Our Vision
We create a worldwide movement of difference makers who stand for collective human dignity and a relentless drive to create a legacy of belonging and possibility.
Our Mission
being Me Foundation creates breakthroughs using our global Ontological learning, coaching and leadership programs that redefine diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for LGBTQIA+ and allies.
Together we can empower a change in
beliefs to inspire a change in reality!
A letter from our founders
Everyone wants to feel safe in this world. For those of us who grew up marginalized for who we are, feeling safe often doesn’t come easily or naturally. What does come easily is a tendency to tell ourselves, “because I’m different, I’m not good enough. I’m not worthy of success. I’ll never be accepted.”
These societal constructs have contributed to some astonishing statistics. According to the Trevor Foundation, 45% of LGBTQIA+ youth considered suicide within the last year. 69% of young adults ages 18-24 report symptoms of anxiety, and 53% of the same age group report symptoms of depression. 80% said they wanted mental health care, but 60% of those respondents were unable to get it. Conversely, youth, and young adults who feel safe and accepted in their communities and families had significantly lower rates of anxiety, depression and suicide.
Clearly, there is a crisis among LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults. Yet most don’t have access to the help they need or feel isolated from their closest community members. Project this out over their lifetime and the next generation, and there is potential for enormous damage today and to future generations if we don’t find solutions.
We created the being Me Foundation to directly address this crisis. We want to give LGBTQIA+ youth, young adults, and adults, a safe place to talk, explore self-discovery and learn how to self-direct, self-author their lives giving them the foundational structure to flourish as adults.
We are partnering with peers trained in ontological distinctions, along with LGBTQIA+ service providers. Whether it be housing and mental health service providers and or learning institutions to give LGBTQIA+ the tools to break the internal programming that stems from inherited societal constructs, abuse and systematic marginalization.
We are excited to partner with other LGBTQIA+ organizations who are already offering support to the community and augment their services with our program.
Our foundation is meant to empower LGBTQIA+ so they can breakthrough their obstacles and forge healthier mental and behavioral patterns that will serve them for a lifetime, keeping in mind, our young adults will turn into the next generation’s leaders and mentors, and we believe that these young people will make an impact on this crisis, and even potentially end it.
If you are part of an LGBTQIA+ young adult services and or adult organization, let’s work together. If you’re an individual, we welcome donations and fund-raising events. And if you’re LGBTQIA+ seeking support, looking to enhance your self-awareness, develop critical thinking skills, learn ways to break a destructive or unhelpful cycles, reach out and we can help.
We envision a world where people lead with dignity, everyone belongs, and everyone feels safe. Join us.
Lin Weinberg Esther Weinberg
Founder Founder
Meet Our Founders
Lin Weinberg, Founder
She/Her/Hers
Lin is Co-Founder and CEO of the being Me Foundation, a 501c3 corporation. being Me Foundation holds the vision to create a worldwide movement of difference makers who stand for collective human dignity and a relentless drive to create a legacy of belonging and possibility. Lin is a Newfield Network certified Ontological Coach, accredited with the International Coach Federation (ICF) at Professional Certified Coach status working towards Master Certified Coach status, who has a private coaching practice, and is an accredited coach with The Ready Zone, and an active faculty member of The Positive Movement, Singapore. Lin is an Ontological Coach and lifelong inner-world explorer. Ontological coaching involves the coach and the coachee working as equals to explore ways of being to create a desired outcome. Lin is an expert in incorporating the practices of non-dualism and mindfulness-based approaches into her coaching. She encourages people to question the narratives, beliefs, default habituated conditioned lenses and assumptions that create so much of human suffering, especially our tendency to mistake conceptual maps for the living actuality. Her compassionate, yet firm approach is open, direct, down-to-earth, and rooted in the invitation to be still, and give your full attention to what is already whole, free, knowing and at peace. Rather than relying on outside authorities, traditional or societal constructs, acquired knowledge or beliefs, ontological methodology is about direct, firsthand, present experience where you are the authority of you. Lin describes her meetings with people as explorations, where together, in curiosity and neither taking on the role of expert, we look to discover what the moment has to reveal. Lin has a 25 year background in IT and training for some of the world’s leading companies. Her ability to design, implement and lead the development of curricula and programs for large, multi-national organizations will be vital to creating the being Me Foundation services. The being Me Foundation is seeded from Lin’s lived experience of being in and out of the US foster care system as a displaced LGBTQIA+ youth. Lin is the embodiment of ‘beating the statistics’. She describes with gratitude, the role and purpose her own pain and trauma has enabled in manifesting the powerful gifts Lin now brings to her work. Lin places her personal journey at the center of her practice, helping others to connect to their own sovereignty and self-agency. As a coach and through the being Me Foundation’s programs and faculty, Lin offers the Ontological Distinctions, frameworks, tools, and structure central to providing LGBTQIA+ community and allies the life skills to live their authentic selves and realize the dreams they hold, embracing their belonging and possibility. “Tending to our human experience with emotional maturity, loving awareness of shadow, and sensitivity to the language, the body and emotions is foundational in my work”. “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” Rumi Lin has lived in Los Angeles, Toronto and Austin where she now lives with her wife Esther and their beloved 2 dogs.
Esther Weinberg, Founder
She/Her/Hers
Esther Weinberg is Co-Founder of the being Me Foundation, a 501c3 corporation with her wife Lin. Esther is a business and organizational growth accelerator for both for profit and nonprofit organizations. She equips executives in high- growth, fast-changing industries to create game-changing breakthroughs, increase efficiency and profitability in declining markets and create successful and sustainable “portable” virtual cultures with executives, leaders and teams. Esther is also the Founder & Chief Leadership Development Officer of The Ready Zone, where she moves leaders through change with proven systems to create big pivots, big impact and big returns. Esther’s strategies assist companies through such impactful conditions as planning and executing reorganizations; moving employees from burnout and exhaustion to empowered, innovative and driven; and implementing clear priorities and strategies for growing a virtual and global workforce. Esther provides proven, transformative, yet practical tools and systems that help benchmark and measure results. Despite uncertain times, Esther is not afraid to tell eye-opening truths that dives deeply into the impact of change and consolidation. She does so to create the access and opportunity for meaningful dialogue and action to develop workplace cultures of trust, respect and safety. In fact, she rolls-up-her-sleeves, authentically and methodically helping organizations build sustainable company cultures that thrive vs. survive. From the fundamentals behind developing a collective philosophy of readiness to take on any industry challenge, to coaching leaders on how to reframe, refocus, and realign, Esther is a true powerhouse.
Unleash the power of belonging!
Meet Our Coaches
Lin Weinberg, NCC, PCC
She/Her/Hers
Lin is Co-Founder and CEO of the being Me Foundation, a 501c3 corporation. being Me Foundation holds the vision to create a worldwide movement of difference makers who stand for collective human dignity and a relentless drive to create a legacy of belonging and possibility. Lin is a Newfield Network certified Ontological Coach, accredited with the International Coach Federation (ICF) at Professional Certified Coach status working towards Master Certified Coach status, who has a private coaching practice, and is an accredited coach with The Ready Zone, and an active faculty member of The Positive Movement, Singapore. Lin is an Ontological Coach and lifelong inner-world explorer. Ontological coaching involves the coach and the coachee working as equals to explore ways of being to create a desired outcome. Lin is an expert in incorporating the practices of non-dualism and mindfulness-based approaches into her coaching. She encourages people to question the narratives, beliefs, default habituated conditioned lenses and assumptions that create so much of human suffering, especially our tendency to mistake conceptual maps for the living actuality. Her compassionate, yet firm approach is open, direct, down-to-earth, and rooted in the invitation to be still, and give your full attention to what is already whole, free, knowing and at peace. Rather than relying on outside authorities, traditional or societal constructs, acquired knowledge or beliefs, ontological methodology is about direct, firsthand, present experience where you are the authority of you. Lin describes her meetings with people as explorations, where together, in curiosity and neither taking on the role of expert, we look to discover what the moment has to reveal. Lin has a 25 year background in IT and training for some of the world’s leading companies. Her ability to design, implement and lead the development of curricula and programs for large, multi-national organizations will be vital to creating the being Me Foundation services. The being Me Foundation is seeded from Lin’s lived experience of being in and out of the US foster care system as a displaced LGBTQIA+ youth. Lin is the embodiment of ‘beating the statistics’. She describes with gratitude, the role and purpose her own pain and trauma has enabled in manifesting the powerful gifts Lin now brings to her work. Lin places her personal journey at the center of her practice, helping others to connect to their own sovereignty and self-agency. As a coach and through the being Me Foundation’s programs and faculty, Lin offers the Ontological Distinctions, frameworks, tools, and structure central to providing LGBTQIA+ community and allies the life skills to live their authentic selves and realize the dreams they hold, embracing their belonging and possibility. “Tending to our human experience with emotional maturity, loving awareness of shadow, and sensitivity to the language, the body and emotions is foundational in my work”. “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” Rumi Lin has lived in Los Angeles, Toronto and Austin where she now lives with her wife Esther and their beloved 2 dogs.
Claire Ong, MAPP
She/Her/Hers
Claire Ong is the co-founder and lead trainer of The Positive Movement, an organization committed to help organizations increase skills for greater wellbeing. Claire has more than 10 years of experience running training programs and providing consulting services with organizations. Claire specializes in creating programs that are experiential in nature. She has run training programs across the globe - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Australia, New Zealand and in the USA. Claire has a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a fellow of the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Claire is passionate about helping people create greater self-awareness and effectiveness. For the past 10 years, Claire has also done extensive work with the social service sector, working with the Singapore Prisons as well as residential homes for abused women. She has done restorative coaching work with homes and organizations for youth who are at-risk and support them in their rehabilitation journey.
Esther Weinberg
She/Her/Hers
Esther Weinberg is Co-Founder of the being Me Foundation, a 501c3 corporation with her wife Lin. Esther is a business and organizational growth accelerator for both for profit and nonprofit organizations. She equips executives in high- growth, fast-changing industries to create game-changing breakthroughs, increase efficiency and profitability in declining markets and create successful and sustainable “portable” virtual cultures with executives, leaders and teams. Esther is also the Founder & Chief Leadership Development Officer of The Ready Zone, where she moves leaders through change with proven systems to create big pivots, big impact and big returns. Esther’s strategies assist companies through such impactful conditions as planning and executing reorganizations; moving employees from burnout and exhaustion to empowered, innovative and driven; and implementing clear priorities and strategies for growing a virtual and global workforce. Esther provides proven, transformative, yet practical tools and systems that help benchmark and measure results. Despite uncertain times, Esther is not afraid to tell eye-opening truths that dives deeply into the impact of change and consolidation. She does so to create the access and opportunity for meaningful dialogue and action to develop workplace cultures of trust, respect and safety. In fact, she rolls-up-her-sleeves, authentically and methodically helping organizations build sustainable company cultures that thrive vs. survive. From the fundamentals behind developing a collective philosophy of readiness to take on any industry challenge, to coaching leaders on how to reframe, refocus, and realign, Esther is a true powerhouse.
Unleash the power of belonging!