~ About Me ~

Carolyn Waiters Carter is a nationally-recognized community and human development professional with 20+ years of experience in her field. In 2023 Carolyn launched her Somatic Relational Coaching Practice based in New Orleans. Her Coaching Methodology is designed and informed by her diverse experience in building bridges between families, communities, and public and private institutions to foster wellness from inside out. 

She has led crucial programs in workforce development, neighborhood and community development, disaster recovery, and racial healing that directly engage communities in their own evolution and that have informed policy and practice around the country. In 2008 Carolyn founded The Human Element, Inc (THE) and The Metamorphosis Project in 2002 through which she leverages her cross-sector project management and executive leadership experience to support individuals and groups across diverse spectrums in their self-actualization journeys through trauma informed, somatic and strengths-based, client-driven development and wellness programs.

Carolyn has led a broad range of projects including Catholic Charities’ Louisiana Family Recovery Corp, and post Katrina Community Revitalization, City of New Orleans, Office of the Mayor’s, Welcome Table New Orleans, project for racial healing and reconciliation, led multiple Community Development Projects in her role as Urban Strategies Senior Project Manager, including the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. Carolyn also worked in partnership with the US Attorney’s Office and City of New Orleans  as a Community Manager for U.S. Department of Justice’s Weed and Seed program. 

As diverse as they are, these projects share a common thread, tapping into the transformative power of individual action in order to facilitate personal and social healing and repair. Whether that repair is necessitated by natural disaster, economic underdevelopment, or racial inequity, Carolyn brings the analytical, organizational, intuitive and interpersonal tools necessary to address root causes in regenerative ways that affirm those relationships between stakeholders that are at the core of holistic wellness. 

After 20+ years in the public service sector, Carolyn noticed a gap between the care that leaders were extending to their communities and the care they gave to themselves, the former often coming at the expense of the latter. 

With an eye toward maximizing impact, not only through external outcomes but internal mindfulness, she developed the expertise to support her colleagues as a trained community mediator, Technology of Participation™ facilitator, Restorative Practices Practitioner, and Somatic Relational Coach. 

Whether consulting or coaching, Carolyn approaches her work with a passionate belief in the human capacity for infinite growth and a desire to support others in becoming that which their families and communities most need: their true and highest selves.

Carolyn was recognized by Essence Magazine in 2016 and in 2018 in their 100 Woke Women issue. She has served on numerous community councils and boards including the National Skills Coalition, Algiers Economic Development Foundation, the Neighborhood Partnership Network, the House of Ruth, Algiers RiverFest, and Exxon Mobil: Chalmette Refinery Citizen Advisory Council and as a former member of Foundation for Louisiana’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Community of Practice. 

Carolyn is also featured in HBO 2022 Katrina Babies Documentary, and quoted in New York Times, Mindful Magazine and multiple global publications. 

Carolyn’s most significant and rewarding role is mother to Christopher and China and grandmother to Larry, Cameron, Savannah and Ahsan and wife to Gregory.