About Me

I have spent my career in rooms where the people responsible for making change didn't yet have the tools, the language, or the courage to make it. I built Sankore because those rooms needed more than good intentions. They needed a methodology.

Dr. Lanise Block is a Cultural Intelligence Strategist, Social Innovation consultant, Courageous Leadership Educator, and the founder of Sankore. Her work sits at the intersection of three questions she has spent two decades answering:

• What does it take for leaders to see clearly across cultural difference?

• What tools do organizations need to move from equity as a statement to equity as a practice?

• What is the role of courage in all of it?

The answers became the The Sankore Simple ABCs™ a proprietary methodology for cultural intelligence and courageous leadership development that is now used in school districts, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and educator preparation programs.

Her work is grounded in a conviction that Social Innovation the kind that actually transforms systems rather than decorating them requires leaders who have the cultural intelligence to understand who has been excluded and the courage to change the structures that excluded them. That is what Sankore builds.

Dr. Block's expertise in innovation and strategic planning is evidenced by her diverse academic background and professional certifications. She holds a B.A. in history, an M.A. in teaching from Drake University, and an Ed.D. in critical pedagogy from the University of St. Thomas, complemented by graduate certificates in learning technologies, e-learning, and online teaching. 

CREDENTIALS & EXPERIENCE

• Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas

• Qualified IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) Administrator

• Author: Cultivating Courage Innovative Strategies for Developing A Critical Equity Leadership Identity (with Dr. Naomi Taylor)

• Educational technology consultant with 20+ years serving executive and cabinet-level leaders

• Presenter and facilitator for the Minnesota Department of Education, Center for Intensive Educator Preparation, AI Summit 2026, and organizations across the social sector

• Founder, Sankore and Lift.ED Consulting

I didn't build Sankore to be the biggest consulting firm in the room. I built it to be the most useful one. The leaders I work with are carrying real weight the weight of organizations that are supposed to serve everyone but were designed for some. I am here to help them see what they're carrying, name it clearly, and build the courage to put it down and pick up something better. That is the work. And it is worth doing.

Dr. Block's Social Innovation methodology is grounded in formal training across multiple disciplines combining cultural intelligence with proven innovation frameworks used by leading institutions worldwide. Her nine distinct certifications and micro-credentials, including:

• Digital Business Strategy and Innovating with the Business Model Canvas (University of Virginia)

• Innovation for Impact (i4i) - The Carlson-Polizzotto Method of Value Creation (Northeastern University)

• Strategic Planning and Execution (University of Virginia)

• Design Sprint and Certified Workshopper Master Class Certification (AJ and Smart)

• Systemic Innovation Training Specialist - TRIZ Systematic Innovation

These credentials directly inform the Sprint and Systems Tools used in the The Sankore Simple ABCs™ Build phase ensuring that the innovation work is grounded in proven methodology, not improvisation.