HUMAN-FIRST LEADERSHIP BEGINS WITHIN

Hello! 

I’m Rachel Baptiste, an organizational culture strategist and leadership coach, and keynote speaker.

My firm, Lumen Consulting Group Inc., supports leaders and organizations to re-pattern how they relate to themselves, to others, and to the systems they shape.  Behind every system, structure, and strategy is a human story.

My work sits at the intersection of leadership, trust, and transformation, grounded in a simple belief: when we lead as humans first, everything else aligns.

My Why

For too long, I’ve watched organizations try to transform themselves by operationalizing people through strategy, process, and policy, forgetting that people are not mechanisms to be managed but humans to be met.

The result has been disengagement, disillusionment, and a widening gap between intention and lived experience. Too often, it has meant that some voices are unseen, unheard, and given limited access to fully participate or thrive.

My why is to help us see again.  To see our shared humanity and our shared responsibility in creating the conditions for all to flourish. To lead with the courage to be seen, and to see others fully, in their wholeness, complexity, and brilliance.

As a Black woman who has led inside complex systems, I know how easily brilliance can be muted by structures never built with us in mind. This understanding fuels my commitment to reshaping how we lead, and the containers we create so that leadership, culture, and systems become spaces of true belonging.

Every piece of my work stems from this belief: we each hold responsibility for what we create and accountability for its impact.

My Path

I’ve spent more than two decades leading within organizational systems, from senior roles in executive leadership , organizational development, and culture transformation, to my ongoing work as a trusted consultant and leadership coach.

My path has always been rooted in leadership development and the belief that performance and humanity are not opposites, they are interdependent.  We are interconnected.

Today, through Lumen Consulting Group Inc., I partner with executives, people leaders, and teams to build trust-based, high-performing cultures that align people, leadership, and purpose.

What I Believe About Leadership

• I believe leadership is not a title — it’s a relationship.
• Trust is the foundation of every thriving culture.
• Belonging grows through everyday interactions, not initiatives.
• When we lead with curiosity, courage, and accountability, we create space for others to flourish.

This is Human-First Leadership — the practice of bringing our full humanity into how we lead, relate, and build systems together.

Credentials & Experience (Select Highlights)

• Founder & CEO, Lumen Consulting Group Inc.
• 25+ years in leadership, including executive VP roles leading Organizational Development, Talent Management, CSR & Sustainability, and Culture Transformation
• ICF-Certified & Co-Active Leadership Coach
• Creator of the Human-First Leadership System™
• Consultant and coach to organizations across public, nonprofit, and corporate sectors committed to trust-based, inclusive, and human-centred workplaces

If my message resonates, I would love to have a conversation.

Rachel