Business, organization, management, and messaging consultant and coach. Social justice, autism, intellectual disability, and neurodiversity advocate and trainer. Writer and interviewer.
To inquire about working with Ray, please complete the form on this page (with as much detail as possible).
Short Bio (third person!)
Ray Hemachandra (he/him) is a management and messaging strategist for businesses and organizations. He works with leaders and teams on effective vision, analysis, and planning; holistic brand identity and integrity; audience-centric perspective and communications; staff development and well-being; and authentic realization of inclusion and diversity in organizational policies and culture.
Ray emphasizes values of community, connection, belonging, and respect in his work, consulting, and advocacy. He serves on numerous organizational and governmental boards and advisory groups, mostly centered on social justice, autism, disability, and mental health, and also serves on several nonprofit and government grant-review committees. He speaks at colleges, universities, and conferences, especially about autism and intellectual and developmental disability, often intersecting with other justice concerns and always based on values of acceptance, diversity, inclusion, and happiness. Ray has been a book editor and publisher and a magazine editor and publisher. He has written for newspapers, magazines, and online platforms. He publishes articles occasionally at www.rayhemachandra.com.
Ray lives with his son, Nicholas Hemachandra, in Asheville, North Carolina.
Longer Bio (first person!)
While my professional work has usually involved creating—writing, editing, designing, publishing, developing brands, growing businesses—my most significant successes and certainly greatest satisfactions have come from collaboration: partnering with colleagues, community, and customers, generating a shared holistic vision and strategic roadmap, and then getting good work done.
I always put people first—the people who work with me and the clients and customers for whom we work. My personal emphases include community, belonging, relationship, authentic communication and perspective-taking, social justice, and fundamental commitments to kindness, integrity, and excellence.
I’ve worked at a newspaper as a copy editor and reporter, a magazine publishing company in various jobs ranging from book-review editor to, ultimately, editor in chief, and a book publisher as a senior editor for three years and then as the creative lead and business manager for the founding three years of Lark Jewelry & Beading. The imprint drove Lark Books’ overall profitability under my business, creative, acquisitions, marketing, and publicity planning and direction. I’ve also worked as a member of the management team for an environmental engineering firm, overseeing its human resources, recruiting, marketing, and editorial/quality control.
I continue to perform consulting, board, and committee work for a variety of businesses, nonprofit organizations, and governmental organizations. Among them, I serve on the Boards of Directors for the Center for Craft, including chairing its DEAI Committee, and Liberty Corner Enterprises, including serving on its Finance Committee; the Consumer and Family Advisory Committee (CFAC) for Vaya Health, including as the CFAC Liaison to the Region 2 County Commissioner Board, on Vaya’s Health Equity Council, and on its Member Materials Review Committee; as chair of the Advisory Council for Family Support Network of Western North Carolina; on the Autism Advisory Board for Western Carolina University and the Project INTERACT graduate program; on the Western North Carolina Advisory Board for Camino Research Institute‘s NC Latino Community Strengths and Needs Assessment; on the Advisory Committee for Camp Lakey Gap; and on the Steering Committee for the annual Zipping for Autism fundraiser.
I am active in the autism, disability, and mental-health communities, supporting individuals, families, and many professionals.
I recently served for two years as a Community Grantmaking Fellow for Tzedek Social Justice Fund and also have served as a reviewer for Tzedek’s Brilliance Awards for several years. I serve on the Review Committees for the Strategic Partnership Grants and Tipping Point Grants programs for Buncombe County, North Carolina. I am a longtime judge for the annual Benjamin Franklin Awards, the awards program of the Independent Book Publishers Association.
I authored a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and Amazon Book of the Month, along with a couple of dozen other well-reviewed books. I was privileged to acquire, develop, publish, and promote many other titles and to collaborate with numerous authors, creatives, and excellent publishing professionals and colleagues in that work.
I have interviewed mind/body/spirit and spiritual teachers—Eckhart Tolle, Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Sakyong Mipham, Thomas Moore, Sister Chan Khong, and Rabbi David Zeller among them—along with musicians, artists, and many business leaders and authors. At mind/body/spirit and book-industry trade shows and conferences I have led trainings and seminars, moderated panel discussions, and conducted interviews on stage with business leaders and spiritual teachers.
My work and, I hope, this blog are bound together by a consistent mission of supporting people in their lives and well-being and making society and community more caring, inclusive, and just—these intentions inform my leadership approach, my business and organizational consulting, and my writing.
You can see my work on other sites, as well as this one. For a few examples, click through to see my interviews with Sister Chan Khong on the Plum Village site here and Dr. Wayne W. Dyer here and here, and numerous excerpts and reprints of my articles about autism have been reprinted in India’s Autism Network Journal, which is accessible here.
I currently live in Asheville, North Carolina, with my amazing son.
I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter or to contact me using the form below:
