Trauma-Informed Leadership: Training, Coaching, and Systems Change for Public-Service Teams
How We Help Leaders Build Safer, Stronger Teams
Chefalo Consulting partners with public service and mission-driven organizations to strengthen trauma-informed leadership, reduce burnout, and build cultures of safety and accountability. Our services combine practical skill-building with implementation support so learning turns into lasting practice.
Foundational Trauma-Informed Training
Build a shared understanding of trauma, stress, and resilience—and learn practical tools teams can use immediately.
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Shared language and core principles (safety, trust, voice, choice, equity)
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Tools for communication, boundaries, and regulation under pressure
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Application to supervision, team norms, and day-to-day practice
Build Capacity with
Train-the-Trainer
Develop internal facilitators who can teach, reinforce, and sustain trauma-informed practices across the organization.
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Facilitation skills + content fidelity for consistent delivery
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Tools for reinforcement, onboarding, and internal learning pathways
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Implementation supports to maintain momentum over time
Coaching and Consulting for Leaders and Teams
Apply trauma-informed practices to real challenges—burnout, conflict, change fatigue, and complex team dynamics.
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Leadership coaching and team coaching grounded in real scenarios
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Culture and supervision practices that strengthen accountability and care
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Support for implementation planning and ongoing reinforcement
Speaking, Keynotes, & Events
Inspire and equip audiences with an actionable understanding of trauma-informed leadership and resilient culture.
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Keynotes and breakout sessions tailored to your audience
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Practical takeaways, not just inspiration
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Options for conferences, leadership retreats, and all-staff events
Trauma-Informed Change Management and Implementation
Move beyond training to align systems, policies, and practice—so trauma-informed work becomes “how we do business.”
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Readiness and gap assessment to identify priorities
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Roadmap, milestones, and shared accountability for implementation
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Practical supports for sustainability (practice routines, reinforcement)
Trauma-Informed Leadership Development
Build leadership capacity with practical tools for supervision, communication, and accountability—especially in high-stress environments.
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Strengthen trust, clarity, and psychological safety
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Improve coaching, feedback, and conflict navigation
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Support resilience, retention, and healthy team culture
What is trauma-informed change?
Trauma-informed change is an intentional approach to improving culture, policies, and daily practices so people feel safe, respected, and supported, especially those impacted by trauma. It shifts organizations from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened, and what do you need to succeed?” and builds systems that reduce stress and strengthen connection.
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Create psychological and physical safety across teams and services
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Increase trust, transparency, and predictability in how work gets done
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Strengthen voice, choice, and shared power in decisions
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Build belonging and connection across roles and identities
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Reduce re-traumatization through responsive, human-centered practices
What does it mean to be a trauma-informed leader?
Recognize the far-reaching impacts of trauma on work, relationships, and decision-making
Promote healing and resilience by building safety, connection, and trust
Prevent re-traumatization through predictable, respectful, and fair practices
Understand behavior in context (stress responses, triggers, burnout, and overwhelm)
Build responsive systems that meet needs with consistency, compassion, and accountability
Organizational Outcomes of Trauma-Informed Change
When organizations reduce chronic stress and increase safety and trust, teams communicate more clearly and operate with greater consistency.
Improves employee satisfaction and strengthens retention
Strengthens belonging, equity, and inclusion in daily practice
Improves collaboration and strengthens cross-team alignment
Reduces communication breakdowns and siloing
Supports healthier teams and can reduce stress-related impacts over time
Builds mutual respect, trust, and accountability
Individual Outcomes When Work Becomes Trauma-Informed
Trauma-informed workplaces support regulation, clarity, and connection so people can show up with more stability and capacity.
Strengthens healthy coping and stress management strategies
Increases confidence, creativity, and problem-solving
Improves well-being and reduces overwhelm over time
Improves focus, decision-making, and performance under pressure
Supports emotional regulation and communication
Strengthens relationships and team connection
This work is not clinical therapy. It is leadership and culture development that helps teams reduce stress and improve how they work together.
“The magnitude of young people's exposure to overwhelming stress is so great and such a threat to national well-being that the issue must be addressed as a major public health concern.”
-Dr. Sandra L. Bloom
"Safety and accountability can coexist. We help leaders build both."
Meet Shen
Founder & Principal Consultant
Shenandoah Chefalo is an award-winning author, sought-after speaker, and trauma-informed leadership consultant with 20+ years of experience supporting government, education, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations.
Her work is grounded in lived experience and focused on helping leaders build cultures of safety, trust, and accountability so teams can sustain change without burning out.
Burnout is not a personal failure. It is often a system's signal.
When teams are stretched thin for too long, stress drives behavior, decision-making, and workplace culture. Chefalo Consulting helps leaders create trauma-informed systems that support safety, accountability, and sustainable change, especially in high-stress environments.
Our signature, trauma-informed coaching approach was developed by Shenandoah Chefalo and is informed by lived experience in the foster care system and two decades of leadership consulting. Through her healing journey, formal education, and experiential learning, Shen created a practical method for organizational change that helps leaders build safety, accountability, and sustainable culture shifts.
Our trauma-informed services meet dynamic needs
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Read Shen's memoir
