Leadership Through A Different Lens
High performance and human sustainability aren't competing values.
What We Do
RWS offers integrated support for organizations and leaders as they navigate complex times. Our faculty aren't theorizing about leading through uncertainty; we have walked alongside organizations through economic downturns, restructuring, professional crises, and political uncertainty.
We bring nuanced perspective and real-world experience to sustain leaders and organizations when everything else is under strain.
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Wellness for the Legal World
Attorneys, Judiciary + Court Interpreters: Professionals who dedicate their lives to protecting others often lack strategies to protect themselves from the harm inherent in their work.
The Cost of Ignoring Professional Burnout? High turnover, compromised client care, substance abuse, and careers cut short. It is not just exhaustion - it is talented attorneys leaving the profession, impaired judgement in critical moments, and a legal system weakened by the very people it depends on. The ripple effects touch every case, every client, every courthouse.
We provide what has been missing: practical education, CLEs ongoing support, and proven resources—delivered to change your career trajectory.
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Caught between harm and healing in workplace crises.
Traditional HR approaches weren't designed for today's workplace trauma challenges; from pandemic aftershocks, return to office, increased workplace incivility, to systemic workplace stress.
We all know the signs: increased turnover, rising mental health claims, disengagement spreading through your teams.
Our programs help you move beyond reactive crisis management to proactive, human-centered workplace cultures.
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National and in-house cohorts that build capacity, train crucial skills and techniques, and build lasting lasting peer networks across the country. Our flagship programs have a high 90% satisfaction and repeat customer rate because they work. Leaders and managers emerge with crucial trauma-informed skills and leadership techniques, and a renewed sense of spirit and connection to their colleagues and workplace community.
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Coaching and Restorative Team Engagement - we help repair leadership and team dynamics that pressure and uncertainty have fractured. Led by psychologists and physicians and coaches with decades of success in repairing workplace harm.
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Every First Responder Deserves a Second Responder.
Lodestar’s national-recognized 2nd Responder Program works behind-the-scenes to bolster and supplement the mental health, wellness and peer networks of First Responders. We also provide much-needed help to City, County and State Officials, Environmental Response and PH workers facing wide-scale events.
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Most strategic planning fails because consultants ignore the people who must implement them. We integrate workforce sustainability into every strategic planning engagement because organizational strategy and workforce capacity are inseparable.
Our clients have ranged from Fortune 100, to judicial systems, and Federal Agencies
We sculpt your vision into tangible progress made in hiring, streamlined workflows, reorganization and workforce wellness, budget reallocation, mission efficacy, and the perennial strategic application of limited resources.
Our Difference? We bring a trauma-informed and expert professional lens to every engagement. We understand the cumulative and compounding pressures that can degrade workplace cultures and derail strategic planning.
Our Help Helps Your Bottom Line
For every dollar spent on programs like ours:
Medical costs decrease ~ $3.27
Absenteeism costs drop ~ $2.73
Productivity increases ~ $4.00
Who We Are
We have a deep bench. Our programs are live-taught by over 50+ Physicians, Attorneys, PhDs, Military Leaders, Nurses, Clinicians, and Government Executives drawn from your background and profession. We bring tested wisdom and practical application from professionals who have navigated the same high-stakes complexity you face now.
Our Clients
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Leaders and Managers in Government & Private Sector
Leading through uncertainty and rapid change while bolstering your teams.
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Attorneys, Judiciary + Court Interpreters
Carrying the weight of every case and client story. The legal field is facing tremendous upheaval.
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Employee Relations + Human Resources
Caught between the harm and helping in every workplace. Holding the line when systems fracture.
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First Responders + Environmental Health
Lodestar’s 2nd Responder Program (L2R) standing behind every first responder and environmental crisis.
Meet the Team
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Kiana S. Joersz, JD, TIPC, SCP
Principal & Founding Partner
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S. Tennaile Timbrook, JD, TIPC
Principal & Founding Partner
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Kemia M. Sarraf, MD, MPH, CCC, TIPC
Principal Advisor + Lodestar CEO
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Ann V. Deaton, PhD, PCC, TIPC, CTPC
Director, Faculty Development
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Michael Forlenza, PhD, MPH, PCC, TIPC
Director, All Of Us Program
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Antoinette DuBois Ayers, CPCC, RCC, TIPC, CTI
Director, Training
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Luis Rodriguez, JD, LLM, TIPC, MS, USArmy COL (Ret.)
Senior Faculty
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Kerri Lockhart, MD, FAAP, TIPC
Director, Client Engagement
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Sunny Nakae, PhD, MSW, TIPC
Director of Professional Development
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Greg Pawlson, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF
Senior Faculty
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Jean Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Lawrence Henderson PhD, MSHRD, PCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Floyd Carlson, MS, ORSCC, TIPC, CNTC, PCC
Senior Faculty
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Lynn Black, MD, MPH, CHWC, TIPC, CEC
Senior Faculty
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Michael Hersh, MD, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Dianne Rizzo, RN, PCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Ken Jenkins, MA.S, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Kate Deaton, MS, PCC, TIPC, CPCC, OTR/L
Senior Faculty
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Liz Peintner, MSW, PCC, CPCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Stephanie Byerly, MD, CLC, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Lydia Johnson, MD, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Laura Berenstain, MD, FASA, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Steve Wendell, PhD, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Debbie Beardslee, RN, BSN, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH, MPH, TIPC, ACC
Senior Faculty
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Kelly Hurst, Ed.D., M.Ed, TIPC
Director of Data Analytics
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Eliza Humphreys, MD, MPH, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Rikeesha Phelon, MA, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Ashlea Winfield, MD, MSPH, TIPC, TMMC
Associate Faculty
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Jill Wener, MD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Eliotte (Ellie) Hirshberg, MD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Julia Huber, MD, TIPC, ACC
Associate Faculty
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Neil Gordon
Director of Communications
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Suzanne Maxwell, PhD, PCC, TIPC, CTPC, CTIPC, WBECS, CCIC, CCM, ACC
Associate Faculty
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Maiysha Claireborne, MD, TIPC, MCNP
Associate Faculty
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Jo Deaton, MS, APRN-BC, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Sookyung Suh, PhD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Tyler Moore
Technology
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Ivy Grisham
Administrative Assistant
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Joseph Goldstein, BA
Senior Associate
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Samuel Collins, BS
Special Assistant to the COO
Our Value Proposition: Incomparable Experience
Transformational help requires more than just credentials, it also requires having stood where you stand. Our nationally recognized experts understand burnout and organizational dysfunction, they too have lived the unique pressures of your high-stakes profession.
Burnout Gets Blamed
And burnout is not the (only) problem
The Irony Explains Itself: Professionals who dedicate their lives to protecting others often lack strategies to protect themselves from the harm inherent in their work.
The Cost of Ignoring Professional Burnout: High turnover, compromised client care, substance abuse, and careers cut short. It is not just exhaustion - it is talented professionals leaving their chosen careers, impaired judgement in critical moments, and corporate, legal and critical infrastructures weakened by the very people upon whom our society depends.
RWS + Lodestar provide what is missing: practical education, ongoing support, and proven resources - delivered to change your career trajectory.
Billable hours won’t pay for your wellbeing.
How We Help: Our Difference Makes the Difference
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You wouldn't hire a consultant who's never worked in your industry. Why accept leadership training from them?
RWS operates on a foundational principle: meaningful guidance requires shared experience. Our teams have spent decades in fields like yours—law, medicine, military leadership, federal service, corporate operations and HR. Our work with your organization genuinely moves the needle, leadership development through impactful national cohorts, team restoration for complex dynamics, and HR programs for modern workforce challenges. The difference isn't just expertise—it's credibility earned in the arena.
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Leadership through the Lens of Legacy. The best leaders don't just achieve metrics and outcomes. They develop the people around them to lead through whatever comes next.
This requires more than traditional executive training. It demands insight from those who've led through genuine uncertainty—who understand what breaks teams, what restores them, and what builds resilience and culture that lasts.
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Coaching is not therapy, and great coaching can be incredibly therapeutic. One-on-one coaching with 40+ experienced professionals who understand your unique pressures.Coach with professionals who genuinely understand the pressures of your profession.
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Great leadership isn't just developed—it's forged in connection with peers facing the same impossible challenges.
RWS creates these crucibles deliberately. Our national leadership cohorts bring together emerging leaders across sectors for programs that blend tested wisdom with contemporary challenges.
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Leadership development from people who've actually led. Team restoration from people who've repaired their own. Executive coaching from people who've done your job.
Restorative Workplace Solutions bridges the gap between traditional consulting and real-world credibility. Our consortium includes attorneys, physicians, military leaders, federal agents, neuroscientists, and PhDs—all with decades navigating the same high-stakes environments where you're building your leadership. We offer embedded 1:1 coaching worth the investment, leadership programs taught in impactful national cohorts, team restoration for fractured dynamics, and HR development for the modern workforce paradigm.
“This was the most valuable training I’ve taken in the past decade, possibly in my career. We immediately set our entire agency on the path to procurement to get as much of this as our budget will allow. This is what has been missing ”
Client Impact & Success
“The small-group discussions with other attorneys were invaluable. A year later and we all still keep in touch. ”
The depth of content exceeded my expectations. By far the best CLE I attended in the past few years, and was one that I registered as a one-off. Original and authentic and compelling speakers. — Criminal Defense Attorney
“I’m surprised by the sheer number of actionable tools packed into three days. The guide provided will serve as a long-term resource throughout my career.”
“They really understood the secondary trauma we interpreters experience each time we are working. I left with more hope ”
“The originality of this curriculum really stood out. ”
I feel like I have been gifted 5 new best friends. The small cohorts have been so impactful, and being led by someone trained as a psychologist was a counterbalance we found intimidating at first, and then she was one of the absolutely best parts of our time together.
Our group gets together once a month still.
“What impressed me most was the faculty’s credentials - and everything they did for us was centered on what we needed. ”
“I’ve changed how I lead my team. Understanding the symptoms of secondary trauma in a workplace context shifted how all of us work together and we are in a more positive place.”
This entirely reframed how I view employee disengagement not as lack of interest, but as possible stress or trauma.
— HR Director
REACH OUT & CONNECT
Spend some time with us to see if we are the right fit for your team