Lisa Edwards-Hutcherson is a dynamic leader, speaker, and author with over 20 years of experience building high-performing teams across financial services, voluntary benefits, retail, and other fast-paced sales-driven industries. A passionate advocate for excellence and inclusion, Lisa has served on numerous executive committees spanning health underwriting, business development, community outreach, and ministry.

Known affectionately as the "Velvet Brick," Lisa is celebrated for her unique ability to drive impact with grace—blending empathy and strength to lead change and inspire transformation. A master networker and relationship builder, she brings people together with purpose and intentionality.

Lisa is blazing trails and breaking barriers—especially when it comes to shifting mindsets around women in leadership, business, and within Evangelical spaces. Her work actively fosters reconciliation across race and culture, building bridges where division once stood.

As a John Maxwell Certified Speaker, Coach, and Trainer, Lisa lives intentionally, always seeking to serve and add value to those around her. Whether she’s on stage, at the boardroom table, or mentoring emerging leaders, Lisa brings authenticity, heart, and a vision for lasting change.
Beyond the professional sphere, Lisa finds joy in hot yoga, meditation, travel (especially cruises), and indulging in her favorite "client"—the S.P.A. agency. She’s also a worship leader, storyteller, and poet, with a love for the written word.

Lisa has contributed thought leadership to California Broker Magazine and Benefit Pro Magazine, and most recently released her powerful debut book, "Living Beyond the Mask"—a deeply personal guide to discovering your authentic self and living a life of freedom, purpose, and wholeness.
Now based in Evanston, Illinois, Lisa is living fully unmasked and liberated, embodying the very message she shares with the world.