Claire Holba
Executive Director
“My highest purpose is to cultivate within others a deep feeling of love, belonging, and interconnection.”
Claire Holba grew up in Northwest Indiana. She attended IUPUI for two years where she played NCAA Division I Basketball before transferring to Marian University, Indianapolis where she continued collegiate athletics throughout the remainder of her college career. Her zest for the global began through her study of the Japanese and Chinese languages. Following her sophomore year, Claire studied Mandarin and taught English to Russian students in northern China. She was the 2015 Graduating Class President and finished with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
After college, Claire worked as an Auditor with Ernst & Young in the New York City Financial Services Office where she gained international business experience working in the Japanese Business Unit. In 2016 she began working as a Compliance Examiner for The National Futures Association, the self-regulatory body for the Commodities Trading industry. Her time in New York City allowed for an understanding of business accounting, process flow, and risk assessment.
Most significantly, living in New York City and working with an incredibly vibrant team of international colleagues allowed Claire to learn from and cultivate relationships with colleagues holding diversified perspectives.
In 2017, Claire left New York City to pursue a path in alignment with her deeper calling to uphold environmental and human justice. She pursued an AmeriCorps national service term with the Nevada Conservation Corps on a physically demanding crew team operating out of the Mojave Desert.
In August of 2018 Claire found home deep in the jungles of Thailand as a teacher in Mae Ra Moe refugee camp with survivors of conflict and persecution in Burma. She is forever indebted to the radical hospitality of the people of Burma who welcomed her in. Claire returned to Indianapolis with a fierce commitment to pursue avenues of peace development and is currently active in humanitarian work within the Thai/Burma region.
Claire gained domestic experience with U.S. Refugee Resettlement and interfaith understanding as an AmeriCorps member serving with the Center for Interfaith Cooperation. Through her placement site, The Dwelling Place, she helped develop the Welcome to America program.
Claire also serves as a board member with several other multi-cultural non-profit organizations including the Congo American Bridge, Hope for Tomorrow, and The Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention. She is a trained Climate Reality Leader through the Climate Reality Project and speaks on the intersectionality of climate change, displacement, and the refugee crisis.
Claire believes in the importance of curiosity and cherishes getting to know new stories of human expression and brilliance. She is brought fully alive by shared moments where we as humans awaken to our oneness while completely reveling in what makes us unique.