TEAM
RENÉ BENAVIDES
DESIGNER, FACILITATOR, SOMATIC COACH & BODYWORKER
René Benavides (they/them) is a designer, somatic coach & bodyworker whose career demonstrates a long held commitment to educational freedom and healing justice; working towards integrated mental health as part of the child welfare and educational systems. Currently René coaches leaders across the world and across movement spaces as an embodied leadership coach and consultant. Supporting individuals and organizations to embody their vision for change.
René specializes in trauma healing and dedicates their somatic coaching and bodywork practice to supporting those who wish to create change in the world; emphasizing 2SQTGNC BIPOC and disabled individuals. Their practice is largely shaped by their lived experience as a reconnecting and remembering Mechica, queer, and disabled person. To that end, René weaves ritual and spirituality into their practice as a space holder. René’s lived experience as a disabled person positions them to be a leader in accessible and equitable design.
René holds a Masters in Social Work (MSW), Pupil Personnel Services Credential (PPSC), and is an International Coach Federation (ICF) and Strozzi Institute Certified Somatic Coach and Bodyworker. René is also a practitioner of Reiki, Neuro Somatic Intelligence, and ventosas (cupping). They have held fellowships with the National Equity Project and School Retool at the Stanford d.school. René is also a member of the Design Justice Network.