Ruchelle Pride radiates a quiet confidence, warmth and wisdom that immediately puts those around her at ease. As the Founder and CEO of The Relationship Architect - Pride Coaching & Consulting, LLC, Ruchelle has dedicated her career to uplifting others through transformational coaching, consulting, training, and advocacy work focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and restorative justice.
Her impressive credentials and accomplishments only tell part of her story. Underneath her professional success lies a deep well of resilience forged by her small-town Ohio upbringing and her unshakeable Christian faith. These early influences instilled in Ruchelle the core values of compassion, service and community that continue to guide her personal and professional journey today.
A Faith That Grounds & Guides
“My faith in God has equipped me with the ability to make professional decisions rooted in principle and grace,” Ruchelle shares when discussing her spiritual foundation. She describes her belief system as a compass that orients her moral code and shapes her approach to leadership. “It has allowed me to see people as the imperfectly perfect human beings they are,” she continues, referencing her non-judgmental stance that focuses on cultivating human potential.
This empathetic perspective permeates Ruchelle’s transformational leadership style, which she says includes inspirational motivation, idealized influence, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation of those she leads and serves. By appealing to hearts and minds, Ruchelle aims to create an environment where people feel valued, understood and empowered to grow.
A Small Town Instills Community Values
Ruchelle traces this inclusive approach back to her tight-knit community in Mansfield, Ohio, where she was raised primarily by her mother, Patricia. “I was shown the recipe for success early in life—faith, hard work, authenticity and compassion,” she recalls her supportive upbringing surrounded by relatives. Living in a neighborhood where families looked out for one another and participating actively in her church ingrained a spirit of service, relationship building and community protection that Ruchelle carries with her today.
“Mansfield was full of love and support that never left my spirit, and I always wanted to share this with others,” she says, describing how small-town living reinforced the interconnectedness of people and instilled the importance of stewardship. For Ruchelle, this translated into a lifelong commitment to uplifting others through education, advocacy and access to opportunity—the driving force behind her career.
From Public Service to Change-Making
At the age of 22, Ruchelle dove into public service work focused on juvenile justice and human services. Driven by a sense of purpose beyond her years, Ruchelle excelled in these fields. “I saw the young boys and girls I worked with as my children too because I was raised in an environment where that was true, one person’s child was everybody’s child, a village that created community,” she explains of her expansive, communal mindset.
This perspective fueled Ruchelle’s empathetic, wraparound approach to case management, which considered the whole family unit whenever possible. “My heart work also included the entire family, not just the child, whenever possible, as I did my best to provide a wraparound approach to meet the needs of everyone,” she elaborates. This idea of conducting “heart work” by addressing root causes and not just surface needs has been foundational to Ruchelle’s public service career and remains core to her change-making efforts today.
After over 15 successful years in government administrative roles, Ruchelle experienced a calling to expand her influence. “I was motivated to begin this journey because I continued to see people putting band-aids on things that required surgery, healing, growth, development, and empowerment,” she shares. Witnessing the shortfalls of superficial, transactional modes of public service drove Ruchelle to get creative in her quest to foster more holistic, sustainable change.
The Visionary Change Agent
The solution Ruchelle conceived is a niche consultancy focused entirely on relationship-building and restoration. “I had a vision of an Architect, a creative responsible for establishing a foundation, a blueprint to build something bigger and greater than his or herself,” Ruchelle explains of the aptly named Pride Coaching & Consulting, LLC, she founded in 2021. Through personalized coaching, workshops, training and advocacy consulting centered on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Ruchelle architects plans for intentional culture change and individual growth.
“Just like an architect engages in this process, we must engage in the same process to build ourselves. Establishing a foundation, a blueprint that guides who we are and who we can become,” Ruchelle elaborates, comparing her custom DEI strategies to the structural integrity provided by architectural plans. This structural, systemic approach is the hallmark of Ruchelle’s change-making vision and what sets her consultancy apart.
As a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE), Ruchelle possesses specialized expertise in analyzing organizational demographics, policies and cultures to pinpoint areas for improvement. “My expertise as a CDE is critical in every space I occupy,” Ruchelle asserts, describing how she wields demographic data to construct compelling narratives for why DEI integration is not just ethically sound but also good for business.
Armed with evidence, Ruchelle guides organizations through incremental changes, from acknowledging diversity gaps to executing inclusion strategies, with the ultimate goal of shifting corporate mindsets and social norms. “This unique certification provides a lens that sees areas for opportunity to make the business case for improved Diversity, Equity and Inclusion while implementing a business process necessary to ensure DEI becomes a practice, not a program,” she explains. This commitment to sustainable, embedded DEI distinguishes Ruchelle’s progressive approach.
Thought Leadership Goes Multinational
Ruchelle’s transparent tenacity has fueled her meteoric rise to transcontinental influence in just a few short years as an entrepreneur. She now lends her intellectual prowess to national, state and local social & criminal justice boards while also holding an elite seat on the European Forum for Restorative Justice representing the United States.
This unusual dichotomy of serving hyper-local and broadly global communities stems from Ruchelle’s nuanced understanding of how systemic inequity permeates all aspects of society. “Systematic oppression and racist ideologies did not happen in a vacuum. It was perpetuated over time,” Ruchelle acknowledges. By toggling between the bird’s eye view and the grassroots, she is uniquely equipped to chip away at injustice through small changes that ripple out widely.
Leading Forward with Purpose
While her sphere of impact continues to grow exponentially, Ruchelle remains grounded in her original purpose: to create access and opportunity for those denied it. All the recognition and accolades she receives are merely the fruits of the seeds of service planted long ago.
“The peak and valley of my heart are children,” Ruchelle tells tenderly when asked about her proudest accomplishment. She fondly recalls the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative Award honoring her innovations in youth justice reform as the most meaningful among many distinctions. “I often lose track of the heart work I do because it is not for accolade or recognition,” Ruchelle qualifies, making it clear that external validation pales in comparison to making a visible difference.
Now, as a mother raising two sons, Ruchelle feels more committed than ever to building a just world for future generations. “My children are my motivation because I desire to leave the world better than I found it for them,” she shares. By modeling purpose-driven leadership and grace under fire, Ruchelle hopes to inspire other women to remain firmly rooted in their called vocations, no matter the obstacles.
The Architecture of a Life Well-Lived
Ruchelle has poured immense intention and forethought into constructing both a career and a life she can feel proud of. From the cornerstone of her steadfast Christian faith to the pillars of her core values of service and community, she has architected an existence thoughtfully crafted with others in mind.
“My philosophy of stewardship and service is simple,” Ruchelle explains. “How you see people is how you serve people.” Through empathetic eyes and restorative action, she continues to transform lives by helping people build themselves up. Ruchelle Pride stands as living proof that a single life lived purposefully has the power to remake the world for the better. This legacy of compassion is precisely what she intends to leave behind.
Connect with Ruchelle Pride: www.linkedin.com/in/rlpride
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