Meet Anita:
Personal Transformation Expert and Activist
“I am a personal transformation expert and activist fusing faith, intellect, and firebrand leadership to ignite personal transformation, collective liberation, and cooperative economics. I don’t just build or facilitate workshops, I build movements —personal, transformational, organizational, and community engagement. Whether it’s life coaching, feminine wisdom, or cooperative economics, I turn ideas into actionable blueprints wrapped in vibrant design and soul-deep reflection. My voice is unmistakable: strategic, empowering, and unshakably rooted in truth. I lead with purpose, serve with style, and challenge others to step out and redesign themselves.”
— Anita D. Russell
My Story
I am passionate about personal transformation and doing BIG things—building community, inspiring change, and giving back.
I enjoy empowering people I encounter in everyday life through coaching, speaking, writing, facilitating, and community engagement—women entrepreneurs, business professionals, experts, and creatives in particular.
My career and life experiences span multiple disciplines, including pharmaceutical R&D, corporate learning and development, leadership development, instructional design,, Equity Diversity Inclusion, and nonprofit consulting.
I am the Founder/CEO of The Place to SOAR, a social enterprise dedicated to cultivating change through daily growth, personal transformation, and accountability for the purpose of unveiling human potential.
Leadership Portfolio
Creator/Host of InflexionPoint Podcast on the Transformation Network .This is my brainchild! It is an outgrowth of my personal George Floyd Origin Story. I am the content creator and host along with two co-hosts — Gail Hunter founder of the OMA Center for Mind, Body, Spirit and Mavis Bauman, founder of Seed a Better Life (Both lead non-profit organizations.)
In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.”Throughout the year we’ll explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference.
Episodes focus on both theory and practical examples, allowing our audience to gain insights that they can apply in real-world community-engagement efforts.
Leadership Roles
- Board Member OMA Pittsburgh Mind Body Spirit Center, dedicated to holistic education for the well-being of self, family, and community
- VP Media Relations the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History).
- Member of the Ujamaa Collective, a non-profit organization founded with a social mission to act as a catalyst to advance cultural, artistic and entrepreneurial exchange through cooperative economics.
I reside in my home city of Pittsburgh PA.
Business Portfolio
Growth from within: Recognizing that you have to know yourself from the inside out to achieve daily growth and personal transformation. Together we cultivate change through the 4-step appreciative coaching process: discover, dream, design, and destiny.
The essence of self-directed coaching lies in empowering individuals to be the architects of their own growth and development. By providing professionals with the freedom to choose when and how they learn, this approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement and self-discovery.
A 10-WEEK Antiracism Incubator
Delivers an experience that (a) prepares you for critical self-reflection of innermost thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about racism, (b) increases awareness of your words, actions, and behaviors in a racialized society, and (c) provides a personal transformation strategy towards antiracism activation and social change.
Facilitator Roles
- Ujamaa Collective (Community Engagement Circle)
- Facilitator, Greenwood Plan Artist Think Tank
- On Call Facilitator, Center for Creative Leadership
- Antiracism Cohort Facilitator, The Forbes Fund
Author Portfolio
Voices of the 21st Century: Women Transforming the World (February 2023), featuring my chapter, “The Hidden Secret of True Allyship”
Cultivating Change from the Inside Out: The Power of Being Human (2021), a self-help guide to dismantling racism and cultivating change from the inside out through personal transformation.
Voices of the 21st Century: Resilient Women Who Rise and Make a Difference (2021), featuring my short story, “Musings of a COVID-19 Baby.” (International Bestseller)
Voices of the 21st Century: Bold, Brave, and Brilliant Women Who Make a Difference (2019), featuring her short story, “Pangs of Guilt.” (International Bestseller)
I Wanna See Laney’s House: A Sibling Story (2019), My first independent writing project chronicling a deliverance journey from broken to whole.
