Erin Bresnahan
Erin Bresnahan is a bilingual (English/French) strategic advisor and facilitator whose work bridges evidence, action, and human dynamics. Over 15+ years, she has partnered with foundations, multilateral institutions, civil society organizations,and companies in more than 90 countries. Today, as Co-Founder and COO of AvoMotion Advisory, Erin co-leads a firm serving nonprofits, foundations, multilateral organizations, and private sector clients of all sizes, facilitating strategic planning workshops, board retreats, and multistakeholder convenings. What sets her approach apart is the pairing of rigorous, data-grounded strategy work with genuine facilitation craft: she builds the KPI dashboards and measurement systems a room will need after the workshop ends. Erin holds an MA in International Affairs from Carleton University with a specialization in international development and conflict studies, and a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Tarek Maassarani
Tarek Maassarani is a mission-driven attorney, program strategist, university professor, and project director with 20+ years leading federally funded initiatives across justice, equity, and climate resilience. He has litigated human rights cases, managed multi-agency partnerships, developed countless programs, published books and articles, and trained civil society and government agencies. As CEO of Sustainable Construction Solutions, he applies his legal and programmatic expertise to sustainable infrastructure, advancing fireproof, non-toxic, and low-carbon materials and methods aligned with resilience and decarbonization goals. Under his leadership, the company has delivered successful pilot projects and expanded public-private partnerships. Maassarani began his career providing civil legal services law at the federally-funded Neighborhood Legal Services Program, where he served as a Covington & Burling Westwood Fellow and later as a senior staff attorney. At NLSP’s Nani Helen Burroughs office, he represented underserved residents across housing, employment, public benefits, consumer protection, and discrimination cases, while also managing law student interns and supporting D.C. Bar legal clinics and Spanish-speaking workers’ rights seminars. He then served for over a decade as a consultant and trainer for the U.S. Institute of Peace and director of the Salam Institute, in which capacities he managed five-to-six figure USAID and State Department-funded civic engagement and peacebuilding programs across Africa, Afghanistan, and domestic military bases. He facilitated training for educators, nonprofits, African peacekeeping forces, U.S. Army units, and foreign service officers, and co-authored curricula on religious peacebuilding, conflict resolution, trauma resilience, and nonviolent action. As co-founder and technical lead of Restorative DC, Maassarani designed and scaled a citywide restorative justice initiative across Washington, D.C., delivering technical assistance to over 40 schools, coordinating a diversion program for the Department of Human Services, and advising the Office of the Attorney General on the creation of a nationally recognized in-house restorative justice unit. He later co-directed Central Virginia Community Justice, where he launched a restorative diversion program in partnership with local prosecutors, expanded referral networks, and formalized regional implementation. More recently, he served as lead trainer for the U.S. State Department–funded #Influencers4Peace initiative, which engaged 150 social media leaders across Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Niger to promote social cohesion and counter violent extremism.
Danette Wilkins Marte
Danette Wilkins Marte (they/them, elle, elu) is an expansive strategist, intuitive facilitator, and liberatory changemaker with over 20 years of experience providing strategic, technical, programmatic, and operational support to diverse organizations and groups and implementing research, programming, and training across the globe (primarily Central America, North America, South America, and Southern Africa). Prior to consulting, Danette worked with U.S. government agencies (U.S Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Peace Corps), consulting firms (Cultural Practice, Tetra Tech), international non-governmental organizations (Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs), and academic institutions (Emory University, Johns Hopkins University) addressing a wide range of health and development areas including agriculture and economic growth, democracy and governance, education, environment and natural resources, and health (e.g., animal disease preparedness and response, gender-based violence, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health). They also have demonstrated experience in gender mainstreaming and integration (e.g., men’s and boys’ engagement, women’s and girls’ empowerment), social and behavior change (e.g., entertainment education, gender transformative approaches, provider behavior change), and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (e.g., gender equality, disability, and social inclusion, gender and sexuality diversity, and LGBTQI+ inclusion). Danette holds a bachelor of arts degree in Hispanic Studies and Government from the College of William and Mary, a graduate diploma in Gender and Development from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Ecuador, and a master of public health degree in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education from Emory University. Outside of formal schooling and training, they pursue informal learning through popular education and self-directed learning. As an Afrodiasporic child of immigrants and working-class people, Danette’s approach to facilitation values the wisdom of lived experience and centers humility, curiosity, empathy, authenticity, and respect.
Aru Daswani
Aru Daswani is an ICF PCC accredited leadership coach and facilitator working one to one with leaders, teams and organizations in the deep inner transformation needed for a positive impact in society and the planet. She creates safe spaces to allow for the shift of consciousness and the inner development needed for the evolution of humanity, using the Inner Development Goals framework as a catalyser for transformative change.
Keara Cormier-Hill
Keara Cormier-Hill is a dynamic, trauma-informed facilitator with over 15 years of experience creating inclusive, engaging, and strategically grounded learning environments. With a background in sociology, adolescent counseling, and design research, she brings a rare blend of warmth, critical inquiry, and systems thinking to every space she holds. Keara has designed and facilitated sessions with a wide range of participants, from youth in the Dominican Republic reimagining community service, to state leaders evaluating social programs, to health tech teams exploring user insights. She’s skilled at guiding groups through sensitive conversations, especially those involving vulnerable populations, equity, or lived experience. Her trauma-informed approach creates space for honest dialogue and deep reflection, while her ability to connect the dots between individual stories and systems-level change helps participants move from insight to action. Whether she’s helping a team develop a theory of change, leading a participatory design sprint, or facilitating a multi-stakeholder strategy retreat, Keara’s style is collaborative, friendly, and highly adaptive. She’s able to meet people where they are while gently pushing them to think bigger.She is also the founder of The South Design Research Studio, where she leads regionalco-design and research projects across the American South, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Dr. Kerriann Peart
Known for her exuberance and critical thinking, Dr. Kerriann Peart champions work at the intersections or as she likes to say, “the junction of things.” With her Caribbean identity and culture, Dr. Peart has supported work across sectors both private and public, national, and international, always leaning into the efforts of equity and leveraging the insights of those she engages in her efforts, through a strengths-based approach. With her 20 years of professional experience, inclusive of organizational culture design, human capital, systems strengthening, change management, agile leadership, professional well-being and diversity, equity and inclusion practice; Dr. Peart founded Peart Consulting, LLC, in 2020. In this curated space she provides identity informed coaching, consulting, and speaking services, for start-ups, non-profits and small businesses; with a focus on building the capacity of managers within these spaces. Dr. Peart earned her doctorate in International Psychology with a focus on Organizations and Systems, from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She also holds a Master of Public Health, Global Health Communications focus from The Milken Institute School of Public Health, at George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Emory University.
Carmen Franco
Carmen Franco is passionate about co-creating transformative experiences with her clients, helping organizations and leaders explore their potential to increase their impact. Using her varied background and experiences in start-ups, Fortune 500 corporations, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. Carmen is committed to enhancing organizations, your practice, team, and/or company via 1:1 and/or team coaching — be it face-to-face or virtual. Having lived and worked in other countries, like Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia, speaking multiple languages, Carmen also has a unique awareness and sensitivity to coach effectively in cross-cultural business environments. Her coaching approach draws on her keen understanding of leadership, organizational culture, business, diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice, teams, and individual change. Carmen embraces diversity and is a champion for psychologically safe, respectful, inclusive workplaces. In addition to clients across the U.S. She has clients in many countries, including China, Singapore, France, Germany, India, Philippines, and Saudi Arabia.
Carlos Gaviria
Carlos Gaviria has more than 25 years of experience facilitating group processes with individual contributors, middle and senior management. He has a lot of experience and learning in Experiential Education, Team Coaching, Consultative Sales, Strategic Planning and Leadership, in Colombia, Spain, Panama and Venezuela, creating spaces for learning and personal growth. Carlos has been Director of Campamento La Llanada for more than 20 years exercising management roles, season planning, development of soft skills in children and young people between 6 and 18 years of age. He also served in the Venezuelan Camp Association. He was involved in the design process in the Peace Camps in Colombia, promoted by the National Government of Colombia together with the Former President-Juan Manuel Santos. Carlos used to be a pharmaceutical consultant. He is bilingual, with specialization in Organizational Development and Certification as a Team Coach. Carlos is a person guided by values, he is passionate about continuous learning and superior principles that drive transformation and excellence at a personal and organizational level. Carlos is convinced that to generate awareness in work teams, learning must be generated based on their own experiences and thanks to the disciplined practice of routines, the desired habits are generated.
Daniela Vollmer
Daniela Vollmer is a designer turned economist with 10 years of experience in social impact consulting, economic development, and the design and implementation of public policy. She has collaborated with NGOs, foundations, and government organizations in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. She has held roles primarily focused on project management, design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as qualitative and quantitative research with an emphasis on behavioraleconomics and human-centered design. Daniela has developed and implemented projects to address cross-sectoral challenges, such as: promoting equitable access to healthcare services, capacity building and labor economics, tackling food insecurity in rural areas, and improving women’s financial health, among others.She holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Sarah Ellison
Sarah Ellison is a seasoned facilitator, strategist, and organizational development leader with over 18 years of experience working in 18 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and South Asia, the Middle East, and North America. She has lived and worked in Benin and Malawi, bringing a deep cross-cultural perspective to her work. With a BA in History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MA in International Development from American University, Sarah has designed and led strategic planning sessions, leadership retreats, network convenings, and high-impact learning events for community-based organizations, national NGOs, social enterprises, global philanthropy, and the United States Government. Sarah’s facilitation style is grounded in evidence-based approaches and shaped by her passion for community-led development, network weaving, and capacity sharing. She has a proven track record in guiding complex, multi-stakeholder processes, fostering collaboration, and helping teams align around shared goals. Her commitment to building stronger, more connected communities extends beyond her professional work. She co-founded Local Pivot, which mobilizes pro bono expertise to support local nonprofits, and contributes actively to the Local Systems Community. In her own neighborhood in Maryland, she continues her lifelong practice of service through volunteering and community engagement.