I’m so pleased to meet you and hope we get to work together in some meaningful way soon!

My name is Michelle Billings Kinder, and I am devoted to helping leaders doing good in the world embody their emotional intelligence and prioritize the mental health of their teams.

I grew up in Guatemala City, Guatemala as the fifth of six children and made my way to Texas for boarding school in high school at San Marcos Academy followed by Baylor University where I received a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. I received my master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas in Austin and went on to become a Licensed Professional Counselor more than 20 years ago.

I worked as a Family Therapist for more than a decade and still think back on a regular basis to all I learned from those experiences and the sacred space of walking through difficult times with courageous people.

The joy of that work only intensified when I had the opportunity to lead the Therapeutic Services team at Momentous Institute.

From 2012-2019, I served as the Executive Director of Momentous Institute, a 100+ year old non-profit focused on building and repairing social emotional health. I will be forever grateful for that chapter as it is filled with wonderful memories, friendships, and learning.  It was in that time that I was recognized as the CEO of the Year by CNM Connect, A Face of Hope by the Grant Halliburton Foundation, Dallas Fort-Worth Teach for America’s Honorary Alum, Visionary Woman by Juliette Fowler Communities and received the Award of Excellence in Education by the Dallas Historical Society.

Of all the recognition we received as a team, I am most proud that under my leadership Momentous Institute was named one of the top 100 Best Workplaces for Women and one of the 50 Best Workplaces in Texas by Fortune magazine and Great Places to Work.

That feels most important to me because I believe in people loving their work and feeling seen, felt, understood, and valued by their workplace. The fact that we were able to create such a healthy environment led to outstanding outcomes that impacted many children and families across the country. Don’t get me wrong, we made plenty mistakes but we got it right enough that people loved to work there which made space for them to offer their unique gifts to the work and the community.

Since leaving the executive director world, I have been building my business, Embody EQ, to support other leaders in embodying emotional intelligence and prioritizing the mental health of their teams. In addition to my therapy credential, I am also a registered yoga teacher, a certified professional coach through Natalie MacNeil’s Coaching Evolved program and am credentialed as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation. Also informing my work is my credential as a certified trainer in David Emerald and Donna Zajonc’s 3 Vital Questions: Transforming Workplace Drama and Deb Dana’s Polyvagal Informed Provider six month course that I am currently enrolled in.

I am a fellow with The OpEd Project and have articles featured in more than a dozen publications including TIME, Washington Post, Texas Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Ms. Magazine, and Mindful.

I co-authored WHOLE: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive and am also a published poet.

I am a streak runner and have run at least a mile every single day since April 29, 2017. I practice yoga and meditation and love reading, being outside, doing puzzles, binge-watching, and organizing closets.

The truest joy in my life comes from my family, my daughters Maya and Sophia, and my partner, Patrick. The people I love most in this world are also the people I like most in the world and I feel so grateful for that.

If you had a peek into our family chat you would also see that our world revolves around our rescue pups — high-maintenance and full of love.