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.
Neharika Dembla
Neharika Dembla is a facilitator, strategist, and social impact professional with international experience across the UK, Thailand, India, Guatemala, and other global contexts. Her work spans organisational culture, DEI, sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, customer experience, and community building. With a background in law and an MSc in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management from Imperial College London, Neharika brings a strong human centred and entrepreneurial approach to her work. She has designed and delivered programmes focused on gender equity, employee engagement, behaviour change, wellbeing, and inclusion, working with organisations ranging from global companies to startups, NGOs, and community organisations. As a multiple time co-founder, Neharika has hands-on experience turning ideas into experiences, products, and communities. This includes co-founding Friends of Friends in Thailand, where she designed curated offline experiences for groups of up to 80 people, as well as developing ventures in education, wellbeing, and sustainable food. Her approach is grounded in curiosity, creativity, and understanding people before designing solutions. She draws on design thinking, customer journey mapping, stakeholder engagement, and her experience across different cultures to create inclusive and engaging experiences that help people connect, contribute, and move ideas forward.
Yash Maniar
Yash Maniar is an India-based facilitator, social entrepreneur, and International Coaching Federation certified coach who empowers individuals and organizations in their journey from purpose to action. With a strong focus on aligning personal values with organizational goals, Yash designs and facilitates transformative learning experiences that help teams deepen collaboration, strengthen leadership, and find greater meaning in their work. As an experiential learning facilitator and coach, Yash has designed and led programs on social innovation, leadership, sustainability, systems change, and design thinking across Asia, including China, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Thailand, and Bangladesh. He has facilitated with organizations such as The JUMP! Foundation, coached global climate action teams through the Gigatonne Challenge, and completed over 350 hours of one-on-one coaching with entrepreneurs, leaders, and changemakers. Yash’s entrepreneurial journey includes co-founding Shunya Alternative Solutions, an eco-friendly products venture incubated by The DO School and supported by The Pollination Project. Through Shunya, he helped replace more than one million pieces of plastic cutlery with biodegradable alternatives in India. He has also worked across startups in product strategy, digital marketing, and learning design, bringing a systems thinking and human-centered approach to both organizational growth and social impact.
Kāvya Raman
Kāvya Raman believes design is the use of power to shape what’s possible. She designs and facilitates spaces for change with organizations, movements, governments, and communities learning how to become good future ancestors. Her work focuses on shaping strategies, practices, and ways of working that help people and institutions cross thresholds with care, courage, and imagination. Over the past fifteen years, Kāvya has lived and worked across war zones and megacities including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Turkey, Jordan, Haiti, Egypt, Italy, and the United States, navigating cultures, languages, and ways of knowing, being, and belonging. Her experience spans social impact design, facilitation, coaching, organizational leadership, and program strategy with nonprofits, foundations, international organizations, and governments, including collaborations with The International Rescue Committee, The Gates Foundation, Oxfam International, Global Affairs Canada, and the U.S. Department of State. Her superpower is adaptation.
Michael Fryer
Michael Fryer has been creating spaces in which people can explore the things that really matter for the past 29 years. His work has taken him all over the world and given him an opportunity to gain insights into the core ingredients of healthy teams and communities. He learned his trade in Northern Ireland with The Corrymeela Community, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation center. Their focus on the importance of relationships, and on listening and intentionally creating a space in which new perspectives can emerge, resonated deeply. From 2018-2024 he taught applied skills-based courses as a Professor of Practice at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. Accompanying and guiding a team as they journey from confusion, frustration and apathy through to engagement, clarity and enthusiasm about their next steps is always such a privilege. Michael focuses on highlighting the links between seemingly random and unrelated ideas, themes and perspectives and then connecting them with the challenges being explored with a team. Through asking better questions, Michael helps teams move past simplistic explanations for complex challenges and transform deeply rooted conflicts and change processes. He has most recently focused on helping senior leaders navigate the inevitable challenges of digital transformation initiatives. He lives in the beautiful mountains near San Diego with his wife Vanessa and young daughters Eloise and Lucette.
Dylan McKenzie
Dylan McKenzie helps people learn, create, and take action by translating complexity into engaging, practical learning experiences. He has spent over a decade designing programs that connect creativity, education, and business, empowering people to build sustainable practices and unlock new opportunities. Dylan co-founded the NYU Game Center Incubator, where independent developers launched successful games and learned how to sustain their creative work. During his tenure, he helped grow the NYU Game Center from a two-class pilot into the world’s top-ranked game design program. At Teamshares, he led education for a national network of employee-owned small businesses, designing and scaling a learning system that supported over $4 million in wealth transfer to blue-collar workers. Now, Dylan is developing Project Rhythm, a music-learning game that helps beginners bridge the gap from curiosity to creating their first track. His consulting work spans clients such as ESPN, the Canadian Consulate, and the Sloan Foundation, with projects ranging from product exploration to curriculum and grant design. As a facilitator and program designer, Dylan centers his practice on clarity, creativity, and collaboration, helping technical and non-technical teams alike learn by doing and turn ideas into meaningful impact. He holds an MA in Arts Entrepreneurship and a BS in Media, Culture, and Communication, both from New York University.
Nkiruka Stella Okonkwo
Nkiruka Stella Okonkwo is a seasoned development consultant, facilitator, and nonprofit leader with nearly two decades of experience across gender equity, policy development, and youth and women empowerment. She is the founder of Fresh & Young Brains Development Initiative and managing consultant at Alexijan Consults, where she leads strategic planning, policy reviews, and capacity-building initiatives for government agencies and civil society organizations. Recognized for her expertise in facilitation and stakeholder engagement, Nkiruka has moderated high-level dialogues for institutions such as the United Nations, the African Union, and various national policy platforms. Her facilitation work spans critical themes such as climate change, gender equality, SDGs, and governance—guiding multi-stakeholder conversations with clarity and inclusivity. She holds advanced qualifications in social work, law, development policy, and leadership, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Humanitarian and Development Studies. Nkiruka brings deep contextual knowledge of African development systems, a strong cross-cultural sensibility, and a proven ability to foster alignment in complex policy environments.
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.
Eduardo Quijada Adame
Eduardo Quijada Adame has always had an entrepreneurial spirit that drives him to take action and catalyze change. This passion leads him to dedicate himself to systemic transformation processes—not by designing solutions himself, but by creating the structures and conditions for individuals and organizations to understand their influence within systems, recognize their relationship with systemic dynamics and their environment, and navigate complexity with greater clarity and agency. Over time, he has discovered a deep connection with agricultural projects and food systems. Growing up in Valle de Bravo, he was surrounded by a community committed to regeneration, sustainability, ecofeminism, and the intricate relationships between humans and nature. These experiences have shaped his professional journey and fueled his commitment to creating meaningful impact. This dedication has led him to contribute to projects such as:
Darian Rodriguez Heyman
A nonprofit strategist, philanthropic advisor, and keynote speaker with 20+ years of tactical experience, Darian has supported transformational initiatives across the sector. He launched Craigslist Foundation’s acclaimed Nonprofit Boot Camp as their ED, helped the UN develop the SDGs around climate and gender, co-founded 2XGlobal to funnel billions to women-led businesses, and helped direct over $200M to Black-led nonprofits. As a thought leader, he has keynoted globally and authored the bestselling Nonprofit Management 101 and Nonprofit Fundraising 101, establishing himself as a trusted voice for mission-driven leaders worldwide. Through his consultancy Helping People Help, Darian provides executive coaching and consulting specializing in AI implementation, fundraising, board development, and strategic planning for mission-led organizations. More recently, Darian authored his newest bestselling book, AI for Nonprofits (Wiley, 2025), featuring insights from 57 sector leaders and actionable strategies for using AI to advance fundraising, marketing, program delivery, and operations. As founder of AI4NP.org—a fiscally sponsored initiative by NTEN—he’s building a digital Learning Hub for AI for good resources and launching a national Learning Lab series to build sector capacity around responsible AI adoption.