About Us
We blend compassion, care, and connection to create lasting culture change.
Meet Our Founder, Lesley Curtis
I am a dedicated advocate of human-centered systems. With a doctorate focused on the connection between social justice movements and narrative, I have spent my career exploring how individuals and communities articulate their inherent value and collaborate to form new paths forward. This expertise led me to translate the first Haitian novel from French to English—a project rooted in the power of reclaiming narrative.
Today, I lead culture change initiatives for Sagely’s clients, helping organizations transition from limited structures toward inclusive collaboration. My work sits at the intersection of systems thinking and narrative strategy. By helping clients identify the emotions and stories that drive behavior, we co-create new frameworks for engagement that are both integrative and joyful.
Our Team
CO-OWNERS
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Lesley is the founder of Sagely and a trusted thought partner to leaders navigating complexity, change, and impact. She holds a doctorate from Duke University, where her research explored how historical trauma shapes story, belief, and decision-making—insight that now informs her practical, results-oriented work with organizations.
What sets Lesley apart is her ability to bridge deep understanding with real-world action. By integrating tools from the humanities and social sciences, she helps leaders move beyond insight to create sustainable, human-centered change that actually sticks. Clients value her capacity to work at the level of both feeling and strategy, supporting growth that is meaningful, manageable, and durable over time.
Lesley works one-on-one with senior leaders and facilitates system-wide initiatives, with particular expertise in philanthropy, education, and healthcare. She has taught leadership and innovation at the UNC Graduate School and served as a practicum instructor at the UNC School of Social Work.
With her team, Lesley also writes and podcasts at Diversity Differently, where they explore new ways of thinking about leadership, equity, and organizational life.
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Cord Whitaker is the co-owner of Sagely and a trusted thought partner to leaders seeking to create meaningful, lasting culture change. A widely published scholar and public intellectual, Cord brings deep expertise in narrative, history, and systems to help organizations understand how inherited stories shape present-day beliefs, behaviors, and power dynamics.
An associate professor of English at Wellesley College, Cord is the author of Black Metaphors: How Modern Racism Emerged from Medieval Race-Thinking. His work has been featured by NPR, The New York Times, Slate, and the History Channel. He has also served as Chair of the Presidential Commission on Ethnicity, Race, and Equity at Wellesley and currently serves on the board of Yale University’s Life Worth Living program.
By blending pedagogical expertise, systemic visioning, and narrative analysis, he supports leaders in moving beyond inherited expectations toward ways of engaging that are more inclusive, values-aligned, and effective over time. As a coach and consultant, Cord works with leaders across roles and sectors, partnering with them to imagine and enact new possibilities for leadership, culture, and collective impact.
FACILITATORS
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Robyn Smith is a licensed clinical social worker, facilitator, and therapist. They hold a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. Robyn also completed the three-year intensive training at the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia.
Robyn focuses on somatic healing, grief, and attachment, specializing in guiding high-level leaders, intellectuals, and medical professionals to tap into their own experience in order to encourage more healing and collaboration.
With Sagely, Robyn offers meditative and somatic learning opportunities and provides clients the knowledge and skills that trauma therapists receive. This helps leaders act and respond in high-stress situations with clarity and ease, regardless of their area of expertise.
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Alexandra holds a Masters of Social work from UNC-Chapel Hill and specializes in trauma-informed practice in galleries, museums, and sites of conscience. She works at both the micro- and macro-level when helping clients understand the dynamic connection between past and present. With Lesley, she developed the narrative map tool that strategically highlights the talents and experiences of inclusive leaders.
Alex uses systems thinking, restorative justice, and peace-building approaches to foster connection and healing. As an International Peace Fellow sponsored by the Rotary Foundation at the University of North Carolina, she designed, developed, and evaluated museum interventions in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She has also spoken internationally on the value of self-reflection and self-healing as a practice of inclusive leadership and teaching conflict transformation. To learn more, listen to her podcast interview here.
ADVISORS
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Dan Mahle is an ICF-certified executive coach and seasoned group facilitator with a passion for partnering with leaders to build more thriving, equitable, and inclusive cultures.
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Burgandy Holiday holds degrees in social work and psychology and has helped multiple organizations promote social, cultural, and organizational change. She engages clients through community building and gentle activism, focusing on race, religion, and identity-based healing and reconciliation.
"Our experience working with Sagely was nothing short of transformative.”
“From the very beginning, their insights were eye-opening. With a unique ability to uncover new truths, Lesley provided a safe space for us to discuss hard business challenges candidly. She was not just a coach but a guiding force, helping us redefine what culture meant to Suora.”
— Baaqir Yusuf, Co-founder, Suora Studios
“I could see from beginning to end the impact of the work that we did together.”
“After working with Sagely, our teaching team meetings felt transformed. Ownership and responsibility felt shared. Transparency and vulnerability were at levels after one session that we rarely hit even by the end of the year. I could see from beginning to end the impact of the work that we did together.”
— Lecturer, Yale University