Dr. Lynette Fraga behind a podium speaking at a Generations United event. She is wearing blue and white formal evening wear and bold blue jewelry.

Speaking

Leadership Speaker to Guide Nonprofit Women of Color Forward

Dr. Lynette Fraga is a seasoned nonprofit C-suite leader and speaker who inspires and guides other nonprofit WOC leaders to achieve their big goals.

featured at

A young Latina woman wearing an orange button-down shirt and jeans with her palm facing upward, asking a question because she doesn’t understand.

the reality

Women of color nonprofit leaders are creative, committed, and talented.

But so often, they are underestimated, overlooked, and lack critical workplace support.

As a result, they are frustrated and exhausted, which can lead to disruptive departures and compromised missions.

Organizations and leadership may lack the resources, and often simply the commitment, to provide critical support to women leaders of color.

But more and more, nonprofit executives and board of directors are realizing that in order to fully reveal the brilliance of BIPOC women leaders, it’s time to prioritize and invest in their support.

Speaker Dr. Lynette Fraga smiling big on a sidewalk, wearing a bright, floral dress, bold orange jewelry, and pink glasses.

Hi, I’m Dr. Lynette Fraga

coach, consultant, speaker
founder & CEO OF FIERCELY FORWARD

I have a passion for lifting up WOC leaders and lightening the journey with support, understanding, inspiration, and hard-won wisdom. A seasoned, engaging, and motivating public speaker, I deliver powerful presentations for audiences large and small, virtual or in-person.

I have been in the nonprofit and education sectors for over thirty years. I was the CEO of a national nonprofit with a $126 million budget and nearly 200 staff for over ten years, and have many more years in the C-Suite. I have experienced the complexity of nonprofit executive leadership at the community and national level, including its wins and losses.

Now, as a leadership coach and consultant, I work 1:1 with leaders at different levels helping them to navigate the complexities of social, organizational, professional and personal change through challenges big and small, transitions and crises.

As a BIPOC woman, I believe that we each bring individual and generational wisdom to our leadership roles, if given the opportunity to tap into it. I can work with you to understand your audience and help move them to where you want them to be.

Kind words

"Lynette is a powerful and inspiring speaker with extensive experience.

She has an amazing ability to motivate an audience while remaining transparent and relevant. She encourages positive change, action and hope! I recommend her to you without hesitation.”

—Kimberlee J. Hendricks, Managing Director, McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University

Dr. Lynette Fraga speaking on stage with microphone in hand and a digital display behind her.

Sample Topics

  • Courage Through Vulnerability: Your Leadership Superpower

    Demonstrating vulnerability in leadership can be your greatest superpower, but vulnerability is difficult when you don’t know who you can trust.

    We’ll explore: how to navigate hatred, inequity and disparities in the workplace; what triggers our feelings of not-enoughness and unworthiness; and how to shift our power, build courage and construct collaboration.

    Participants will take away practical ideas and redefine what’s possible at work through vulnerability.

  • Frameworks for A Supported C-Suite WOC Nonprofit Executive

    Being in the C-Suite was exactly where you wanted to be… and then you got there. Demands are immediate. Decisions need to have been made yesterday. Judgment, including self-judgment, is everywhere. 

    You’ve been told you have to fix it - all of it.  And everyone has an opinion on how. It's a complex mess. You feel completely alone, not knowing where to start or who to turn to.  

    These challenges are made easier when you build a framework of support. Learn how to build the scaffolding for your success—the relationships, frameworks, and opportunities that can support you as a leader.   

  • Influencing Inside and Outside Your Organization as a WOC Nonprofit Executive

    Inspiring others to take action toward a mission or goal takes deliberate attention, and the activation of a set of skills that move others forward.

    What encourages teams to move in the same direction toward a single goal? What gets in the way—especially as a BIPOC woman leader— and how can you overcome it?

    Learn about these skills, and how to add them to your leadership toolkit.

  • Learning to Pause: Realistic Self-Care for the WOC Nonprofit Executive

    Despite our ingrained generational and societal conditioning, pausing for reflection is critical to your health and wellness and leadership journey.

    Taking time out to reflect provides room for self-exploration and serious consideration of who you are as a leader and human, navigating the complexities of the everyday.  

    Walk away with a tangible plan to support moments of pause—whether they be minutes during a day, days within a month, or a planned sabbatical or professional pause.

Dr. Lynette Fraga wearing heels in a confident “power pose” on a brick sidewalk, in front of a brick building with windows.

book dr. fraga to speak

Ready to make fierce change in your organization?

Please fill out the form below, and you’ll receive a response within 48 hours.