Ivy Llena
Founder and Principal
Ivy Llena is the Founder and Principal of the MI Institute for Financial Empowerment (MIFE). She began her economic and financial empowerment work at the Eleison Foundation, where she co-designed financial education curricula, counseling and coaching programs, and a matched-savings initiative for survivors of human trafficking and their families. During this time, she also co-pioneered the contextualization of Motivational Interviewing for Filipino cultural norms, adapting MI practice to local values, social dynamics, and lived realities.
Ivy consults with nonprofits and government agencies on integrating MI into financial empowerment, education, and client-facing programs, supporting organizations to move beyond information delivery toward meaningful, sustained behavior change.
Her work also extends into the private sector. Ivy has supported financial empowerment and workplace wellbeing initiatives by partnering with HR leaders, training staff teams, and speaking at conferences on integrating financial wellness into broader organizational wellbeing strategies.
Her commitment to this work deepened through her academic training and applied research engagement with the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, where she contributed to initiatives focused on inclusive economic growth while taking graduate-level coursework in Social Work.
Today, Ivy focuses on helping organizations and practitioners design and implement MI-aligned financial empowerment programs that support ethical practice, meaningful engagement, and lasting outcomes.
Contact: [email protected]
