Coconino National Forest is the home of Sedona, AZ. and the famous red rocks that are known for embracing people with warmth and energy.

Being in the presence of these red rocks have sparked some amazing transformations for people, myself included. We believe that being in the presence of loving kindness creates the space that is essential for growth and transformation. We approach all aspects of our work with the intention to create this space for people and teams, whether it’s coaching, organization design, or team development.

About Erica

Erica Ishida believes in the power of culture, talent, and leadership in building viable organizations. She has more than 15 years of experience in organization design, change management, and leadership development, and a solid understanding of the dynamics of change leadership to produce business redesigns and cultural transformation. She has worked in industries spanning professional services, technology, telecommunications, and venture development.

Erica has been a trusted advisor to CEOs both as an internal employee and as an external advisor and coach. She has worked with a diverse group of clients, from C-level leaders to high potentials, across a variety of industries. She has dedicated her career to designing scalable organizations and processes, building managed cultures, coaching high-potential leaders, building highly effective teams, and managing change. She has deep subject matter expertise in organization design, change management, leadership as well as sales and client services.

Erica is a certified Leadership Development Coach and has had responsibilities for coaching CEOs in the companies she has worked for, and on a consulting basis. She has experience in start-up and high growth environments as well as Fortune 500 organizations. Erica also occasionally teaches and coaches Leadership Development courses through Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Oh.

Erica is currently the President of Coconino Partners, a strategic execution firm based on developing leaders, with a focus on women leaders. She also works with Winding River Consulting, LLC to facilitate Managing Partner Bootcamps, developing leadership capabilities in new Managing Partners of professional services firms.

Previously, Erica worked at AXS/Veritix as Chief of Staff where she led the integration effort for the AXS and Veritix acquisition and integrations. This work included organization design, process design, culture definition and implementation, as well as leadership coaching. 

Erica also led the Business Development function for BDO, USA, the world’s fifth largest accounting firm. In that role, Erica defined and implemented the structure, processes, and systems for the business development organization. She led a team of 55 sales and marketing professionals across the nation and implemented a firm-wide CRM system.

Central to Erica’s life are her son, her husband, and her dogs. Erica is a connector. She loves connecting with people, animals, and nature through friendships, coaching, consulting, hiking, running, meditating, community involvement, and conservationist efforts.

• Honors BA, Psychology, The University of Michigan
• Masters in Positive Organization Design (MPOD), Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
• Certified in Leadership Development, CWRU