Cynthia Luna is a faculty member and Managing Partner at New Ventures West. She is also co-founder of Praxsys Leadership, a leadership development firm dedicated to supporting individuals, teams and organizations to fulfill their purpose with excellence.
Cynthia has a history of pioneering leadership in business and community development, serving diverse industries including technology, manufacturing, education, healthcare, and nonprofit, among others. Her professional background has included leadership positions in multinational corporations (such as ADC Telecommunications), finance and economic development (ShoreBank Advisory Services), and health policy (Latino Health Collaborative). This has given her an experience base to understand the on-the-job pressures and challenges her clients have to overcome and enables her to work with them on creating strategies that are effective, pragmatic and transformational.
As a coach and consultant she has designed and implemented leadership development, executive and group coaching programs in English and in Spanish supporting the alignment of diverse teams and individuals. She has supported organizations and leaders managing small- and large-scale change, adapting and growing in new leadership roles, moving through strategic realignments, integrating multicultural teams and becoming more effective leaders.
Cynthia’s clients describe her coaching style as an artful weaving together of in-depth methodology with direct yet compassionate feedback and a movement to action. She combines multicultural experience with an extensive knowledge of leadership development, executive coaching and group dynamics. This expertise enables her to help clients gain self-awareness and move forward on their goals with a better understanding of how their experience and environment impact their ability to create sustainable change.
She is certified as an Integral Coach® by New Ventures West and holds the Professional Coach Certification (PCC) from the International Coach Federation. She has an MBA in Organizational Development and Operations from Loyola University Chicago.
Cynthia has a passion for international voluntary service, and has held leadership positions in NGOs such as the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva, Switzerland. She loves traveling, painting, running, yoga and enjoying world music and dance.
Student experiences
“The PCC far exceeded my expectations, and Cynthia was at the center of this growth and development. She is a very skilled coach, instructor, and leader. Time and again she found interesting and engaging ways to make her point, which allow you to truly feel and experience the concept, not just hear it. This is a gift for which I am eternally grateful”.
—Bob Galowich
“There are few experiences that have so fundamentally and sustainably shifted my way of being. Participating in Cynthia’s PCC has undoubtedly been a life milestone. It has drawn my attention to a much more expansive path than I had previously seen. It is clear that Cynthia does this work for reasons beyond herself. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to have learned from her.”
—Nicole Lewis
“Imagine spending a year in a masterfully crafted, safe, brave space. Imagine the growth you could experience when you’re fully supported in a field of love. It’s a tremendous gift. I know—I just finished a year’s journey with Cynthia in the PCC. I found it challenging (in all the right ways) and magically transformative. May your year with Cynthia be as wonderful as mine was.”
—Thomas Rosenberg
View a Meet the Leader Call hosted by Cynthia.
Listen to Cynthia’s insights about Integral Coaching on a recent episode of the Stepping In Podcast.
Read Cynthia’s blog post about the transformative yearlong journey of the PCC.