MEET SHANAE

The Woman

Behind the Mission

Shanae' Calhoun is the founder and CEO of Willow Consulting. Her purpose is clear: to work with organizational leaders who need clarity in their mission, vision, and purpose—and who want to invest in their team's leadership development.

With fourteen years of experience building people-power as a community organizer, developing healthy boards of directors, managing budgets, and nurturing staff, Shanae' has witnessed firsthand the cost of relentless work without rest.

She watched her colleagues burn out. Become unhappy. Ready to quit.

So Willow Consulting was born—not as another productivity solution, but as a sanctuary for sustainable leadership.

THE ORIGIN STORY

Discovering the Power of Pause

In 2019, Shanae' took a sabbatical from her full-time work as a community organizer to study the Biblical principle of Shabbat—the sacred practice of intentional rest.

"The sabbatical helped me discover the Power of Pause and a refreshing of my purpose."

But looking around, so many of her colleagues—brilliant, passionate, dedicated leaders—were running on empty. The work that once ignited them had become a weight they could barely carry.

Willow Consulting exists because rest is not a reward—it's a requirement for the kind of leadership our communities deserve.

OUR FOUNDATION

Willow is Fueled by These Truths

God has provided enough resources in this world for everyone to have their basic needs met.

Abundance is real.

Systemic racism is real, hurts marginalized communities, and needs to be dismantled.

Justice is non-negotiable.

Black lives matter.

This is foundational.

CREDENTIALS & HONORS

A Leader Among Leaders

Education

• Bachelor in Sociology, Florida State University

Experience

• 14+ years building people-power as a community organizer

• 13 years in the DART Network (faith-based community organizing)

• 5 years of coaching non-profit staff and faith leaders

Leadership Training & Certifications

• 2020 — Introduction to Liberatory Coaching, CHJL (Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation)

• 2023 — Completed Managing to Change the World training, The Management Center

• 2024 — Graduate, Sam Chand Leadership Institute

Local/National Recognition

• Leadership Greater Topeka (2018)

• Inaugural Class of Power 50 Fellowship (2018)

• Topeka Top 20 Under 40 (2019)

• Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Representative (2019)

• Community Change Emerging Change Champion Award (2019)

• Executive Committee Member (2022) — Greater Topeka Partnership Momentum

The Power 50 Fellowship provides leadership development and creates liberated spaces for women of color who are community organizers—recognizing Shanae' as part of its inaugural class of transformational leaders.