Elena Aguilar is a writer, leader, teacher, coach, and podcaster. She is the author of seven highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) The Art of Coaching Teams (2016), Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018), The Onward Workbook (2018), Coaching for Equity (2020), The Art of Coaching Workbook (2020) and The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development (2022). She has also frequently contributed to Edutopia, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and EdWeek Teacher.

Elena is the founder and CEO of Bright Morning Consulting, an organization committed to helping individuals and organizations create the conditions for transformation. She has taught tens of thousands of folks how to have conversations that build a more just and equitable world. Elena can be heard demonstrating these conversations on the Bright Morning Podcast.

Elena is also the co-founder of Kenya Big Picture Learning; she’s on the advisory board of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher. She lives in Oakland, CA, with her husband, son, and two cats. When not coaching or writing, she enjoys traveling abroad, photographing birds, hiking, drinking coffee, and reading fiction.