About Us
Let’s work on becoming highly sought-after industry leaders and changemakers by building our leadership presence, getting more respect, making more money, and having more impact and opportunities, all without losing our souls or minds.
At Best Up Next, we support women of color with high-level executive coaching and support at all leadership levels, including the C-suite, senior leaders, middle managers, high-potential up-and-comers, first timers in a new role, career transition, startup entrepreneurs, business owners, and solo professionals.
Mission.
Bring clarity to the priorities, strategies, and opportunities to help professionals achieve the exceptional results that you desire.
Vision.
We strive to enable our clients to have clear direction, focus, and achieve success in all areas of your career and life.
Our Team
Charisma Acey, Ph.D.
Founder / CEO
Dr. Charisma Acey holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Master’s in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and is certified in Diversity Leadership by the National Coalition Building Institute. She is an award-winning scholar, author, and mentor who has trained over a thousand emerging and seasoned professionals at top public universities in the United States and has served in senior leadership roles in academia and the nonprofit sectors in the US and internationally. For more than 25 years, Charisma has supported communities, non-profits, local governments, academia and industry to develop interventions designed to empower and improve equitable social and environmental outcomes for vulnerable, marginalized populations.
Charisma’s background includes managing humanitarian relief and development projects with communities, NGOs and local governments in Latin America and Africa, and community-based research in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Uganda and working with community organizations, local governments, and utilities to expand access to clean water, safe sanitation, clean energy and promote corporate social responsibility. In the US, her consulting and research projects focus on public participation and community outreach, urban agroecology and healthy food access and more recently, wildfire vulnerability, air quality and environmental justice in California. She has experience leading organizational and industry-wide change to foster anti-racism and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging.
Denedria Banks, LCSW
Mindset Mentor
Denedria Banks is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in California and Nevada. Denedria’s experience in social services spans 27 years. Denedria received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Child Development from California State University at Northridge in 1995, and earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from California State University at Sacramento in 2001. In 2005, Denedria self-published “Melodies of My Life: A Disabled Girl’s Journey to Womanhood.” Denedria previously worked extensively in the medical arena specializing in the areas of Nephrology, HIV, Alzheimer’s/Dementia and End-of-Life.
Today, Denedria provides psychotherapy services specializing in the areas of depression, anxiety, chronic illness, life transitions, and grief & loss. Trained in various theoretical approaches (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Psychosocial Development Theory, and Systems Theory), Denedria strives to provide a safe environment for her clients to feel comfortable thereby creating a collaborative, therapeutic relationship.
Additionally, Denedria is certified to provide clinical supervision to mastered level social workers who are striving to gain licensure. Denedria feels a great sense of joy in having an opportunity to help others reach their goals. Providing supervision allows Denedria to inspire others and give back to the Social Work Community.