Meet the challenges of leadership with greater wisdom, steadiness, and skill.
Forge Collaborative helps leaders navigate the human side of work. Through a blend of conflict management, leadership development, and contemplative practice, I help leaders draw on their inner resources to show up with intention and foster an environment where people flourish.
Support for the Deeper Work of Leadership
The pace and pressures of leadership are relentless. Our culture of optimizing, maximizing, and 10x-ing every aspect of our lives is leaving a wake of burned-out and disillusioned professionals, running faster and faster in pursuit of a version of "success" that never quite feels like enough. Relationships suffer, and stress and anxiety drain the joy from experiences that should be life-giving.
My work takes a different approach. Rather than striving to do more or do better, I focus on helping people become more present to who they were made to be, what they truly want, and to the people around them.
When we are grounded in who we are and connected to what matters, we are better equipped to make strategic decisions, build meaningful relationships, and shape lives and work that reflect our deepest values.
Forge Collaborative makes space for this deeper work.
I work with leaders who are
Navigating difficult relationships
Working through conflict, communication breakdowns, challenging employee situations, or tensions within a team or organization. They want to address what's happening and find a constructive way forward.
Facing consequential decisions and transitions
Leading through change, balancing competing perspectives, stepping into a new role, or working through a decision with significant implications. They seek a trusted outside perspective as they consider their next step.
Investing in how they lead
Proactively building stronger relationships and more effective teams, developing their leadership capacity, or seeking a confidential space to speak candidly and think through what matters most.
Ways to work together
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Confidential coaching and thought partnership for individual leaders and leadership teams navigating consequential decisions, difficult relationships, conflict, transitions, and the everyday demands of leadership. Available individually or as a group, with support tailored to the needs of the leader and organization.
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Impartial, third-party support for difficult conversations, interpersonal conflict, and situations where productive dialogue is essential to move through a challenging situation or decision.
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Practical, engaging workshops that equip leaders and teams to navigate conflict, communicate effectively, and have the conversations that move their work forward.
What Becomes Possible
Forge Collaborative creates space to reflect on your situation and cultivate the practices that help you lead at your best.
Sound Judgment
Make better decisions when it matters most.
Step back from immediate demands, weigh competing perspectives and values, and make choices you can stand behind.
Collective Strength
Create the conditions for people to do their best work.
Listen differently, navigate tension more effectively, and build a culture where people thrive.
Inner Fortitude
Become steadier in the moments that test you.
Build the resilience and courage to stay engaged, recover from setbacks, and respond thoughtfully rather than reactively.
Greater Purpose
Stay connected to what makes the work worth doing.
Reconnect with the values, vision, and purpose that give your leadership direction and enduring impact.
Dana Hinojosa
Founder & President
15+ years as a coach, mediator, facilitator, and trainer
Coached hundreds of leaders and trained thousands of professionals
7 years of executive leadership and board service
Experience across healthcare, higher education, nonprofit, government, and private sectors
Master of Dispute Resolution (MDR), Straus Institute, Pepperdine University School of Law
Certified Organizational Ombuds
Certified Spiritual Director
Professional experience across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa
Based in Sacramento, California
Organizations I Have Served
UC Davis · UC Davis Health · Sutter Health · UC Berkeley · St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital · Stanford University · NASA · Gates Foundation · Cambridge Innovation Center · Pepperdine University · Washington University · U.S. Department of Energy · MacArthur Foundation · UMASS Amherst · Westmont College
Let’s Connect
We'll talk about what you're navigating and what you're hoping to achieve. Together, we'll consider whether Forge Collaborative is the right fit and what kind of support would be most useful. All communication is confidential and there is no obligation to move forward.