Meet our coaches

Max Steinman (he/him) is a strategist, facilitator and film impact producer. As a trained Public Narrative coach, he is excited to support the pro-democracy movement in using storytelling to strengthen its work.

He currently services as the Vice President of DoSomething Strategic where he advises clients such as the Red Cross and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars on their youth engagement and social impact strategies. Max began his career as part of the truth campaign's Youth Speakers Bureau where he shared the truth about Big Tobacco's deceptive marketing practices at youth convenings across the country and inspired them to be changemakers in their own communities. He then spent over a decade in the advertising world, launching campaigns for nonprofits, fondations and mission-aligned brands. This included supporting mail-back of the 2010 U.S. Census with hard-to-count populations and launching BreatheLife, a campaign of the World Health Organization to combat the health and climate impacts of air pollution. Max also served as the Director of Campaigns with Exposure Labs where he led the development of impact campaigns on issues of environmental justice and youth mental health for their slate of Emmy award-winning films Chasing Ice, Chasing Coral and The Social Dilemma.

Michael Gagné is an organizer, educator, and coach committed to helping people build the power they need to change unjust systems. For over 25 years, his work has been at the intersection of campaigning, leadership development, and environmental justice. As Global Director of Organizing at Mercy For Animals, he supports campaigns to end factory farming and build just and sustainable food systems. Michael has led direct-action and advocacy campaigns, trained and coached thousands of emerging leaders, and been a teaching fellow for Marshall Ganz. In his leisure time, Michael enjoys trail running, martial arts, live music, and board games with family and the Rad Dads.

Leadership coach, strategic advisor, and foster parent recruiter/trainer with a varied background in multiple functions and industries. Mike completed the Public Narrative course in 2022, and has since served as a course weekend workshop coach, trained work colleagues in narrative, and advised clients on the use of these and related topics. He has served his local church and community for many years as a team lead, mentor, tutor, and instigator of collaboration for common purpose. His passion is developing impact-driven leaders and uniting people for greater purpose.

A lawyer and social worker by profession, Mike has been helping people organize and tell stories for several years, including students, activists, labour leaders and workers, women seeking elected office, public health care workers, Indigenous governments, survivors of sexual abuse, and migrant workers. A past Exceutive Director of the Institute for Change Leaders in Toronto, Mike has also served as a Teaching Fellow for Marshall Ganz at Harvard and done work with the Leading Change Network. In 2023, Mike was elected Councillor, Ward 3, in his home community of the City of Kawartha Lakes. Mike is a proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, Canada.

Nada has 15 years of experience as a democracy advocate, network/community builder, nonprofit leader and social entrepreneur, and more recently as a facilitator and leadership coach. She first learned organizing and narrative as a grad student in Marshall Ganz's class in 2014 and has been hooked ever since. Nada has worked with hundreds of leaders and organizations to promote democratic values and work together, starting with movement leaders in the Arab Spring. 

Phil (he/him) has dedicated his life and career to public service, mainly in the non-profit, public benefit field but also supporting State and local campaigns. Trained in psychology and sociology, and by the Leading Change Network as a Trainer of Trainers (ToT) of the Public Narrative and Community Organizing leadership frameworks developed by Marshall Ganz, he supports arts, environmental, and social justice leaders, teams, and organizations to a) grow and turn the resources they have, b) into the power and influence they need, to c) get the change that they want. Although a believer in the power of collective action, he is known to occasionally disappear into the mountains on solo summit attempts.

An electoral campaigner and trainer for the Australian Labor Party spanning many decades and a media and digital communications worker for Australian trade unions over the last 14 years. Trained in organising and leadership practices as a coach by Leading Change Network, these practices have been applied in electoral, union and other civil society campaigns. National Secretary of the Australian Fabians, Australia's older progressive think tank and its largest member based think tank.