About Share the Flame LLC

Share the Flame LLC supports entrepreneurs, vision creators, educators, executives, organizations and institutions in practicing trauma-informed, justice-rooted leadership to build equitable, sustainable work—without burnout, extraction, or self-abandonment.

The work sits at the intersection of:

• trauma and nervous system awareness
• racialized and relational harm
• leadership, power, and ethics
• culture, history, and collective care

We believe deeply that how we lead matters just as much as what we build.

About Debra (Debi) Jenkins, PhD (she/ her/ hers)

Hello, I am Debra (Debi) Jenkins, nicknamed "Dr. Debi" by my clientele. I am a trauma-informed educator, author, and movement strategist confronting oppression through truth-telling, honoring ancestral wisdom, and radical care. I resource communities at crossroads of power, race, justice-rooted liberation.

I didn’t come to this work through theory alone. I came through lived experience, truth-telling, and having to reject rejection and resist re-traumatization.

My approach

My work is grounded in the understanding that:

• Trauma is not only personal—it is historical, cultural, and systemic
• Leadership is never neutral; it either reproduces harm or interrupts it
• Justice without resourcing leads to collapse
• Sustainability is an ethical responsibility, not a luxury

I draw from trauma-informed practice, social justice frameworks, cultural wisdom, and years of experience working across education, leadership, and healing-centered spaces.

This is not performative equity work.
It is structural, relational, and embodied.

My Background

•  Professor and leader in education, development, and psychology for 33+ years and licensed in professional technical instruction and Tenured professor for 25+ years. Have served as Chair of Early Childhood Education, Chair of Psychology, Chair of Human Development, Chair of Sociology, and Division Chair of Behavioral Sciences.
• 25+ years as an Author (individually and co-authored with authors from around the world), Coach, Consultant and Speaker
• Degrees in Education (AAS-Early Childhood Education w options in inclusive education, PhD-Philosophy with Specialization in Higher Education Administration), Human Development (BA-Focus: Developmental Education, MA-Specialization: Bicultural Development), and Psychology (MS)
• *Dr. Debi's knowledge base of bicultural development includes a diverse range of pedagogical skills inclusive of how cultures are aware of interactions, influences, and perceptions of their own culture (Gibbs, 2006)" and with her knowledge base in the context of trauma support provides insight to identify when patterns named as culture may instead be trauma.
•  *Dr. Debi's bachelor's and master's degrees in human development were earned at Pacific Oaks College, an institution that "through principles of inclusion and social justice, teaches students to empower others, reduce bias & change attitudes."
• Experience teaching for 2 yr, 4 yr, senior, junior, University, public, private (including faith-based), for profit, and non-profit sectors of higher ed
• As a life-long learner has acquired trauma & equity certifications and trainings
• Facilitation of 20,000+ learners and members of organizational teams with an overall 4.8/5 satisfaction score on evaluations
• Over 1,000 presentations and workshops (local, national, and international)
• Over 100 keynotes, retreats and special events (local, national, and international)
• Active representation on educational, developmental, & equity research teams, advisory boards, roundtables, and commissions (local, national, and international).  Currently serving on a Global Education Commission. 

Additional Education, Experience, and Certifications

Dr. Debi Jenkins is a credentialed coach and member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She holds certification as a Personal and Executive Coach through The CaPP Institute, an ICF-accredited program, where she gained advanced coaching skills, positive psychology training, and mentor coaching.

She is also a Certified Polarity Thinking™ Practitioner and a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®), applying a social justice lens to intercultural development.

Specialized Trauma and Somatic Training

Dr. Debi brings extensive expertise in trauma-informed, trauma-responsive, and racialized trauma-minoritization frameworks. Her approach is rooted in liberation, developmental, and transformational psychology, integrating neuroscience, behavior, and lifespan development to support client-centered healing.

Her somatic and trauma-specific certifications include:

• Trauma-Informed Coaching (Moving the Human Spirit)
• Neuroscience of Change
• Embodied Transformation & Tapestry
• Mindfulness-Based Addiction Trauma Recovery Coaching (MBAT-RC)

Dr. Debi is also:

• A Certified Partner Coach Candidate with APSATS
• An Empathy Recovery Couples Coach Candidate with ERCEM
• Trained in the Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model (MPTM)
• Skilled in Brainspotting, a neurobiological trauma processing method

She applies these modalities to support betrayed partners and clients healing from complex trauma across personal, relational, and systemic dimensions.

Creative Healing & Applied Experience

Dr. Debi’s personal healing journey has been shaped by psychodrama, storytelling, dance, and social justice improv—experiences that deepened her understanding of culturally rooted somatic processing and racialized trauma healing.

She integrates these creative approaches into her coaching, offering clients a path toward post-traumatic growth that honors body, mind, and spirit.

Honors & Recognitions

Dr. Debi Jenkins is recognized nationally and internationally as a thought leader in social justice, trauma-informed care, and systems change.

• Equity recognition by the Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference 
• Featured by Bloomerang as a top DEAI speaker-consultant for the nonprofit sector
• Listed in the Directory of Black and Other Global Majority Change Consultants on LinkedIn
• One of the few ICF coaches listed in Psychology Today
• Honored with the Lora Whitfield Social Equity Award
• Recipient of the Clark College Outstanding Alumni Award
• Honoree of the Oxford Round Table, Oxford, England
• YWCA Women of Achievement IRIS Award, Clark County, WA
• Awarded for the Clark College Faculty Lecture Series, Vancouver, WA

Research & Thought Leadership

Dr. Debi’s academic and applied research explores the intersections of equity, leadership, race, trauma, and identity across educational, workplace, and community systems.

Doctoral Dissertation

Women of Color’s Experiences and Strategies in Constructing Nonexecutive Community College Leadership
This case study examined leadership barriers, equity gaps, and strategy development for nonexecutive women of color in higher education leadership roles.

Select Research Collaborations

• Oxford Round Table Symposium – Focus: Women & Education
• Center for Workplace Diversity Research – Topics: Systemic oppression, equity frameworks, and racial identity in organizations
• Umoja Research Projects – Focus: Bicultural development and tri-literacy in children of color
• Faculty Speaker Series: Habari Gani Menta – Focus: Allyship and workforce diversity

 Publications & Contributions

Dr. Debi’s work is widely cited in both academic and practitioner contexts. Her original framework, the IST of an ISM™: Systemically Dominant/Systemically Non-Dominant™ (1995–Present), is embraced in national and international circles.

Featured Works

• Daring to Dismantle: Audaciously Addressing Race and Caste in Betrayal Trauma (2025)
• Daring to Dismantle Journal: Cultivating Trauma Healing & Justice Space (2025)
• I Love My Kind of Brown (2018) – Early childhood equity series
• Chapter contributor in Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Workplace (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Published works in Soy Bilingue and multiple equity-focused anthologies

Read more at www.shareflame.com/books

 Featured: Clark College Foundation Interview

 I am the author of:

• Daring to Dismantle: Audaciously Addressing Race and Caste in Betrayal Trauma
• Daring to Dismantle Journal: Curating, Cultivating, and Creating Radical Trauma Healing and Justice Space

These works serve as foundational texts for the Institute and reflect my commitment to historical truth-telling, cultural context, and collective resourcing.

About Daring to Dismantle Institute

Why Daring to Dismantle

The phrase Daring to Dismantle is not metaphorical.

It names the courage required to:

• tell the truth as a step to dismantle harm
• examine power honestly
• interrupt systems that reward depletion
• dismantle oppression without dismantling ourselves

Much of what is labeled “burnout,” “failure,” or “lack of resilience” is actually the cost of navigating systems that were never designed for our dignity, safety, or sustainability—especially for Black, Brown, Indigenous people.

This Institute exists to say:

We do not need more resilient leaders. We need resourced leaders.

The Daring to Dismantle Institute

The Daring to Dismantle Institute is a leadership and learning space rooted in trauma-informed practice, justice, and collective care.

Through the Institute, I offer:

• a shared foundation in Integrated Trauma Resourcing
• leadership application pathways for founders and organizations
• retreats, workshops, and keynote engagements
• education that centers dignity, ethics, and sustainability

All offerings are designed to support leaders in building work—and systems—people do not need to recover from.

Leadership Pathways

Resourced “Founder” Pathway

For entrepreneurs, educators, creatives, and program builders stewarding work they are directly responsible for.

This pathway supports leaders in:

• dismantling hustle and martyr leadership
• practicing ethical power and boundaries
• addressing trauma around money, labor, and visibility
• building sustainable work aligned with justice

Resourced “Leadership” Pathway

For executives, organizations, and institutions shaping systems, culture, and policy.

This pathway focuses on:

• trauma-informed systems leadership
• power, accountability, and repair
• justice beyond performative equity
• preventing workplace harm and burnout

Both pathways are grounded in the same ethical foundation and differ only in context and scale.

A Final Word

My work centers on the belief that trauma resourcing is both personal and collective—an act of communion rooted in cultural wisdom, community care, and historical truth-telling.

I do not offer quick fixes or extraction-based transformation.

I offer language, structure, and support for leaders who are ready to:

• lead with integrity
• dismantle harm
• build what can last

If You’re New Here

If you’re wondering where to begin, I invite you to start with the foundation.

Start with the coaching-mentoring-consultant page to explore the Resourced Pathways. You don’t need to have everything figured out. You only need to be willing to lead with curiosity.