Ja Young Ahn-Williams

I am a coach, facilitator, and consultant committed to the inner and outer work of transformation for a more just and equitable world.

I work with individuals and organizations navigating change, complexity, and the messy work of transformation. In working with me, you’ll engage your body, heart, mind, and spirit to reclaim your power and give voice to the truths you have been longing to name.

I am a native New Yorker, a daughter of Korean immigrants, and a mother of a multiracial child who has called Oakland home for the past 15 years. My identities and lived experiences are deeply rooted in how I show up in my work—with no-bullshit honesty, deep compassion, and a willingness to name what is often left unsaid.

In my coaching and consulting practice, I work with leaders and organizations fighting for social and racial justice. My work is about helping people tap into their own vision, wisdom, and power to do the difficult and essential work of personal and organizational transformation and healing.

I believe I belong. I believe you belong. And I believe we can only truly thrive in spaces where we experience belonging. My work is about helping create those conditions—within ourselves, with one another, and in our organizations.

Hi, my name is Ja Young and I’m glad you found my page. Officially I’m a coach and an organizational consultant and the work I do comes from a healing and liberation approach.

Ja Young Ahn-Williams (she/her) is the founder of Attunement Coaching and Consulting, and a founding partner of Imagine Us. Ja Young brings over 15 years of experience working with leaders and organizations in the non-profit and education sectors. She works with individuals and organizations that are committed to healing and unlearning the ways that white supremacy distorts our sense of belonging – to ourselves and to each other.

Ja Young believes in the innate wisdom of individuals and groups and uses coaching and facilitation to harness that power for her clients. She brings an authentic and embodied approach to creating the conditions for risk-taking and deep transformation. She feels honored to accompany her clients on their path towards healing and liberation.

Ja Young is a native New Yorker, a daughter of Korean immigrants, and the mother of a multiracial child. Her identities have gifted her with a capacity to hold multiple realities and a passion for interrupting the silence of marginalized voices. Both as a mother and a facilitator of change, she is in a daily practice of humility, vulnerability, and self-compassion. Her joy comes from laughing with her son, harvesting fruit and vegetables from her garden, and hiking in the redwoods.

Ja Young is a transformational coach and consultant, working with leaders and organizations through LeaderSpring, Imagine Us, Social Transformation Project, and the Coaching for Healing, Justice and Liberation school. She leads transformative coaching circles for AAPI femme leaders through Reclaiming Us. Ja Young is also trained as a facilitator of Somatic Abolitionism, having worked alongside Resmaa Menakem. She is trained as a facilitator and lecturer of interpersonal and group dynamics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, UC Berkeley Haas Business School, and The New School. She is a graduate of The New School where she received her MS in Organizational Change Management.

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Ja Young is the founder of Attunement Coaching & Consulting and a founding partner of Imagine Us, working at the intersection of organizational transformation, leadership development, and somatic practice. She brings a grounded presence to her work—helping clients slow down, connect with their power, and move with greater clarity. She supports individuals and teams by creating the conditions for risk-taking, trust-building, and deep reflection, while helping groups engage honestly with what is emerging. Ja Young has built her practice primarily in partnership with nonprofit and social justice organizations navigating periods of change, complexity, and conflict, with a particular passion for alchemizing individual and group struggle into transformation and possibility.

Ja Young is a coach mentor with Coaching for Healing, Justice and Liberation, a certified transformational coach through Leadership That Works, and a facilitator of Somatic Abolitionism. She has facilitated interpersonal dynamics, group process, and leadership courses at Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business, and The New School.

Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Queens, NYC, Ja Young has called Oakland, CA home for the past 15 years, where she enjoys being close to the redwoods and the ocean.

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 Sessions with Ja Young never feel rushed or scripted; she takes your lead when it comes to what you need during your time together, yet introduces different ways of processing things together. Sometimes that's through discussion, through body work or through breath work. If you go into your coaching relationship with Ja Young with an open mind and open heart, you will be able to find more openings within yourself that will help you grow as a person and as a leader. I valued my time with Ja Young and am grateful to have worked with her!

– Kim Wallace Carlson, Associate Principal, Communications Director, Populous

Ja Young is a compassionate coach who is genuinely curious about her clients. She is an exceptional listener and very skilled at asking questions that help people get to the root of what they are really saying, feeling or thinking.

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