Viveka Chen (she|they) works with people purposefully creating transformative change in their own lives and for a socially just world. She is a certified coach drawing on over twenty years of experience working across a spectrum of cultures, communities, and sectors. Viveka is also a Buddhist meditation teacher offering a spacious and compassionate presence and holding a deep respect for the people she works with. Her coaching opens space for inquiring into what is present, honoring what is changing, discovering what is emerging, and galvanizing creative energy to bring new possibilities to life.
Viveka‘s coaching centers BIPOC social justice leaders, both established and emerging.
She has coached leaders in several cohort-based fellowships and leadership development programs including: Rockwood Leadership Institute, Move to End Violence, Center for Community Change Power of 50 Women of Color Leadership Program, Neighborhood Funders Group & Aspen Institute CEO fellowship Philanthropy Forward, the Ford Foundation BUILD program cohort for new women of color executive directors and the Momentum fellowship for BIPOC leaders newer to philanthropy.
She specializes in change leadership, strategic visioning and planning, leadership development, team and co-director coaching and executive transition. Her work is rooted in her own experience of being an executive leader in several nonprofits and the broad range of organizations she has coached and consulted (community-based organizations, grassroots base-building groups, coalitions, intermediaries, unions, government, academic institutions, and philanthropy).
She earned her ICF coaching certification in 2012 with Coaching for Transformation and was also certified as a somatic coach through the Strozzi Institue.
The proud child of Chinese immigrants, Viveka lives with beloved partner Rene Perez on Ohlone land.
