About Paula Castillo, MPP, PCC
Helping people and groups build from what is already strong.
I’m a strengths-based coach, facilitator, and organizational consultant. I help people and groups recognize the capacities already present within and between them—and translate those capacities into more intentional leadership, stronger relationships, and meaningful action.
I offer strengths-based coaching for professionals across career stages, design team retreats and offsites for organizations navigating growth and change, and create strengths-based learning and development experiences for teams, leaders, and workplace relationships.”
My work brings together Gallup CliftonStrengths®, VIA Character Strengths, coaching, facilitation, and organizational development. I work with professionals across career stages and partner with teams and organizations navigating growth, change, and important moments of development.
What I believe
There is often more wisdom, strength, and possibility available within a person or group than they can access in the moment, especially under pressure.
A strengths-based approach helps make those capacities visible. But it does not mean focusing only on what is positive. It also invites us to notice blind spots, patterns of overuse, and what becomes harder to access during uncertainty or change.
The goal is not to become a fixed or perfected version of ourselves. It is to develop greater awareness and choice: to draw upon what is strongest in us while expanding our capacity to meet what comes next.
How I work
My coaching and facilitation are experiential, reflective, and grounded in how people actually learn.
I combine research and practical application with carefully chosen practices that deliver real results. In coaching is to attune to clients, help them slow down, notice more, and remain present to themselves and one another. This creates the conditions in which insight can become available—not only intellectually, but in how people relate, decide, and act.
My style combines deep listening, thoughtful challenge, and a bit of playfulness. I bring structure and preparation to the work while remaining responsive to the people, intelligence, and possibilities already in the room.
The path that brought me here
Before becoming a coach and facilitator, I spent more than 15 years working in organizational strategy, research, and results measurement. My experience included consulting for the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, and organizations across sectors.
That background taught me to ask disciplined questions: What are we trying to change? What evidence would help us understand what is happening? How will insight become meaningful action?
Coaching and strengths-based development added another set of questions: What is already strong? How can we build on that? What becomes possible when people feel seen? What conditions help individuals and groups access more of their capacity?
Today, both perspectives shape my work. I care about experiences that feel human, thoughtful, and alive—and about whether those experiences lead to meaningful change.
Strengths from more than one perspective
I am certified in both Gallup CliftonStrengths® and VIA Workplaces at Their Best, and I genuinely value both approaches.
Gallup CliftonStrengths® reveals recurring patterns of talent: how people naturally think, feel, and behave. VIA Character Strengths illuminates capacities of character that support wellbeing, relationships, leadership, and culture.
Rather than defaulting to one assessment, I help people and organizations choose the framework—or combination of frameworks—that best fits their context, purpose, and desired development.
A broader practice of awareness
Alongside my organizational work, I teach restorative yoga and iRest® Yoga Nidra and continue to study sound, breathwork, mindfulness, and embodied approaches to awareness.
These practices do not replace coaching, strengths research, or sound organizational design. They deepen my understanding of how people listen inwardly, remain present under pressure, and reconnect with capacities that may be difficult to reach through analysis alone.
I am especially interested in what helps people remain connected to themselves and one another while participating fully in the futures they are creating.
Professional background and credentials
Strengths, coaching, and organizational development
Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coaching Federation
Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach
VIA Workplaces at Their Best Certified Consultant
Leadership Circle Profile™ Certified Practitioner
Advanced Team Coaching, Team Coaching Studio
Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership
Public leadership and measurement
Master in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
More than 15 years of experience in organizational strategy, research, and results measurement
Former consultant to the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, and the Inter-American Development Bank
Awareness and embodiment
Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200)
iRest® Level 1 Teacher
Restorative yoga, breathwork, mindfulness, and sound practices
Community leadership
Global Programming Director, Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Alumni Network
Leader of a global community of more than 150 coaches
A little more about me
I was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia and now live in Washington, DC. Moving across cultures has shaped how I listen, how I understand difference, and how I help people find language for experiences that do not always fit neatly into one category.
I bring curiosity, care, rigor, and an appreciation for beauty and excellence to my work. I believe professional development can be serious and also playful, and that some of the most meaningful learning happens we feel truly seen. When we do, we become more honest, experimental, and fully ourselves.
Let’s explore what might become possible
If you are seeking coaching for yourself, planning a team retreat, or developing a strengths-based learning experience for your organization, a complimentary conversation is a simple place to begin. Request to book a complimentary conversation by filling the form below in English or Spanish.
