Our Team

Ilana founded Werq in 2018 to help CEOs and their teams become their best: thriving teams grounded in trust and communication that sticks, leaders who translate big ideas into transformative outcomes, and organizations that outperform, again and again. She brings 20 years of experience in facilitation and coaching, as well as a background as a mental health practitioner who grew and led addiction treatment centers. She understands behavior change at scale, and how to unlock far more within a system than anyone thought it could hold. But what people remember most is her presence: warm, bold, and deeply human, the kind that makes a room come alive and helps people grow beyond what they imagined for themselves.

Today Ilana also leads Werq’s Leading Well with AI practice: AI implementation with soul. Werq is hands-on in building the AI strategy, systems, workflows, and tools that let leaders and organizations thrive in this new era, amplifying what makes them human and automating what holds them back. Ilana sees this as a defining moment for leaders and has answered the call, building the competencies and team to help them move through the ongoing AI evolution with courage, clarity, and their humanity intact.

Ilana is a Certified Executive Coach and Genos Emotional Intelligence Practitioner, holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin, and currently serves as Secretary on the board of VentureLab. She lives in Austin with her family.

Steve believed in Werq before it had a name worth believing in. His generosity, wisdom, and faith in people are woven into everything we build.