Lilian Molina

Lilian Molina is a nationally respected leader in racial, environmental, and climate justice, with over two decades of experience in organizing, capacity building, and culture change across grassroots, nonprofit, and movement ecosystems. A Mestiza Palestinian and first-generation immigrant born in Honduras and raised in Chicago, her lifelong commitment to justice is rooted in her lived experiences with migration, systemic racism, and the urgent need for cross-racial solidarity.

Lilian’s journey began in Chicago’s Caribbean Latino communities, where she grew up among Black and light Brown Latine neighbors. While subtle forms of anti-Blackness showed up (microaggressions about hair texture and colorism) it was her broader lived experience that shaped her understanding of systemic racism. As a child, she witnessed the stark contrast between the wealthy white families her mother cleaned for in the suburbs and the underinvestment in her own city neighborhoods. She was bused to a predominantly white, working-class school, where she saw her Black cousins, Afro-Caribbean family members, and friends treated differently by teachers, school staff, and police.

These early experiences of racial inequity and class division planted the seeds of her commitment to racial justice- seeds that fully bloomed in her early twenties while working at Little Village Lawndale High School. There, she witnessed how systemic neglect and false narratives drove distrust and conflict between Black and Mexican-American students. In response, she designed popular education workshops, story-sharing circles, and community gatherings to help young people and families build cross-racial solidarity. These efforts led to tangible victories like expanded community garden spaces, improved public safety, and increased access to health services.

Lilian formally launched her professional career at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), training youth leaders in cultural organizing and environmental justice advocacy. She became the first Environmental Justice Director at the Energy Action Coalition, embedding racial justice throughout the youth climate movement and leading the Frontline Community Leadership Training at Power Shift 2011. At Greenpeace USA, she founded the Movement Support Hub, providing racial justice trainings, organizational healing resources, and leadership development to grassroots movements nationally. She also played a pivotal role in the solidarity campaign with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, supporting direct actions that contributed to major bank divestments from the Keystone XL pipeline.

Throughout her career, Lilian has worked with frontline communities and national networks, including the Climate Justice Alliance, It Takes Roots, SEIU�s Property Services Division, and the Tishman Environment and Design Center. Most recently, she served as the Organizing Director at Indivisible, leading cross-departmental efforts to integrate Antiracist Organizational (ARO) practices, develop values-aligned leadership, and repair internal organizational culture to better reflect racial justice principles.

Her facilitation style is rooted in popular education, somatic learning, and the strategic use of play�not just as an engagement tool, but as a deeply embodied practice for addressing tension, moving through discomfort, and disrupting white supremacy culture norms like urgency, perfectionism, and fear of open conflict. She has designed and led experiential racial justice curricula that help teams name and heal divisions, foster cross-racial trust, and move together toward systemic change.

Lilian brings particular expertise in:

Organizational change management through an ARO lens

Repairing and building team culture rooted in trust, dignity, and accountability

Coaching managers and leadership teams to operationalize equity values

Facilitating conflict mediation across racial, cultural, and power lines

Building internal systems that reflect equity and liberation in practice, not just principle

Clients consistently describe her as a steadying force- someone who creates brave, healing-centered spaces where individuals and teams can engage authentically, face hard truths with care, and emerge stronger and more aligned with their deepest values.

Outside of her consulting practice, Lilian is raising two fierce, gentle, and feminist sons -now 9 and 10-grounding her work every day in the intergenerational fight for justice, healing, and liberation.