Meet the team
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Co-founder & CLOElisabeth is a lifelong educator, with a passion for sharing conversations and experiences in which all parties learn and grow together.
Based in New York, she has been a personal development coach and facilitator since 2015, leading weekend workshops, on-site corporate trainings, and online courses internationally. Her current work is underpinned by her many years studying and teaching global history and wisdom traditions.
Elisabeth holds a BA from Harvard University in Russian and Soviet Studies and an MA in Teaching from Columbia University. She taught world history for fourteen years and worked on a national level to promote the globalization of history curriculum in secondary schools. She also supports students and scholars as a writing coach and editor, and has worked as a documentary filmmaker, producing and directing a feature-length film about creativity and collaboration. She trained and worked as a personal development coach and facilitator at The Rao Institute for five years before co-founding Wise Humanity.
Among other eclectic interests, Elisabeth is a student of meditation, an avid reader, traveler, and photographer, and enjoys vegan cooking and volunteer work.
“Wise Humanity is the culmination of my lifelong study of global wisdom and my dedication to education. At the heart of all teaching is the goal to uplift, and at the core of all learning is the wish to live our best lives. I love that at Wise Humanity, we directly address what is most important to each of us.”
- Elisabeth Sperling
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Co-Founder & CEODavide holds an MSc in Physics, an MBA from London Business School and a Coaching Practitioner Diploma from the Academy of Executive Coaching of London. He’s also a leadership lecturer at Ravensbourne University London.
For 20 years, Davide enjoyed an international career in a variety of engineering industries.
His corporate life culminated in heading a Business Unit for a global Engineering and Construction company. He then decided he had achieved the zenith of his corporate career and could use his leadership and people skills in a more fulfilling, impactful way. That’s when he became a coach, a teacher of personal growth programs at The Rao Institute, and later a co-founder of Wise Humanity.
Davide’s vision is to launch and support individuals and businesses on a journey of enhanced fulfilment and empowerment, to build a better future for themselves, their communities and the planet. Among other interests, Davide enjoys painting oil portraits, has a passion for theatre, and is an avid book reader, cinema goer and globe trotter.
“Wise Humanity is my way to pay forward all the happiness I’ve had in my life, the incredible opportunities and learnings, the practical wisdom tools I’ve learnt and developed, and all the love I’ve received. It’s at the same time the place where all my eclectic past unites and finds meaning, and my way to share it all to help people enhance their whole experience of life, find fulfillment and their own meaning.
- Davide Pagnotta
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Coach
Gemma Sanz de la Serna is a lifelong student of life. She is a certified professional coach by ICF and ASESCO. She also holds a B.A. in Business Administration; and a Ph.D. in Marketing.
Her love of learning and endless curiosity is responsible for her eclectic professional background, which includes all kinds of organizations (from small to corporate, for-profit and not) and industries: Film Festivals, Automotive, Coffee, Leadership Training, and Teaching.
Gemma's curiosity extends beyond business to human beings. To what makes us tick, motivates, and drives us. Her passion for supporting people in finding their true selves, and becoming their best version, is reflected throughout her coaching.
In her practice, she focuses on creating a safe space where clients feel enabled, supported, and free to explore new ways to navigate their lives, where they discover new possibilities and opportunities, and where they can start imagining their dream life and feel empowered to build it.
Gemma shares her love of coaching with being in nature, going to the theater, film, reading, and globe-trotting.
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Coach
Monica is a lawyer with a Master's in Economics and Business Law at LIUC, Milan, and is an Associated Certified Coach accredited by the ICF.
Through the experience gained as an M&A specialist and a board member in public companies, she has developed a particular sensitivity for the dynamics and complexities associated with achieving individual, team and corporate objectives and with change.
Following her passion for human sciences, Monica combines her legal professional experience with the training and coaching of individuals and companies.
Her mission is to offer tools that support people in both their personal and professional growth journeys for a collective common good capable of accommodating the needs of individuals.
The dazzling meeting with Elisabeth and Davide and the learning of the precious Wise Humanity tools were pivotal for her evolutionary path. It was the beginning of a new journey.
Monica is passionate about cinema and theater, practices yoga and mindfulness and loves dance and acting. In her spare time, she immerses herself in nature for long walks.
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Coach
Sandi Smith is a life design coach who helps people create happier and more meaningful lives.
She has coached several cohorts of Wise Humanity participants and co-taught a Wise Humanity course to youth in public housing in San Francisco, Calif. She also coaches individuals and groups and runs interactive workshops using design thinking, a creative problem solving framework, to help people design their future. She particularly loves a good brainstorm, radical collaboration, a bias toward action, and the spirit of curiosity and optimism, which comprise a designer’s mindset.
Certified by the International Coaching Federation, Martha Beck, and Designing Your Life, Sandi also holds an M.B.A. in organizational development and marketing from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a B.A. in political science from Stanford University.
Sandi previously served in numerous marketing and policy roles, leading teams and creating amazing cultures as a Marketing Director at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a policy director in Washington, D.C. Sandi enjoys swimming, walking with her corgis on the beach, and taking people wine tasting in the beautiful Central Coast of California where she lives.
Sandi appreciates how Wise Humanity helps others to focus their precious energy on what matters most to them, helping others to unlock their potential and find freedom.
“The quality of your life is determined by the focus of your attention.” – Cheri Huber
