Laurel O’Sullivan, J.D.
Ever since becoming a social justice lawyer over two decades ago Laurel’s career has been defined by a pursuit for the truth. After leaving the practice of law in 2013 she continued this pursuit by starting her own company to teach, train and inspire social impact leaders how to use their voice for greater impact in the world. In 2019 she pivoted to coaching women in the midst of career transition with how to confidently navigate change and connect with their true source of power, using their natal astrology as a guide.
The tragic death of her youngest son by suicide in 2022 sent Laurel on her own intense grief journey which included revisiting and healing past traumas including the sudden death of her father while 9 months pregnant and the sudden death of her childrens' father in 2019 from alcoholism. In 2024 she became a certified grief educator through David Kessler’s grief education certification program. She now continues to work with individuals and groups to embrace grief in all its forms. She strongly believes in guiding others to embrace the pain that accompanies grief and loss of any kind as an avenue for connecting with their deepest wisdoms and heartfelt truths so that they may then turn their pain into purpose.
My Journey
From Lawyer to Consultant & Coach
In 2008 Laurel pivoted from a 12-year career as an environmental public interest lawyer to become the Vice President for Policy at the Donors Forum and a champion for changing the Illinois nonprofit and philanthropic sector. For five years Laurel raised millions of dollars while leading multiple state and national initiatives to empower nonprofits and engage philanthropy at a deeper level in public advocacy.
In 2013, Laurel started the Advocacy Collaborative. For the next four years, she pioneered her AdvocacyForward approach teaching and training thousands of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders on how to use their voices for greater impact in the public arena as well as consulting to nonprofit organizations on how to integrate advocacy as a leadership streategy.
ln 2018, Laurel’s desire to go deeper in working with individual leaders led her to add coaching and advising social impact leaders and entrepreneurs interested in changing the world to her practice.
My Process
Laurel digs deep and inspires all her clients, to find their mission and their truth, overcome their fears and advocate for the change they are seeking from a place of clarity, deeper meaning and greater purpose and impact. She does this by diving deep into understanding their unique contribution or source of power, along with any obstacles from the past that are impeding their progress while surfacing their best opportunities to create the change they are seeking. She synthesizes all this information to create a roadmap or plan for each client to achieve their goals with maximum impact. To each engagement, Laurel brings deep professional knowledge about what it takes to create lasting change as well as an intuitive and empathetic approach based on her personal and professional experience navigating transitions.