bias and leadership development. I’m proud to have been featured at TEDxABQ 2012 speaking on “Diversity is Necessary for Human Evolution”.
I’m also a former Principal Consultant for Korn Ferry in the leadership development practice under Advisory. I delivered coaching, training, facilitation and organizational diagnostic solutions to Fortune 500 companies. I was instrumental in developing their unconscious bias training content, led the Inclusive Talent Management Audit workstream for two major accounts, and assisted with developing the Inclusive Leader Assessment. Internally, I co-led the Latino Think Tank and produced thought leadership articles, mentored junior consultants, and started online communities for coaching and wellness.
Writing & Publications
I was a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, TLNT.com, ERE.net, Workforce Magazine and formerly Diversity Executive, and have written for Training Magazine, American Diversity Report, Diversity Best Practices, Life Coach Magazine, and choice: the magazine of professional coaching. I’ve published pieces on racial identity, Mexico and U.S. Latinos in commercial magazines such as Black Diaspora, Latin Style, Interrace, Native Americas, and Sacramento News & Review. My academic research, mostly on Hispanic/Latino identity labels, has appeared in the Journal of Communication Inquiry, International and Intercultural Communication Annual, The Howard Journal of Communications, The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Communication and Latinos and Latinas in US History and Culture: An Encyclopedia. My poetry has appeared in the Malpais Review; Snapdragon Journal; Deep Times: A Journal of the Work That Reconnects; Catching Calliope; We Don’t Break, We Burn: Poems of Resilience; Poetry and Coaching; and Fixed & Free Poetry Anthology 2021.
Personal Stuff
My four innate superpowers are insight, empathy, humor and problem solving, which show up even while living in a tent in the wilderness! Descended from a long line of oddballs and creatives, I’m both artist and scientist. I’m that rare deep, Big Picture thinker who’s also an energetic doer with an eye for detail. I’m equally at home contemplating the forest and digging in the weeds. I relish my identities as chameleon, polymath, stereotype buster and injector of whimsy.
I feel most alive during moments of awe, awwwww!, ah-HA! and ha-ha-ha! – and facilitating such moments for others. My core values are integrity, authenticity, truth, beauty, justice, and self-expression. I’m committed to helping create a world that works better for more of us, and for more lifeforms than just humans.
Outside of work I enjoy hiking in wild places, watching sci fi shows and films, dancing hip hop, savoring yummy food and conversation with exceptional people, singing soulful music (in English or Spanish), hugging trees, watching raptors, and bellylaughing. I’m a former top tier slam poet (New Mexico), boxer, and medal-winning competitive runner. I recently did stand-up comedy at the world famous Improv in Hollywood, and next I’d love to join an R&B a capella group!