Miwa is the Co-Founder of Illuminate Collective, coaching and consulting firm that focuses on leadership development and diversity, equity, and inclusion work. Miwa’s work is rooted in building relationships, cultivating community, and coaching and developing leaders to achieve their purpose. She brings more than twenty years of experience as a teacher, non-profit executive, and human capital partner to her work as a coach and consultant in the education and non-profit sectors. Throughout her career, Miwa has partnered with a range of mission driven leaders and organizations to build more inclusive and impactful teams. Miwa’s experience as an elementary school teacher in the DC Public Schools and Atlanta Public Schools deeply informs her work. Inspired by her time in the classroom, she spent fourteen years developing and leading teams at Teach For America, including serving as the Executive Director of Teach For America DC and a Senior Managing Director on the Human Assets team. Miwa’s coaching and partnership with executive directors and leadership teams at Teach For America led her to start her own coaching and consulting business in 2015, with a focus on leadership development, talent strategy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Miwa holds an A.B. from Harvard University and an Ed.M. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She is a Certified Professional Diversity Coach through Coach Diversity. Miwa serves as a Richmond Young Writers board member and a Voices of Jubilee volunteer. She lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, sons, and rescue dog and can always be counted on for a great children’s book recommendation.
Testimonial Snapshot
“Marion’s work helped transform the culture of our organization while building the leadership of our managers. We loved her fun and engaging trainings - and we also appreciated that she worked with us to ensure that the trainings weren’t just one and done - the skills and mindsets she taught us became part of how we operated. She was more than a consultant - she was a trusted partner who truly built our leadership capacity.”
Keisha Jordan, former Chief People Officer, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania
“Our work with Miwa has resulted in an overall more thoughtful approach to every single component within our coalition work, ensuring that we are authentically prioritizing and highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion with equity as our end goal.”
Yoni Dobie-Geffen, Executive Director, Climb Higher Colorado
Miwa Kamars, miwa@illuminate-collective.com