WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT MAUREEN

"I believe in these times, more now than ever before, there is a necessity and a ripeness for change at core systemic levels. Those that have the courage, privilege, insight, compassion, keen intellect, vision, commitment, integrity and fortitude MUST stand up, heed the call and do the work necessary to collectively change and positively impact the world. This must be done without apology and yet with finesse, with appreciation for those moments where a whisper is louder than a yell and with understanding that sometimes, anger is a gift. These are all things that embody and shape my experience of Maureen Benson. For the past seven years she has been a solid go to person for honest critique and a balanced thought partner.  It is with great love and dedication to social justice and disrupting the status quo that I continue to work with Maureen and recommend others do so as well."

Diedra Barber, MBA
CEO and Founder, Filament Consulting Group

"Maureen Benson's excellence can be attributed to her commitment to honoring the full human experience of her clients.  She has the social lens and structural scope to take big ideas from simple vision to simply visionary.  With an astute organizational acumen and an enormous capacity for facilitating heart open possibility in individuals and organizations, Maureen is an essential player in moving social impact organizations from well meaning to well running businesses that can change the world."

Sonya Renee Taylor
Founder and Radical Executive Officer, The Body is Not An Apology

"Maureen embodies the love that is required to do the very important work of changing the world.  And she rounds that amazing attribute out with professionalism, efficiency, creativity and a commitment to excellence."

Cat Brooks
Co-chair of ONYX Organizing Committee & Marketing and Community Engagement Professional

"Maureen Benson is an insightful leader and an effective organizer.  She is excellent at seeing and managing the full scope of a project, examining the work from multiple angles and understanding the impact of multiple moving parts, with a solid ability to communicate the impact of an organization's work on the communities it serves." 

Suzi Q. Smith
Executive Director, Poetry Slam Inc.

"Maureen Benson is as fierce as she is fair-minded, as visionary as she is vocal. She facilitates impossibly dangerous and difficult conversations at the individual, social, organizational, and cultural levels. She enables us to do the most important work we have to do together with vision, learning, and integrity."

Daphne Gottlieb
Award winning author and community activist

"I think Maureen Benson is one of the most necessary energies when considering literary arts, organization and the affects of the community. She negotiates the bureaucracy of education and has devoted her life to the unyielding fight for equality, undoing racism and women empowerment. "

Mahogany L. Browne
Poetry Program Director/Slam Host - Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Publisher - Penmanship Books

"Maureen understands the complex challenges inherent in building high-functioning, collaborative teams; leading and monitoring strategic planning; developing and stewarding budgets, and constructing and implementing systems in which employees can achieve. Maureen embodies my most comprehensive, courageous and competent definition of tomorrow's education leader. Entrusting her to run my company is minor as compared to her role as friend or sometimes as life coach, that Maureen has often assumed in my times of greatest need.  In all complicated matters human, Maureen brings a keen insight, empathy, compassion, and a refusal to be judgmental."

Glenn E. Singleton
President/CEO, Pacific Educational Group, Author of Courageous Conversations About Race and More Courageous Conversations About Race

"No matter what the project is, I want Maureen Benson on the team.  Her understanding of the public education system is impressive, her organizational skills unparalleled and most importantly, she cares deeply about the lives of Oakland’s youth.  Maureen is a true student advocate, always fighting to ensure that ALL youth are afforded the educational opportunities they deserve.”

Jason Hoffman
Co-Founder Elevate Oakland, Co-Founder & Executive Director 51Oakland

If allyship, good will, kickassness, genius, and indominitible will could be personified, she would be that personification.

Shawn Taylor

Co-founder of the Black Comix Arts Festival (BCAF), Author, Professor

"I love working with Maureen. Her passion to make a difference for her clients is a joy to experience. She presents herself from a positive perspective always. Her organization and attention to detail are a testimony to her passion and desire to make a difference in any task she takes on."

Karen Bair
Founder and Executive Director, Matter of Time and Convenience 

"One of the many amazing qualities that I love and appreciate about Maureen is her personal commitment to keep expanding, learning and growing.  This accompanied with her passion and pure desire to provide opportunities for others to learn, and express that learning/wisdom in the world to elevate humanity and better the human condition, is both rare and extraordinary.  I've seen her on the court of life providing training and development for many people across many demographics and I've witnessed powerful, palpable results in their lives (and hers)."

Xav DuBois
CEO, evox OmniMedia, PBC

"From the moment I met Maureen Benson over 12 years ago, I knew she got it. Not only did I know she got it, but I knew she got me and that’s exactly what she told me: “I got you!” And she does, always! Everytime I have a project, whether big or small, she is there to assist me in crucial ways both personally and professionally. What more can you ask for in a coach, in a friend, in a mentor? Her vast array of talents, namely integrity, authenticity and accountability, continually support me in achieving my goals of making a positive impact in my community and becoming the person I aspire to become.  Simply put, Maureen is truly gifted and she walks in brilliance. I am certain she can help any person or organization achieve their maximum potential."

Steve Snider
District Manager, Downtown Oakland Association/Lake Merritt-Uptown District Association