Julia Chinyere Oparah, PhD is an executive leadership coach and former university provost specializing in supporting high-achieving adults with ADHD and AuDHD. After serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of San Francisco and Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Mills College, she founded the Center for Liberated Leadership, where she coaches professionals navigating leadership challenges, executive functioning demands, and burnout.

Dr. Oparah’s coaching practice focuses particularly on late-diagnosed neurodivergent professionals, including leaders who have achieved significant career success while relying on masking, hyperfocus, and other compensation strategies. Her work helps clients redesign how they work and lead so they can sustain high performance without sacrificing wellbeing.

She also founded NeuroSpicy Leaders, a coaching and community initiative supporting ADHD, AuDHD, autistic, and neurocurious professionals seeking more sustainable and authentic leadership paths.

In addition to her leadership and coaching work, Dr. Oparah is an award-winning scholar and author whose books include Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth (Routledge) and Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption (University of Minnesota Press).

Her speaking focuses on neurodivergent leadership, burnout prevention, executive functioning, and sustainable productivity for high-achieving adults.