What I Do
One-on-one coaching and consulting with nonprofit leaders and managers, helping you successfully navigate the people-side of leadership.
Why I Want to Help
When a leader is struggling with their team, they're often carrying things like:
- Frustration they can't say out loud
- Uncertainty about whether they're handling something wrong
- Relational dynamics they don't know how to untangle
- Fear of making things worse
Executives, mid-level managers, or team leads — if this is your experience, let's sit down together. Tell me what's going on. I want to listen first. Then we'll build solutions created just for you.
How We'll Work Together
I work primarily as a coach — listening deeply and guiding you to discover your own best answers and solutions.
When you want more direct support, we can shift into a mentoring relationship where I also share practical advice, frameworks, and lessons from 40 years of leadership experience.
What We Focus On
Ready to see your own leadership style right now?
What Clients Are Saying
“Working with Lori helped me see the patterns I had been missing for years. She has a rare gift for listening between the lines and asking the question I didn't know to ask.”
“The work I did with Lori changed how I show up for my team every single day.”
“Your voice and advice continue to inform my leadership — thanks for planting such good seeds!”
About Lori
A principal of Swarner Associates, LLC, Lori Swarner has spent 40 years doing something deceptively simple: helping people work well together. As a communications director, team builder, and leadership coach/mentor, she has built healthy, productive teams across organizations of every size — not through a one-size-fits-all playbook, but through techniques she’s developed and refined by paying close attention to what actually helps people thrive.
That same attentiveness runs through her 18 years of hands-on church communications experience across two congregations. Lori knows firsthand the unique dynamics of creative teams that blend staff and volunteers, vision-driven communication, and mission-focused creativity — and she brings that practitioner’s instinct to every organization she consults with.
Let's Talk
Tell me what's going on. I want to listen.