Rita Anita Linger
Rita Anita Linger was born and raised in the “melting pot†of New York City on the lower east-side of Manhattan, a short distance from the World Trade Centers. She serves as a member of the Global Education Team of the Columbia University hosted Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Program (HDHS). HSHA aims at disseminating the research findings related to dignity and humiliation to a wide variety of audiences, internationally and within the U.S. HDHS contributes to the capacity of people to build peaceful societies being mindful of how humiliation may disrupt the social fabric, and how social cohesion may be sustained by preventing humiliation from occurring. She has been responsible for directing social justice, human relations, organizational effectiveness, diversity, and community development initiatives around sustainable communities and corporations (for-profit/non-profit), for 30 years. She is also responsible for building awareness and finding solutions around improved clinical encounters in healthcare for two decades.
Ms. Linger currently serves as the President/CEO of SERA, Inc. (Southeast Raleigh Assembly, Inc.). SERA, Inc. focuses on improving the quality of life for residents of Southeast Raleigh, while developing enduring relationships between corporations/business and citizens throughout the Triangle and the state. The organization concentrates on building community capacity, business and economic development opportunities, developing tomorrow’s leaders through business and civic empowerment initiatives, creating safe communities through public safety efforts, creating opportunities for enhanced health and well being particularly as it relates to environments and policy change. Ms. Linger believes as her favorite humanist and psychologist, Abraham Maslow posits “People’s capabilities clamor to be used, and without those capabilities being realized, the person can atrophy, and disappear -diminishing him/her forever.†Linger believes that to positively impact a corporation’s bottom-line, a holistic approach toward performance must be taken in evaluating and improving how people work independently and with others inside of an organization.
To that end, she has worked as an organizational effectiveness consultant with corporations for over 20 years, assisting in determining business imperatives, how to address and plan for them, leveraging risks, developing improved communications and negotiation systems and highlighting the often neglected potential of personal development as a key to unlocking an executive or senior manager’s leadership potential and assisting through evidence-based strategies (including stress management) to further bring their “excellent†leadership nature to the surface via the venues of coaching (both technical and personal) experiential learning, strategic planning, facilitation and training. She has consulted with a variety of Fortune 500 companies including Monsanto, Federal Express, Dell Corporation, Qualcomm, Starbucks and other organizations including The Harlem Globetrotters. Department of Energy, AZ Attorney General’s Office, Comerica Bank, Phoenix Police Department, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and American Heart Association.
Ms.Linger, is a dissertation candidate, working toward completion of a PhD in Human Science with concentrations in Organizational Systems and Integrative Health Studies from Saybrook University in San Francisco. She graduated with an M.A. degree from Ottawa University, Phoenix, AZ in Human Resources Management with a concentration in Organizational Transformation, and a dual tracked B.S. degree from Western International University, Phoenix, AZ in Business Administration and Social Science.
She is adjunct Professor at Peace College in Raleigh North Carolina where she teaches "Leadership and Social Change", she has also served as ongoing lecturer at Cornell University Law School where she lectured on Mediation and the Law. She provides business ethics training to companies and was appointed by the Chief Justice to the NC Family Court Advisory Committee, and served as a Commissioner, appointed by the Governor to the Governors Crime Commission in North Carolina.She currently services as a Human Relations Commissioner in Orange County, NC.
She has also served on the Arizona Family Court Advisory Committee, Phoenix Police Department's Disciplinary Review and Excessive Use of Force Boards, and serves on Teen Lifeline and American Heart Association's Cultural Initiatives Boards. Rita Anita has been a certified mediator/arbitrator for over 20 years, serving as Chair of the Quality Control Committee of the National Association for Community Mediation and has trained for the National Center for State Courts. She is a doctoral level Executive Coach, a certified mediator, certified True Colors facilitator as well as a licensed Heart math Provider. She is a member of the International Association of Facilitators, Organizational Development Network, and several other organizational effectiveness associations.
She is married with two children and two grandchildren.