About Renato P. Almanzor, PhD

Transformation Catalyst, Speaker, Educator

I am a transformation catalyst, whose experience emerges from 30 years of developing leaders committed to equitable communities, multicultural organizations, and social justice. Much of my work has been dedicated to supporting community leaders working with and in low-income communities and communities of color.

I have taught at many universities (e.g., Cal Poly Humboldt, University of Pacific, California State University East Bay, University of San Francisco, Alliant International University and Argosy University), courses ranging from organization theory and organizational behavior to working with diverse populations and designing multicultural organizations. In addition, I have held executive roles at UC Berkeley, Oakland Unified School District, LeaderSpring, and East Oakland Building Healthy Communities, as well as provided consulting through the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, now the National Equity Project. I am also a Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, where I provide Dharma talks and guide numerous forms of meditation.

As a leadership expert, I deliver leadership development programs, keynote addresses, workshops and seminars on issues related to leadership for equity, cultural diversity, and social change. My professional practice ranges from executive coaching and strategic planning to change management consulting and team development. For my efforts, I was awarded the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Fellowship in 2015, recognized for Transformative Leadership by the California School Age Consortium in 2016, and acknowledged for service and leadership during Asian American and Pacific Islander month by the City of Oakland in 2018.

I received my Ph.D. and M.A. in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, my M.S. in counseling from San Diego State University, and my B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Davis. I completed coaching certification through Transformation Services, Inc.; Practices in Transformative Action program at the East Bay Meditation Center where I also served as an apprentice the following year; and certification for Zumba Instruction. I have served on numerous boards and commissions, currently serving on the boards of the East Bay Meditation Center (currently board chair) and Oakland Peace Center (currently board treasurer)."

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My Approach

I’ll engage with the premise that we are creating the conditions so that your community (neighbors, board, staff, etc.,) has a sense of agency and camaraderie with your internal processes, relationships, and results, as well as your external practices, from a shared understanding of your values, purpose, and specific roles and responsibilities.

As an “elder” in the field of capacity building and leadership development, I’m generous and vulnerable when interrogating and articulating what I do, why I’m doing it, and the extent to which it is in the highest divine alignment of who I am and we are collectively.

Specifically, that means I embody gravitas in order to nurture experiential learning with others;

I facilitate, integrate and cultivate a love-based social justice agenda for community well-being;

I support a journey of discovery that reminds us of our loveliness so that we become better able “to do” and “to be,” especially, better able to love and to be loved; and

The wisdom that emerges from our collaboration emphasizes a shared commitment to equity as principle, practice, and potential that includes healing and compassion.