About RUPI

The Right Use of Power Institute (RUPI) is a global force, guiding people to utilize their power with awareness, wisdom, compassion and skill.

Founded in 2011, RUPI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

RUPI was formed to further the reach of the Right Use of Power™ mission. We serve the general public, professionals, and members of the Right Use of Power™ Teacher’s Guild.

Learn about RUP Core Concepts

Our Vision

We inspire and support people in using their power ethically, with accountability, strength and heart.

Our Founder

Dr. Cedar Barstow

Founder & Executive Director Emerita of the Right Use of Power Institute

Learn more about Cedar’s additional contributions to the world on her website, www.CedarBarstow.com.

Cedar (she/her) is a consultant and teacher on ethics and ethical issues. She has been designing, developing, and teaching this approach since 1994. Cedar’s background includes 30 years as a psychotherapist and 25 years as a teacher.

She is the author of books and articles on ethics, counseling with elders, women and independence, and psychotherapy and spirituality. Cedar is also a Hakomi Experiential Psychology Trainer and a member of the Naropa University Adjunct Faculty.

She maintains a private psychotherapy and ethics consulting practice in Boulder/Denver and teaches both Right Use of Power™ and Hakomi nationally and internationally.

The Right Use of Power™ educational materials and exercises were developed by Cedar over a period of 20 years and dozens of trainings.

These teachings have been influenced by many sources in Cedar’s background. She is particularly grateful for her extensive experiences as an administrator, therapist, and trainer of the the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy, chair of both the Hakomi Institute International Ethics Committee (HIEC) and the United States Association of Body Psychotherapy (USABP) Ethics Committee, ethics expert contributor to GoodTherapy.org, consultant to numerous organizations, and ceremonialist with the Earth Song Ceremonial Dance Community.

Our Lineage Holder

Dr. Amanda Aguilera

Volunteer Director of Vision & Abundance

Amanda is a consultant and facilitator in the area of power-and-equity consciousness and conflict resolution. Driven by her core values of curiosity, courage, and connection, Amanda is adept at putting things together in new ways, creating visuals that help make learning more accessible, and communicating complex ideas in simple ways.

Amanda has a commitment to be courageous in the service of reducing and repairing harm in relationship and promoting the cultural shift toward power-and-equity consciousness, conflict positivity and conflict competency.

At the core of her academic and personal passion is the advancement in understanding social power dynamics and deepening the personal and collective uses of power in the world with wisdom and compassion.

Her doctoral dissertation focused on the dynamics of shame and power in the justice system and she continues to develop theoretical models in the intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences of power dynamics, including the integration of neurobiology, contemplative practices and restorative practices as they relate to power differentials.

Dr. Amanda Aguilera is also an author, psychotherapist, coach, and speaker as well as the co-founder of an organization called Sacred Wayfinding where she and her partner support individuals and groups through rites of passage and sacred journeying.

Our Team

We are a small and mighty team of humans, woman-founded and gender-expansive-led. We are aware that our history is rooted in a white-cis-woman identity that was focused on personal and role power. It is our intention and our vision to create a collaborative organization of many identities dedicated to the exploration of all types of power, including status, collective, and systemic power.

Many of our staff and contractors are white or white-presenting, and we acknowledge the disparity of perspective this creates. We acknowledge we are not immune to identity supremacy, particularly white supremacy, as many of our staff are from the United States and have been socialized within that context.

We are actively pursuing a power-conscious and diverse staff - that is not only racially diverse but is also as internationally diverse as our community. Our focus is to continually give and receive feedback and grow individually and collectively into right relationship.

Kelli Solis

Fractional COO

About Kelli

Ana Shoemaker

Operations & Training Coordinator

About Ana

As a Purépecha-American social artist, Ana is dedicated to personal and transformational health, wellness, and relational healing through conscious movement, art, dialogue, and dance. She serves on the advisory team for the Dallas Movement Collective and coordinates BIPOC Ecstatic Dances. Previously, she was a personal caregiver for a loved one with Alzheimer’s for ten years and a volunteer in the Dallas County Jail with female inmates for a decade, where she offered creative dance and movement. Sarah Lawrence College is where she received her bachelor’s in Sociology/Anthropology.

Our Board of Directors

Agata "Aggie" Chydzinski

She/Her

About Aggie

Agata “Aggie” Chydzinski is a business advisor and co-founder of Athena Advisory Collective. She helps mission-driven organizations identify and resolve financial problems, strengthen internal systems, and build sustainable growth strategies rooted in their values. With 20 years of experience, Aggie works closely with Women-Owned, LGBTQ+ Owned, and BIPOC-Owned businesses across mental health, healthcare, the trades, and professional services.

Aggie is known for turning financial chaos into clarity. She partners with founders and leadership teams to clean up operations, align business models, and support decision-making that leads to long-term stability. Her approach is strategic, relational, and unapologetically grounded in results.

As a board member of the Right Use of Power Institute, Aggie brings practical expertise in financial repair and organizational sustainability. She is committed to helping RUPI grow its impact while staying aligned with its mission of fostering ethical and embodied power.

Dr. Amanda Aguilera

She/Her/Ella

About Amanda

Lauren Shuler, P.E., IBCLC

She/Her

About Lauren

Lauren Shuler, P.E., IBCLC

Lauren Shuler (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary professional and advocate dedicated to empowering individuals through education, evidence-based care, and the dismantling of inequitable systems. With a background as a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Lauren excels at distilling complex information into actionable, compassionate support for her community.

Lauren’s commitment to equity is woven throughout her diverse roles. As an equity facilitator for the City of Boulder, she helps city employees navigate the complexities of systemic racism, fostering the awareness necessary to deconstruct biased frameworks. This passion extends into her work as the founder of Nourishing Tiny Humans, where she focuses on improving access to culturally competent lactation care. Recognizing her own privilege as a white, cisgender woman, Lauren is deeply committed to lifelong learning and active allyship. She continually participates in trainings led by LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC experts to ensure her care is inclusive and helps address the disparities found within the healthcare space.

Her professional journey reflects a unique blend of technical expertise and human-centered service. Before pivoting to lactation and maternal-child health, Lauren managed large-scale engineering projects, from wastewater treatment plants to solar arrays. Today, she balances her clinical practice with several community-focused leadership roles, including serving as a board member for the Northern Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition, volunteer victim advocate with the Boulder Police Department, and foster parent.

Lauren’s approach is grounded in the belief that intuition and evidence are not mutually exclusive. Whether she is facilitating a discussion on systemic equity or supporting a family through the vulnerable postpartum period, she strives to provide the confidence and tools individuals need to meet their own goals.

Lauren lives in Colorado with her partner, two children, bonus kiddo, and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys building things with her family, adventuring in the wild, and savoring a good piece of dark chocolate. She is always up for learning something new and is excited to bring her perspective to the RUPI community; who knows where life will take her next!

Our Advisory Board

Jeff Couillard

He/Him

About Jeff

Jeff Couillard holds an M.A. in Environmental Management from Royal Roads University and is the founder and chief facilitator at Attainability Group, a small consulting firm dedicated to building incredible teams of professionals in organizations big and small in a wide range of sectors.

Attainability Group focuses on bringing Right Use of Power™ principles into organizations
to improve employee engagement, develop leadership capacity, and achieve better client outcomes. From team development to conflict resolution, leading multi-disciplinary teams of professionals tackling the complex issues of addiction and mental health, to sharing stories on the TEDx stage, Jeff is focused on creating highly functional individuals, teams, and communities.

Farzin Farzad

He/ Him

About Farzin

Farzin Farzad is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Run for Something, where he leads strategies to cultivate an inclusive workplace and expand diversity within the pipeline of political candidates running for office. He is also the Founder of Critical Equity Consulting, LLC, a Virginia-based firm that partners with organizations to drive systems-level change focused on psychological safety, equitable outcomes, and workplace solidarity.

Farzin holds Master’s degrees in International Affairs and Diplomacy from American University and ADA University, bringing a global and interdisciplinary lens to his work. His experience spans higher education, local government, and the private sector, grounding his approach in both theory and practice. He is particularly focused on the intersections of power, identity, and collective liberation.

A native speaker of Azerbaijani and English, Farzin is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices and advancing more inclusive, globally informed standards of human dignity beyond traditional Western frameworks.

Dr. Loren Intolubbe-Chmil

She/Her

About Loren

Loren Intolubbe-Chmil, Ph.D. (she/her) is an educator and activist with over thirty years of experience in teaching and diverse educational contexts. Loren’s deepest interests encompass representative stakeholder engagement, education for change, and human rights-based decision-making. Loren’s work in the world is significantly shaped as a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as well as the experience of completing K-12 education in multiple and divergent locations as the child of a parent in the U.S. military. As a reflection of commitment to a world that embodies dignity, belongingness, justice, curiosity, and interdependence, Loren has taught several courses – including study abroad programs in Nepal and southern Africa – and led a variety of workshops and trainings with those collective values at the center.

Loren has a BA in Sociology with a Minor in Women’s Studies from Mary Baldwin University, and earned an M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education at the University of Virginia. Loren is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor and Leadership Instructor in the Student Academic Success Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and is co-founder and partner of the educational consulting firm CoreCollaborative International.

CoreCollaborative International: https://corecollaborative.com/

Loren LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loren-intolubbe-chmil-ph-d-98571939/

Our RUPI Faculty

Dr. Amanda Aguilera

She/ Her/Ella

About Amanda

Dr. Amanda Aguilera is the lineage holder for the Right Use of Power(TM) curriculum. She currently serves on the Right Use of Power Institute's Board of Directors and mentors Right Use of Power facilitators. Dr. Amanda is a coach, psychotherapist, facilitator, and author specializing in social power dynamics. Her passion is finding right-relationship by supporting generative conflict, encouraging explicit conversations about power, and normalizing messing up with self-compassion. She is the author of Shaping Power for Good: Wayfinding to Right Relationship and is the founder of Sacred Wayfinding. You can find more information about Dr. Amanda here.

Nelly Marcadet

She/Her/Ella/Elle

About Nelly

Nelly Marcadet (she/her/ella/elle) is a power-conscious somatic facilitator and faculty member at the Right Use of Power Institute, where she leads the International Circle.

Trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS level 2), Hakomi (Certified Practitioner), and the Right Use of Power™ approach, she supports individuals in deepening self-awareness, releasing limiting beliefs, and cultivating harmony in their lives, along with confidence in the ethical use of power.

She provides grounded, welcoming spaces for clarity, integration, and authentic connection, nurturing right relationship with oneself and others.

Shaped by multicultural experiences, she works primarily in English, French, and Spanish, and is also fluent in Italian and Portuguese — bringing sensitivity to the nuances of language and culture in her facilitation.

Nelly collaborates with people from diverse backgrounds — including professionals, leaders, and communities — fostering wise and compassionate relationships with power, and developing trust, skillfulness, accountability, and integrity.

Her approach weaves presence, attunement, and embodied wisdom, gently accompanying each person’s unique unfolding.

www.innerlotusbloom.com

Veronica Borgonovi

She/Her

About Veronica

Veronica Borgonovi (Bore-go-no-vee; she/her) is a member of the core faculty at the Right Use of Power Institute and has facilitated RUPI’s Basics, Core, and Power and Equity Challenge programs. She has also been a student in RUPI’s Power-Conscious Authentic Leadership and Power-Conscious Restorative Integration programs. Veronica is an experienced project leader, manager, mentor, and coach and has supported over 40 client projects in management and social sector consulting across several countries. As an internal organizational leader, she guided a multi-year effort to transform organizational culture around equity and inclusion across multiple teams and geographies.

Veronica is guided by her values of wholeheartedness, interdependence, curiosity, connection, and adventure. As the first in her family born in the United States and a daughter of immigrants from different racial, class, and national backgrounds, she is on a continual exploration around identity and authenticity. Veronica loves the outdoors and finds peace, joy, and unfortunately, sometimes injuries in nature, on both land and water. One of Veronica’s most prized possessions is a peer-voted award for “Most Supportive” from her high school speech and debate team, which hangs on her wall as a continual reminder to be in right relationship with others.

Dr. Susan Skjei

She/Her

About Susan

Susan Skijei, PH.D., is a Faculty Member for RUPI and teaches in the Core and Teacher Training programs. Over the last 25 years, Susan has worked with thousands of leaders in the US, Canada and Europe to cultivate mindfulness and authenticity, strengthen relational, coaching and strategic skills, and effectively lead the changes they want to see in their organizations and in the world. She has a unique ability to create energetic and high-trust learning environments that accelerate the achievement of practical organizational results while building strong, collaborative relationships. Formerly a Vice-President and Chief Learning Officer in the technology sector and an international consultant, she was also the founder and Director of the Authentic Leadership Center at Naropa University. Susan has a Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate University in Human and Organization Systems, a Master of Science degree from American University/NTL in Human Resource Development, and a certificate in Change Management from Cornell University. She enjoys hiking, biking and watercolor painting.

Leah Fink

She/ Her

About Leah

Leah Fink is an engaging facilitator, consultant and speaker whose work is grounded in real-world experience transforming mental health in the workplace. As the owner of All Thrive, she brings practical insight from helping organizations identify and close gaps in their mental health practices. With a background as a registered social worker in addictions and mental health, Leah combines professional credibility with a relatable, human-centered approach that focuses on creating meaningful change.

Ki Smith

She/Her

About Ki

Ki is an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-trained contemplative psychotherapist, coach, mediator, and facilitator of Power-Conscious Nonviolent Communication, and Core Faculty with the Right Use of Power Institute. Ki works with individuals, dyads, and groups to support restoration, healing, and transformation. She is passionate about co-creating beloved community where collective care is valued, collective wisdom is centered, and collective power is strengthened.

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