Anita Russell

Anita D Russell, MEd, CPLC, is passionate about personal transformation and doing BIG things—building community, inspiring change, and giving back. She is loves working with people she encounters in everyday life through life coaching, speaking, and writing—women entrepreneurs, and career professionals in particular. Her career and life experiences span multiple disciplines, including pharmaceutical research and development, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, leadership, and volunteer service.

She earned a master's degree in Educational Leadership from Capella University. She is a graduate of the Certified Life Coach Institute, a member of the John Maxwell Team, and a member of the International Coach Federation. Anita is the Founder of The Place to SOAR, a social enterprise dedicated to cultivating change through daily growth and personal development for the purpose of unleashing human potential. "SOAR" is an acronym for Step Out and Redesign and is the basis for her work.

She coaches individuals towards becoming the person they aspire to be by examining who they are, and deciding how to move forward in their "becoming space". Using an appreciative coaching and strength-based approach, she activates individuals to identify and disrupt limiting beliefs, empower deep self-knowledge, and challenge worldview assumptions. She developed an activism through coaching model to create a courageous space for conversations about racism, personal transformation, and cultivating social change. She serves individuals in one-on-one and group coaching, and companies for employee coaching.

Anita is a board member of OMA Pittsburgh, and VP of Media Relations for the Edna B. McKenzie Pittsburgh Branch of ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History). She is also a member of Ujamaa Collective and Emerald City Pittsburgh.