Listening.

Rabbi Sue Reinhold brings decades of experience as a learner, listener, manager, student of culture, recovering addict, storyteller and scholar to her work as an executive coach and spiritual advisor in Braveheart Advising. Her first question is 'how can I help?' and her next question is 'tell me a story.' Rabbi Sue's favorite Jewish story is one that tells us that Joseph, the famous dream interpreter of the Torah, was not so good at interpreting the dream as he was in asking questions so that the dreamer could come to understand the meaning of the dream.      

A Lifetime of Learning

Rabbi Sue loved her Catholic religious education, but felt she had to leave the church behind when she came out as a lesbian. Having won a Marshall Scholarship to study in the UK, she pursued a Ph.D. at the University of Sussex, where she broke new ground on studying British politics from an anthropological perspective.  She worked in finance, as an equity research analyst and portfolio manager, before starting and growing her investment advisory firm, North Berkeley Wealth Management, for a dozen years.  All those years ago the career profiles that said she should be a counselor or minister began to show themselves, and Rabbi Sue relished the advisory nature of being up close and personal with people in their big financial decisions.  After successfully growing this firm, selling it to her partners and turning around another advisory practice, in philanthropy, Rabbi Sue set out to (finally) become clergy through obtaining ordination from Pluralistic Rabbinic Seminary in 2021.  She then turned her focus to a combination of executive coaching and spiritual advising, as she found good coaching includes a spiritual component, and she was organically beginning to grow an executive coaching practice while she finished rabbinic school.  Her journey in recovery from addiction to alcohol ignited further her goal to be of service.  ​

Making Change

Rabbi Sue has spent a lifetime leading, listening, and making change.  A feminist and gay activist from age 18, she traversed the 90s and 00s fighting for marriage equality and gay rights, even as she was one of the only women in the room at large capital management firms.  She had her queer family in an innovative way, and during a life crisis turned to Judaism where she quickly found the value of personal and intimate reflection on one's own story in the context of Torah study.  Having left a more conventional Wall Street environment, she built an innovative investment advisory firm which was an early B Corporation, and also was a founder of The Kitchen SF, a startup Jewish religious community. She also turned around a JCC and a large philanthropy advisory unit at the SF Jewish Federation, and built a corporate strategy unit at a Fortune 200 company, in each instance leaving strong teams in place with a clear strategy and future vision.  Having bottomed out in her addiction to alcohol right as she entered rabbinic school in early 2020, Sue has come out the other side after a lot of wrestling, love and learning, one day at a time. She has abundant Jewish tools and wisdom to apply to her executive coaching and spiritual advisory practice, Braveheart Advising, and to help others with their personal, professional and spiritual challenges and growth.​

More about Rabbi Sue

Rabbi Dr. Sue Reinhold

Executive Coach & Spiritual Advisor

Education
- University of Lisbon, Certificate in Portuguese Language & Culture, 1983
- Stanford University, BA in Feminist Studies, 1988
- University of Sussex, Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, 1994
- Association for Investment Management and Research (now the CFA Institute), Levels I & II of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, 1996 & 1997
- Wexner Heritage Fellow, 2014 (2 years of Jewish studies for volunteer Jewish community leaders)
- "Pre-Hab: Introductory Lessons from Jewish Rehab," taught by Beit T'shuvah, Los Angeles' landmark Jewish addiction and recovery treatment center, Spring 2021
- Rabbinic Ordination, Pluralistic Rabbinic Seminary, 2021
​- Founder, Addict Torah a Jewish recovery group, 2022
- Ongoing supervision and spiritual direction from Spiritual  Counselor at Beit T'shuvah, 2021-Present
- Certificate in Spiritual Counseling, Beit T'Shuvah, anticipated 2023

Experience
- Equity Research Analyst & Portfolio Manager, Jurika & Voyles and Dresdner RCM Global Investors, 1995-1999
- Vice President, Strategy & Development, Health Net, 2001-2005
- Co-Founder and Managing Partner, North Berkeley Investment Partners, 2005-2016
- Managing Director of Philanthropy, San Francisco Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, 2017-2020
- Treasurer, JCC East Bay, 2010-2013
- Co-Founder, Board Treasurer, Board member, The Kitchen SF, 2010-2016
- Board member, Treasurer, Board Chair, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, 2016-Present
- Co-Founder, The Tilden Minyan, 2009-Present
- Taught on nearly every portion of the Torah in varied adult educational settings, 2006-Present
- Weekly Torah and Talmud study in chevruta (small group), 2005-Present
- Married to Rabbi Deborah Newbrun; mother and stepmother to four young adults in their 20s