Zelda Gay

Chief Executive Officer & Lead Instructor

Zelda Gay is the Chief Executive Officer of Self-Offense Services and the president of Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan. She is a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Traditional Full Contact Karate and has been a martial artist and self-defense instructor since 2014. Prior to moving into her dual leadership roles, she served as Program Director and Chief Children’s Instructor for the karate school after graduating from Emerson College with a BA in theatre studies. Zelda has been performing and teaching drama, movement and improvisation for a decade.

Zelda brings her unique combination of skills to leading and developing Self Offense's Programs and has played a pivotal role in the production and development of Self-Offense Services.

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Richard Burst-Lazarus

Creative Consultant & Technology Leader

Born in New York and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Richard Burst-Lazarus began training as a Self Offense instructor at Self Offense’s very first training retreat. It was there that he was introduced to the methodology of Self Offense and the potential it had to keep people from having the worst experience of their lives. He left profoundly motivated to join Self Offense and contribute wherever he could. Together with Michelle, Richard co-authored Workplace Self Offense, a sexual harassment prevention workshop which he now co-leads.

Before moving back to New York, Richard studied economics, television, film and writing at Dartmouth College and United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, U.K. Richard brings his rich background in writing and story telling to the development of Self Offense's programs.

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Mike Lesser

Creative & Research Consultant & De-Escalation Instructor

Mike Lesser is a champion for creating spaces for people to walk through the world with freedom and ease. Mike comes from a long law enforcement career where he managed hundreds of violent confrontations, all of which have ended in his peers and accountable parties leaving the situation unharmed. Mike is a human catalyst for change, and is someone who helps people take actions for themselves and transform their situations. Before law enforcement, Mike worked in Mental Health providing treatment for those with severe and persistent psychiatric and drug abuse issues.

Mike leads workshops in de-escalation & workplace harassment prevention and is committed to the ongoing development of the resources that Self-Offense Services provides to current and future workshop participants in order to eradicate sexual assault, harassment and violence from the world with responsibility.

Ed Lisbe

Program Consultant & Listening Instructor

Ed Lisbe, former school psychologist and co-founder of ListenFirst, has led listening workshops throughout the world for the profit and not-for-profit sectors for forty years. His primary focus has been “people skills” training for Fortune 500 and 1000 managers and executives for companies such as Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, PepsiCo, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, UnitedHealth Group, United Technologies Corp., Autodesk, Inc., and Verizon. His other client populations include educators, mental health professionals, government employee and labor groups, and families.

With all, Ed tends to be acknowledged foremost as a trainer for two unique qualities: how he brings the heart, spirit, mindset, and art form of listening into the work beyond the basic skills and techniques, and his extraordinarily clear simplification of the whole listening process as applied to real life.

D'Angela Alberty

Social Media Director, Content Manager & Self Offense Instructor in Training

D’Angela Alberty (she/they) is a Survivor of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse and an advocate for Survivors.

She is a Meditation & Yoga Teacher, Energy Healer, Trauma Informed Coach, Certified Health & Wellness Coach and the CEO of her company, Emotional Rebirth, LLC, that helps trauma survivors break free of harmful narratives by reconnecting to their power.  

D’Angela holds a BS in Criminal Justice from New England Institute of Technology and is a graduate of Self Offense and a Self Offense Instructor in Training. She is also a proud solo parent to three young children.