Going First

Nell Derick Debevoise lovingly wrangles people, ideas, and horses to make work healthier and fairer for all of us. To activate that purpose, Nell facilitates courageous conversations that lead to growth and innovation and improve well-being and performance, advises on talent and social impact strategies, and coaches leaders and founders to expand their impact and build powerful legacies. Since 2011, Nell has worked with hundreds of leaders from Fortune 500, startup, B Corp, and not-for-profit organizations to do the challenging but rewarding work of becoming the people their dogs and grandchildren think they are. Nell has an interdisciplinary approach, gathering international, academic and applied perspectives that bridge sectors, industries, and generations. She has lived and worked on four continents and collaborated across sectors with Japanese executives, Palestinian community leaders, French high school students, and Mozambique education ministry officials, among others.Nell studied leadership, innovation, and intercultural dialog at Harvard, Cambridge, Universita di Roma, and Columbia and London Business Schools. She is the Chief Wrangler of Inspiring Cowgirl PBC, a partner of PurposeFused, and cofounder and CEO of the Purposeful Growth Institute. Nell advises and invests in values-aligned startups across industries. She speaks and writes about this entire portfolio of work as a senior contributor for Forbes Leadership, and her first book is Going First: Your Invitation to Find the Courage to Lead Purposefullyand Inspire Action (Spring 2023).