Lisa Banks is a leadership coach, facilitator, and mindfulness teacher committed to resilient leadership.  She is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of Optify, a woman-owned and led coaching solutions and technology provider enabling transformational leadership development throughout organizations. Working across diverse industries including law, global manufacturing and retail, technology, education, healthcare, financial services, and hospitality, Lisa collaborates with great leaders to help them envision their next level of excellence.

Lisa comes to leadership coaching from a diverse career as a corporate attorney at Patton Boggs, general counsel for an investment management company, CEO at a nonprofit, and now, as an entrepreneur and coach. With over two decades of experience in executive roles, she knows that personal growth is the cornerstone of effective leadership. Whether innovating, stewarding financial stability, or driving outstanding outcomes, a leaders’ ability to inspire teams, reflect, adapt, and meet challenges head-on is paramount to their success. She brings this perspective to her coaching.

As a coach, Lisa empowers leaders to build their capacity, unite teams during times of change, shape organizational culture, seize emerging opportunities, and boost their influence.  Her clients often describe her as an insightful and trusted confidante, a steadfast champion of their aspirations.  She listens deeply, asks thoughtful questions, and challenges leaders to identify and leverage their distinctive qualities for remarkable leadership.  As a long-time mindfulness practitioner and meditation teacher, Lisa helps leaders quiet the noise so they can lead with confidence and clear purpose.

Lisa has coached C-suite executives and mid-level leaders, including associates, partners, and GCs from Mars, Inc., National Air and Space Museum, Davis Polk, Genworth, Bureau Veritas North America, Lyft, Cohen Milstein, JP Morgan, and Miller Chevalier, to name a few.  She is a frequent keynote speaker on leadership-related topics, and has presented at Harvard Law School, the National Trial Lawyers Summit, and the ARK Women in Legal Summit.  Additionally, she is a co-author of the article,  “Meetings Matter.  Make them Better.”

Lisa received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center and BAs in International Relations and Communications from the University of Virginia. She earned certifications in leadership coaching and facilitation from the Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership and is a PCC level coach through the International Coaching Federation.  Her expertise extends to the use of various assessment tools, including the Leadership Circle suite, Enneagram, Key Polarity Indicator, DISC, Insights Discovery, Hogan, and Tetra Map.  Lisa is also a certified Conversational Intelligence® enhanced practitioner and Polarity Thinking™ coach.