Lotus Leadership Coaching

Courtney Chisholm
Educator | Mental Health Advocate | Leadership Coach

Courtney Chisholm has spent her career helping people rise—with clarity, courage, and grounded purpose. A trained leadership coach, seasoned executive, professor, and culture strategist, Courtney’s work sits at the intersection of performance, wellbeing, and the inner architecture of leadership. She believes transformation begins at the root — where values, identity, and lived experience shape how we lead.
 

Through Lotus Leadership Coaching, Courtney supports high-achieving executives navigating transition, reinvention, and the hidden cognitive loads that accompany leadership. Her approach helps clients move from overextension to alignment, and from operating on autopilot to leading from their zone of genius.
 

A nationally recognized executive and leadership voice, Courtney has led major people-culture transformations at organizations including the Edison Electric Institute, Sidwell Friends School, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association. Her expertise spans executive coaching, organizational culture, strategic HR leadership, and supporting leaders through complexity, disruption, and growth.
 

Courtney is a Senior Certified HR Professional (SPHR; SHRM-SCP) and a graduate of Georgetown University’s Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching Program. She has been honored as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Executives in Diversity & Inclusion, a Top Women Leader in Washington, DC by Women We Admire, and one of the Top 100 Women to KNOW in America by J.P. Morgan Chase.
 

A devoted advocate for mental health, Courtney serves as Vice President of the Board for NAMI Montgomery County, MD, where her personal story and professional expertise inform her commitment to grief-literate leadership and workplace wellbeing.

She is also an engaged philanthropist and mentor to emerging leaders through Top Ladies of Distinction, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Impact100 DC. Courtney is a proud mother of two daughters and serves on the faculty of Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies. She resides in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she continues to inspire, coach, and empower leaders to thrive with authenticity and intention.

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Formal Training & Professional Activities

• 20+ years of experience leading human resources, organizational development and change management 

• Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching, Georgetown University

• Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation

• Over 1,000 hours of one-on-one leadership coaching with clients around the world  

• Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown University (master's degree in HR program)

• BA, University of Pittsburgh | MS, Robert Morris University 

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 Assessments & Certifications

• EQ-i 2.0,® EQ 360®

• MBTI®

• Predictive Index®

• Hogan Assessments®

• Conflict Dynamics Profile®

• SHRM-SCP & SPHR certifications 

• Certified Workplace Mediator 

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Awards & Recognition

✨Women We Admire, Top Women Leaders in Washington, DC
✨100 Women to KNOW in America, J.P. Morgan Chase
✨Top 15 Chief Diversity Officer, Diversity Global Magazine

✨Game Changer: Introvert to Watch, HushLoudly
✨Top 100 Diversity Officer, National Diversity Council
✨Most Influential Executives in Diversity & Inclusion, Savoy Magazine

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