About Me

I’m Lala Forrest, founder of Founding Self Partners.

I’m a member of the Pit River Nation, with ancestral ties to the Modoc and Wintu people. I’ve navigated a lot of “firsts”—the first in my family to attend university, and the first to become a physician. Being selected as a McConnell Scholar back in 2011 changed the trajectory of my path for the better: it opened doors, but more importantly, it gave me a community that saw potential in me even when I didn’t yet see it myself.

I earned my MD from Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, along with a certificate in medical education, and I’m currently completing my residency in psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, where my clinical work and research have centered on mental health—work that’s taught me just how much history, culture, and social context shape the way we lead, relate, and grow. I am a founding board member of the Indigenous School of Medicine, an initiative to reimagine medical education through Indigenous leadership and traditional knowledge systems, and serve as an At-Large Director for the Association of American Indian Physicians.

That same lens—understanding how where we come from shapes who we’re becoming—is at the heart of how I coach. I’ve learned, and continue to learn, how to walk in two different worlds: honoring where I come from while building something new. Founding Self Partners grew out of that experience. It’s my passion to walk alongside the “firsts”—the trailblazers building something new without a blueprint—so they can build something meaningful without losing themselves in the process.