Hi! I'm Stephanie! I'm passionate about building impactful partnerships, enabling businesses to grow, and making sure the social impact community thrives. With over a decade of consistently generating seven and eight figure annual revenue for companies, I understand what it takes to drive success.

Over the last 15 years working with non-profit, government and for profit businesses, I've developed a unique process for building community and generating revenue through a partnership growth mindset. I've been fortunate to develop programs and partnerships that have touched lives across the globe, from India to the United States and beyond. I've created thousands of ecosystems and opportunities that unite governments, educators, employers, and donors to make tangible change.

I believe that together we can achieve great things and am committed to paving the way for a more inclusive, impactful future.

Stephanie Wilson

There is something about a sunrise from above the clouds.

You take off in the dark. Everything feels heavy and flat.

And then, the plane breaks through.

Light.

Perspective shifts fast at 30,000 feet.

The weather that felt all encompassing on the ground is suddenly just a layer.

I always find myself thinking about how often that is true in life and work too.

What feels overwhelming up close can look very different with a little distance.

Grateful for early flights. Grateful for perspective. 

Grateful for the reminder that the sun was there the whole time.

#HomewardBound #HomeForARest #Thankful

Cross-Sector Growth Strategist | $100M+ in Government & Partner Funding Secured | Nonprofit • Tech • Education • SaaS | Founder – The Uplift Collective

I do not listen to podcasts. My brain tends to wander halfway through and suddenly I am thinking about a completely unrelated idea.

And I don't read as many books as I think I should.

What I do love?
Articles.
Webinars.
Panels.
Micro learning.
Real conversations in rooms with smart people.

I learn best in short bursts. In live exchanges. In moments where I can connect dots immediately to the work in front of me.

So I am curious.

What are your best sources for sharp, practical learning right now?

Think:
• Articles you actually read to the end
• Webinars worth attending
• Newsletters that are not fluff
• LinkedIn voices who make you think
• Short reads that shift your perspective

Drop one recommendation below ⬇️  please!

I want things I can absorb, apply, and think about right away.

Learning does not have to be long to be meaningful.

#ProfessionalDevelopment #Learning #GrowthMindset

I love small group facilitation.

When leaders from different sectors lean in.
When someone shares a real example instead of a polished talking point.
When one insight sparks another.
When you can almost feel ideas building on top of each other in real time.

Small groups have a different rhythm.

They’re more intimate.
More honest.
More generous.

It’s less about presenting and more about listening.
Less about being right and more about learning.

Facilitating those spaces is about holding the structure lightly.
Watching the clock so no one has to.
Making sure every voice has room.
Asking the question that helps the group go one layer deeper.

There’s something powerful about creating a space where people are willing to share what they’re seeing, what they’re struggling with, and what they’re trying.

Not to impress.

To contribute.

That exchange and the cross-pollination of ideas is what I love most.

That’s the work behind the work.

And it never gets old.

#GrowthMindset #KnowledgeSharing

I’ve been pretty heads down this week.

Working through deliverables for clients.

Problem solving in creative ways.

Building out plans for new engagements.

It’s that deep focus work that I really love.
No noise. No rushing between things. Just time to think, map ideas out, and work through challenges properly.

There’s something really freeing about that kind of space. It’s also where the most exciting ideas tend to show up.

Not every week is like this. But when it is, I’m always reminded how much I enjoy the craft of the work itself.

Solving problems. Building plans. Figuring things out.

That part never gets old.

Jedno The Uplift Collective #ProposalDevelopment #ProgramDevelopment #Concept #Ideation #GrowthMindset

There is a moment in almost every skill where things start to feel easier.

Not because the work became simple.

Because you have done it enough times that your brain recognizes the patterns. 

You see what matters faster. You know where to focus.

That moment happened to me this week.

I was reviewing an application for someone and preparing feedback. As I worked through it, the adjustments that were needed felt obvious. The gaps. 

The places where the story could be clearer. The pieces that needed to connect.

The suggestions just rolled off the tongue.

It reminded me how much practice sits behind moments like that.

Years of reading applications. Writing them. Seeing what works. Seeing what does not.

Practice is what creates that shift.

The more time you spend learning the fundamentals, the more room you have later to experiment, adapt, and think creatively.

It applies to almost everything. Leadership. Strategy. Writing. Problem solving.

The early reps may feel repetitive.

They are also what make the interesting work possible later.

#ProposalWriting #NonProfit #RevenueGrowth #BusinessDevelopment #Learning

A pattern I see in many organizations.

They think the challenge is funding.

But when we dig deeper, the real issue is clarity.

Clarity about what they actually do.
Clarity about outcomes.
Clarity about how their work connects to broader priorities.

Funding usually follows clarity.

Without it, even strong ideas struggle to land.

#Funding #ProposalDevelopment #ConceptDevelopment

Inspired by Jesika Arseneau - I've decided to participate in the Coldest Night of the Year walk and fundraise.  I have 6 days to fundraise so consider helping a girl out! 🙏 

The Coldest Night of the Year is a family-friendly 2 or 5 km fundraising walk in support of local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.

Each year in February, tens of thousands of Canadians step outside the warmth and comfort of home to shine a light of welcome and compassion in their communities. Since 2011, the Coldest Night of the Year has raised over $75,000,000 across Canada in 190 Canadian communities – 100% of net proceeds stay local to support our CNOY charity partners. Learn more about our history.

I didn't realize how big this event was or how many locations there are. I encourage everyone to check it out!!

This is my first year and hoping to make it an annual tradition. I'm fundraising so please consider donating (or looking online to donate to someone walking in your community).

https://lnkd.in/eTrGicCw

#CNOY #CNOY2026 #Stittsville #Canada #Community #Fundraiser

Open article: CNOY 2026 Fundhub Canada by secure.e2rm.com

There’s a lot in the headlines lately about major shifts from changes in procurement policy designed to support key sectors and workforce needs, to teams digging deep in the Winter Olympics. 

And it makes me think about this:

Progress isn’t always linear.

It’s not a straight line from A → B.

Sometimes it’s:
• a policy update that reshapes opportunity
• a team rallying after an early setback
• a training room moment nobody ever sees
• a person trying something hard again and again

Whether it’s athletes chasing Olympic dreams or teams trying to solve big workforce challenges, what unites real progress is this:

effort + consistency + community

A reminder today that what matters most isn’t just where you end up,
it’s how you move toward it together.

#Community #TogetherWeCan #ProgressOverPerfection

I love, love, love this. And just need to share!

This is my reply to every email I've missed since Jan 1st.

It's not you, it's me.

And also it's not me, it's *gestures broadly* all of this. 

It's that I learned about the most horrific thing done to children by the men who run *all of this*, before I even left my bed this morning. 

It's the constant deluge of messages on every platform, and the expectation that we are all always available, everywhere, and if we're not, then we're failing. 

It's that we can work this hard and do this much, and they still laugh at us when they think we're not listening. 

It's all of it. 

It's untenable to live in this reality right now as a woman and a mom, and I'm going to do more about it. But in the meantime,  I do apologize for missing your email. 

But I want you to know, it is absolutely not you. 

I love you. 

*boops your nose*.

At age 8, I froze in front of my family during an English speaking competition in Pakistan. Everyone laughed. At 30, a reporter shoved a mic in my face at a university event in Missouri. I froze again. Same shame. Bigger crowd.

I spent 30 years believing I wasn't 'good enough' to speak up. Engineering degrees, straight A's, a PhD. None of it fixed the voice that disappeared when the stakes rose. I always felt like an imposter. 2 years of Toastmasters, bootcamps, more failures than I can count finally broke it. I spoke 4x at The Moth Stage in front of 300+ strangers. This time I didn’t fake confidence. But understood & fixed root causes of anxiety that kept me stuck for 3 decades.

Here's why it matters: public speaking isn't only on stage. It's the weekly status update. The leadership call. The promotion meeting. Every time you stay quiet when you have something to say, that's public speaking you're avoiding. And it's costing you visibility and.. that promotion. Now I coach tech leaders who are brilliant at their work but invisible in the room.

Here's how it works:

→ Free 2-day live workshop: The foundation. Why you freeze, where it comes from, and how to start rewiring it.
→ 1-1 coaching: We rebuild how you show up. Confidence, delivery, presence. Not fake energy. Real voice.
→ Results: You stop letting someone else present your work & start taking credit for what you built.

🔥 Dr. Joshua Oigara, CEO of Stanbic Bank Kenya, came to me struggling with holding back from conversations and avoiding the spotlight. After coaching: "This wasn't just coaching. It was a reconstruction. Not just of my speaking, but of my identity."

🔥 Jai Jatta, Sustainability Officer in UK, felt overwhelmed by speaking anxiety and fear of judgement in meetings. After coaching: "I had the confidence to ask my manager for a promotion and got it! Since our sessions I have been talking more on meeting especially in spaces with Executives and am more confident performing my day to day communications. Thank you again you've truly changed my life and helped to unlock my potential."

DM me "WORKSHOP" to join the next free live session.

Waqas P.

I’ve seen speakers lose the room in first 30 seconds.
Not because they lacked expertise...

But they chose the wrong start.

The fastest way to make a talk forgettable?
Open it like everyone else.

Here’s what most speakers don’t realize:

The first 60 seconds decide everything.
And most people waste them.

You know this because you’ve sat through it:

- Long bio nobody asked for
- Mediocre joke that dies mid-air
- Apologizing before you even begin
- “I’m a little nervous…” and now everyone is
- Reading the agenda slide like it’s a bedtime story
- Cliche quote from someone more famous than you
- “Any questions before I begin?” followed by… crickets
- A dictionary definition of a word everyone already knows
- “I’m so excited to be speaking...” with zero visible excitement

Speakers keep starting the way they secretly hate experiencing.
Strong openings look different:

- A promise to solve a pain point than a mediocre joke
- A hook that creates tension, not a polite formality
- Bold statement instead of self-deprecation
- A relevant story, not dictionary definition
- Your perspective, not Mark Twain’s
- Energy you show, not announce
- Direction, not an agenda recital
- Relevance before credentials
- Confidence over apology

Forgettable speakers protect themselves.
Memorable speakers protect audience’s attention.

So try this:

Before your next presentation, look at your planned opening.
If it’s safe, familiar, or “what people usually do”… delete it.

Replace it with something that creates curiosity in the first sentence.

You’ve got this 👏

Waqas, P.

Speak with authority in meetings that decide promotions, opportunities, & recognition (with little to no anxiety) | Engineer → Speaking Confidence Coach

I haven’t hugged my mom & dad in 28+ months. I’m not emotionally dead, but I live 8000+ miles away and only have 15 annual vacations from my 9-to-5.

Last month, I came to this scary realization on an evening walk..

My dad is 67+ years (avg life expectancy in Pakistan) and has diabetes. I don’t know how long he will live.

With my current travel frequency, I might hardly hug him a few more times if I get lucky.

That’s when lonliness hit hard and that walk felt longer than usual.

It’s both painfully sad & frustrating that I have to live away from my loved ones because of work.

That’s why I’m building my business during 5-to-9 so:
- I’m no more dependent on work location
- can hug my loved ones whenever I want
- have the freedom to work out of passion
- not because of necessity or money

This is my WHY behind my public speaking coaching business. 

If you live close to your parents, go give them a hug. You’re lucky.

No alternative text description for this image

I moved to US in 2019 for PhD. English as a 2nd language, I used to apologize merely for asking questions & having an opinion:

→ "sorry, can I ask you a question?"
→ "sorry, this might be a stupid/dumb question"
→ "sorry to bother you but..."

I was too scared to be direct & assertive.

But these seemingly polite phrases were training others to:
- not take me seriously
- doubt my judgement, authority
- and not see me as leadership material.

Jefferson Fisher calls it "self-silencing language" in his book. It took me a long time to realize: 

It's not impolite to ask questions & have different opinions.

The infographic below calls out 5 authority killing phrases & proposes confident alternatives.. without sounding rude.

Which one of these phrases have you heard/used the most recently? 

(For me, it's the 1st & 5th)

My life is boring:

I drive 2013 Honda Accord
I wake up at 5:30am
I work most days, including Sundays
I obsess over LinkedIn vanity metrics every single day
I don't drink or party.

"You're missing out on life." My friends & family say. 

But I feel my life is anything but boring...

Cause I lose track of time when doing things I REALLY love:

I run free monthly workshops as if they paid me $500 for it.
My car doesn't run w/o 2 things: gas & audiobooks.
I open notes app at 12am cause coaching ideas just don't wait.
I replay the exact moment a client texts me: "I finally did it. I gave the presentation. No panic attacks." 

I'm not living a life "how you're supposed to."

I'm building the one where I can:

- work from wherever the audiobook takes me
- say yes to the people I love because my calendar belongs to me
- coach someone through the talk that changes their career, from anywhere in the world

Boring from the outside.

Purposeful on the inside.

p.s. what's the most "boring" thing you're proud of?

I haven’t been yelled at in 7+ years since i moved to US. But yesterday:

I got yelled at 2x in 10 minutes by “yellow taxi” drivers…

I flew from Denver to Istanbul & as US resident, I trust Uber.

So upon landing Istanbul Airport, I booked an Uber ride.

While waiting and tracking my ride..

One taxi driver noticed & said “Uber is illegal” (somehow they knew i was waiting for Uber)

Another said “Uber is Ali Baba” (don’t know what the F that means)

One said “Uber is SCAM.. they don’t have fixed charges”

The guy seemed to be in charge of the taxi fleet yelled: “what’s your problem? Why are you still waiting for Uber? Get the hell in this taxi.”

He literally held my arm, did the “boiler room” sales tactics and forced me get into one of his taxi.

Since there was no sign of my Uber driver, and yellow taxi seemed to be the only option… as a stranger in totally new city, I gave in.

So Uber: 

are you really illegal in Istanbul or I just got yelled at for no reason?

In 2009, I insulted a classmate for laughing during my presentation. 15 years later in 2024:

I walked off The Moth Stage in Denver to a standing ovation from 300+ strangers.

My first 3 presentations were a disaster:
-The 1st one exposed my nerves in front of the entire class
-The 2nd: I read word-for-word from slides
-The 3rd: I snapped at a classmate who laughed (I still feel terrible for him)

I wanted to quit..

I wanted to quit the version of me who kept showing up and making it worse. Glad I didn't..

I kept going to Toastmasters.
I kept saying yes to the uncomfortable rooms. 
I kept failing. More than i can count.

But I kept getting up even when it was cringy.

And one night in October 2024, I spoke for the 1st time at The Moth stage. Not to a safe crowd of toastmasters. To 300+ complete strangers. 

And they cheered.

That night.. I stopped believing I might be able to do it. 
I started believing I can do anything humanly possible.

That's the belief I carry into every coaching session now :)

taplio

The Battle

Stephanie Wilson

Waqas P.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreStephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWaqas P.'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Stephanie Wilson

Waqas P.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Stephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWaqas P.'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreStephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance