Dhalia Balmir, MA, MPA, ACC
Certified Leadership Coach | ICF Credentialed | Leadership Growth & Inclusive Communication
Empowering Leaders at Every Stage of Their Career
As an ICF-credentialed leadership coach with a background in nonprofit leadership, education, healthcare, and corporate sectors, I specialize in guiding professionals through reflective leadership in supporting leaders to deepen their leadership practice, cultivate inclusive teams, and drive meaningful change within their organizations and communities. With a strong background in conflict resolution, restorative practices, and inclusive leadership, I equip leaders with the strategies and confidence to lead with purpose, adaptability, and collaboration.
Drawing on over a decade of experience leading organizational change, equity initiatives, and board development, I equip leaders with the skills, strategy, and confidence to lead with influence, adaptability, and collaboration. Whether you are stepping into a new leadership role, navigating workplace, community challenges, or striving for deeper equity-centered leadership, I provide tailored coaching that fosters clarity, courage, and sustainable action.
Coaching Style
My coaching style is rooted in values-driven and reflective leadership. I blend practices from Positive Psychology, the GROW Model, and Emotional Intelligence framework for supporting authentic leadership growth. With additional training in equity-centered facilitation and restorative practices, my holistic approach helps leaders explore the connection between their personal values and professional impact. My approach encourages leaders to explore how values and self-awareness shape leadership choices, communication patterns, and team dynamics. Clients often share that they are able to lead more authentically, foster more inclusive environments, and bring greater intentionality to their work and personal lives.
Coaching Focus Areas
- Communicating with Influence & Executive Presence – Communicate with authenticity, strengthen your leadership voice, and position yourself as a trusted, impactful leader in diverse environments.
- Cultivating a Growth Mindset – Shift beyond self-limiting beliefs, embrace adaptive and continuous learning, and navigate leadership transitions with confidence.
- Demonstrating Flexibility & Resilience – Adapt to change, lead through uncertainty, and maintain a strong leadership presence under pressure.
- Building Collaborative & Effective Relationships – Strengthen communication across difference, foster trust and inclusive teamwork, and drive engagement.
With a dynamic, compassionate, and values-centered approach, I partner with individuals and teams to explore limiting beliefs, surface new possibilities, and unlock their full leadership potential — ensuring they thrive in today’s rapidly evolving and equity-focused work environments.
Let’s work together to amplify your leadership journey!
Throughout my coaching and facilitation experience, I have worked extensively with leadership development frameworks that align with the Pyramid Model of Equity, Positive Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, and the GROW model.
Two examples illustrate my practical experience with these approaches:
Coaching Leaders Using Positive Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, and the GROW Model
In my role as a Leadership Coach and Facilitator, I regularly guide professionals through structured coaching engagements rooted in Positive Psychology and Emotional Intelligence principles. For instance, while coaching professionals at a nonprofit organization, I utilized the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward) to help participants articulate leadership goals, assess organizational realities, and design actionable pathways toward fostering more inclusive environments. Simultaneously, I applied Positive Psychology techniques—such as strengths-based reflection —to build optimism, resilience, and motivation. I helped leaders increase self-awareness around emotional triggers and coached them through regulating responses during team conflicts, resulting in improved collaboration and staff engagement. This integrated approach allowed clients to expand their leadership capacity while staying grounded in their core values and emotional self-regulation strategies.
Facilitating High-Stakes Conversations and Adapting to Workforce Changes
As a leadership coach, I have led numerous high-stakes dialogue sessions for individuals and groups undergoing leadership challenges—scenarios requiring sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and skilled navigation of complex group dynamics. For example, when facilitating a series of sessions for community leaders, I created a structured, restorative space for faculty and leadership to engage in crucial conversations about fears, tensions, and future possibilities. I incorporated reflective leadership practices to encourage open dialogue, used emotional intelligence strategies to recognize and validate emotions in the room, and adapted content delivery to meet the evolving needs of the workforce (e.g., ideological differences, generational communication differences).
In another example, I worked with an educational leader for a school who was preparing to address a longstanding issue in their school — shifting the mindset of the staff towards greater collaboration and a more intentional commitment to equity in all aspects of the school environment. We explored how to approach this sensitive conversation in a way that invited collaboration from all stakeholders, from teachers to school leaders, encouraging everyone to come together to collectively create solutions. We also utilized emotional intelligence practices to help the leader manage potential resistance with empathy and compassion, ensuring they could stay focused on the long-term goal of equity. By tapping into reflective leadership techniques, we honed their ability to communicate the vision for change in a way that appealed to shared values of inclusivity and growth.
Overall, my coaching philosophy centers around values-driven, reflective leadership, using methodologies that equip individuals and organizations to communicate courageously, adapt proactively, and lead inclusively—no matter the challenges they face.