Michelle Maldonado is Founder and CEO of Lucenscia (pronounced loo-SENSE-see-ah), a firm dedicated to human flourishing and mindful business transformation. She is an internationally certified mindfulness and emotional intelligence teacher and practitioner. As a former corporate and tech attorney turned business leader, she understands her clients because she has been there. Michelle is passionate about learning, helping elevate human consciousness and alleviating suffering in the world. Her work focuses on personal and professional leadership development at the pivotal intersection of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, authenticity, and compassion, nestled on a solid foundation of neuroscience and research to help leaders do their inner work to create positive and sustainable outer impact. Michelle also serves as Senior Faculty for 1440 Multiversity's Leadership Center, founding faculty for Daniel Goleman's inaugural Emotional Intelligence Coaching Certification program and Senior Fellow with Bill George's True North Leadership program. She is a highly, sought-after keynote speaker, thought leader and strategist collaborating with government agencies, corporations and higher ed communities worldwide helping to make workplaces more human. She has been recognized as Woman of The Year, Top Corporate Leader and inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society for her holistic approach to cultivating leadership presence, well-being and performance impact. Michelle's work has been featured in conference venues and publications including, the Mindful Leadership Summit, the DQ Institute in association with the World Economic Forum, Human Capital Institute, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, and Leadership Excellence. She is a graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University and The George Washington University School of Law and currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with her family.

Learn more about Michelle Maldonado: https://www.lucenscia.com/about-founder

00:00:39 – Sean welcomes Michelle Maldonado
00:04:22 – Looking at our contemplative practice through an equity lens
00:05:58 – Michelle shares about her family and their open letter to humanity
00:10:17 – Focusing on the outcome you desire
00:11:19 – Guided practice: A moment to arrive
00:17:27 – Awareness in context and a definition of mindfulness
00:20:25 – Three concentric circles of awareness
00:21:14 – Emotions and body mapping
00:28:11 – Body map exercise
00:40:39 – Reflections on the body map practice
00:47:21 – Paradox, prediction, and perception
00:51:39 – Example of prediction-perception relationship: The Kanizsa Triangle
00:54:24 – What is unconscious bias?
00:58:13 – What is othering?
01:00:51 – Breaking as othering
01:08:49 – From breaking to bridging
01:17:22 – The mirror held up to each one of us
01:21:39 – What are microaggressions?
01:33:42 – What is intersectionality?
01:34:43 – Identity exercise
01:40:53 – Participant reflections on the session
01:48:39 – Closing remarks from Sean