Celeste Lavelle (she/her) is an Associate at Trepwise, bringing over 7 years of experience in strategic consulting, project coordination, and equity-focused engagement.
At Trepwise, she supports all facets of client engagements—ranging from strategic planning and organizational development to stakeholder engagement and implementation support. She works with a diverse portfolio of clients including nonprofits, philanthropic collaboratives, and public sector organizations.
She brings a systems-thinking lens to her work, identifying opportunities to navigate, shift, or dismantle existing structures in service of inclusive, people-focused solutions. She has supported initiatives focused on health equity, criminal justice reform, educational equity, and community development. Her past work includes managing a multi-year Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative for community-based organizations in Northwest Arkansas, and coordinating several action tables for the Greater New Orleans Funders Network. She has also designed and facilitated convenings for civil rights organizations and supported strategic plans for nonprofits driving systemic change.
Prior to Trepwise, Celeste served as a Project Coordinator at a consulting firm in the South, where her work spanned curriculum design, philanthropic strategy, staff training, and event management—all through an intersectional lens.
A proud native of New Orleans, Celeste holds a Bachelor of Science and Arts in Sociology from Loyola University New Orleans, where she graduated magna cum laude and focused on social justice and inequalities. While at Loyola, she served for three years on the University Programming Board, helping to shape student engagement and campus life. She continues to be a proud advocate for her home neighborhood of Algiers and is known to cheer very loudly at local sporting events. When not festin’, in her downtime, Celeste enjoys watching anime and browsing used books at Blue Cypress Books.
