About Thrive Young Leaders
We all have unique, important gifts to offer ourselves and the world.
Deanna helps teens and young adults transition into young adulthood with confidence, purpose, and a sense of belonging so that they can be empowered leaders of their own lives, as well as leaders of their environment and community.
In a healthy culture, every teen and young adult would be supported in this way. However, we all know that most teens and young adults are not receiving the education and mentorship that they need to survive and thrive. Deanna is passionate about changing this paradigm.
Purpose, confidence, and belonging do not happen over night. They are developed and cultivated through ongoing mentorship, support, and experience. Deanna helps teens and young adults thrive by first offering a safe space for them to express and discover who they are, then helping them learn and develop essential skills for navigating stress, turbulent times, and life. Through this relationship, teens and young adults emerge from coaching, mentoring, and group programs feeling empowered, connected to something beyond themselves, and grateful for life.
About Deanna
Deanna Falge
Thrive Young Leaders Founder
Nature-Connected Life Coach & Mentor
Deanna is an Earth steward, dancer, and guide. She founded Thrive Young Leaders out of her love for connecting with youth in nature. Deanna’s passion is to empower and guide teens and young adults into a deeper connection with the Earth, community, and self. Through her transformational experiences in nature, she has developed a relationship with the Earth that has served as an essential anchor for navigating her life. She wants everyone to have this same opportunity.
Credentials:
• Biological Psychology (BS), UC Santa Barbara 2014
• Ecotherapy Level 1, Earth Body Institute 2019
• Nature-Connected Life Coach (NCC), Earth-based Institute 2020-2021
• Transformational Wilderness Guide (TWG), Earth-based Institute 2021
• Wilderness Vision Fast Guide, School of Lost Borders 2021
• Wilderness First Responder (WFR), 2022-present
• Marriage and Family Psychotherapist (in-training, MFT), 2023-present
Training & Experience:
As a Life Coach, mentor and guide, Deanna is trained in somatic experiencing, trauma-informed coaching, partswork facilitation, grief and loss therapy, gestalt therapy, ecotherapy, embodiment facilitation, mindfulness, wilderness rites of passage, the four shields model, nonviolent communication, various ancestral skills, wilderness survival skills, and coyote mentorship. She utilizes these tools and methodologies in her work.
Deanna has 7 years of experience working with teens, young adults, and adults as a life coach, mentor, backpacking guide, rites of passage guide, outdoor educator, and embodiment facilitator. By combining her knowledge and experience with her passion for helping teens and young adults to thrive, Deanna designs whole-hearted, transformational programs for everyone that she works with.
Fun Facts:
Deanna grew up in the Santa Cruz mountains. She loves to dance, surf, play music, sing, tend fires, be outside, climb trees, wander in the mountains, backpack, travel, and spend quality time with friends and family. Deanna is also the founder of Earth Embodied Journeys, where she offers transformational wilderness programs for women.