Fernando Murray
Fernando Murray is a seasoned Designer, Facilitator, and Consultant with over two decades of experience supporting organizations and communities across Brazil, Canada, the United States, and beyond. He specializes in collaborative design, participatory leadership, and group facilitation, working with corporations, non-profits, educational institutions, government agencies, and grassroots organizations to design inclusive and effective processes to navigate complex challenges. Fernando has led and contributed to large-scale engagement processes, leadership development programs, and organizational change initiatives. A highly skilled practitioner of Liberating Structures, horizontal leadership, and virtual collaboration, he has designed and facilitated training for thousands of professionals, helping teams enhance communication, decision-making, and innovation. His leadership in the facilitation field includes serving as Co-Chair of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) North America Conference (2019). His contributions have been recognized with the IAF Facilitation Impact Gold Award (2022) for leading transformative change in Canadian healthcare during COVID-19. Based in Nelson, British Columbia, he enjoys exploring the outdoors with his family in the breathtaking landscapes of the Rocky Mountains.
Alyssa Smaldino
Alyssa Smaldino (she/her, they/them) is an anti-racism organizer, facilitator, and coach supporting leaders and organizers to build thriving communities grounded in courage and care. They have nearly 15 years of multifaceted, cross-sector experience that enables her to imagine and build toward a more equitable future. In addition to running a coaching and facilitation practice, Alyssa is co-founder of Libertroph Magazine and curator of the Care Culture newsletter, both of which uplift stories and inquiries about how people can organize to disrupt racism. She is also an Undoing Racism trainer with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. Alyssa started their career in the global health field, most notably as Executive Director of GlobeMed, where she organized and trained students and grassroots leaders in the movement for global health equity. She has also worked with community development organizations to design and facilitate anti-racism curricula for public servants. Alyssa is a graduate of the Executive MPA program at NYU-Wagner and holds a degree in Public Health from George Washington University. In their free time you can find them taking long walks along the East River, exploring NYC’s art and culture, or breaking a sweat on the dance floor with her beloved queer community!
Corita Brown
Corita Brown, PhD is passionate about partnering with leaders and organizations who work to build values-based, equitable, inclusive environments. Over the last 18 years, Dr. Brown has supported organizational development and community change efforts in every region in the country, where she has worked as a facilitator, coach, consultant, nonprofit director, board member, social entrepreneur, researcher and writer. Her design and facilitation approach always embeds a racial equity and justice lens and incorporates innovative frameworks such as design thinking, transformational practice and emergent strategy. To help clients improve their effectiveness and growth, Dr. Brown works with them to strengthen collaboration, cultivate authentic communication, navigate power dynamics, and approach conflict as a positive catalyst for learning and transformation. She also has extensive experience helping leaders and changemakers explore how different issues and identities intersect and inform each other, which can help break down the silos that divide and separate us. Her work incorporates kinesthetic awareness, creativity, and mindfulness-based approaches, in addition to action research and more traditional organizational theories and models. This helps her clients draw lessons from their lived experiences and embodied knowledge, as well as from research and data. Dr. Brown’s educational background includes a Masters in Organizational Psychology and Adult Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a PhD in Urban Studies from Temple University. She holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University and is a Certified Professional Coach. Her work is grounded by a 25-year yoga practice, and deeply informed by her experience in the natural world and the three generations of social change agents in her family. Based in Philadelphia, Dr. Brown works around the country and globally in both English and Spanish, in-person and online.
Sumangal Haldar
Sumangal is a coach for in-service and pre-service teachers. He has helped more than 300 teachers in a span of less than one and a half years to realize their potentials, by motivating them and helping them become effective speakers and communicators. Prior to this, he has also coached undergraduate students (more than 5000) helping them put their best skills forward as they venture into new life and culture. Given testimonial speaks a lot about him: “I always admire Sumangal sir for his humble nature and ever-smiling face. Communication…comes very naturally to him, as he weighs every word, gives examples, and convinces you at the same time. In conversations with the management, I have always seen him dissolving hard negotiations with ease…” He also received the Best Teacher Award and an award “NIPUN” for his overall contribution of exceptional order from the SRM Group of Professional Colleges. He is an amateur artist a photographer and an agronomist because he indulges in learning things that interest him. Presently he is an Academic Advisor to a School and an Editor of a Webzine: Genesis.
Simon Lazarre-Badiane
Mr. Simon Badiane is currently serving as the Executive Director of an American NGO called Africa Consultants International (ACI). Mr. Badiane’s areas of expertise include project management, monitoring and evaluation, conflict resolution, human resource management, leadership development, strategic planning, supervision and coaching, community development and organizational development. Mr. Badiane is fluent in French, English, Wolof, Diola, Creole Portuguese and proficient in Spanish.
Lara Konditi-Rabala
Lara Konditi-Rabala is a Facilitator-Trainer and Executive Coach who has a passion for working with individuals who want to lead better, manage others more effectively and experience transformational change in themselves and those around them. She specialises in Management & Leadership Development, Programme Management & Development, Training and Facilitation, Organizational Strengthening, Culture Change, Facilitated Dialogues, Project Management, Strategic Planning and Development and Corporate Governance. Lara has over 20 years’ experience in teaching, training and coaching executives, senior and middle level managers to build their capacity and skills in programme, project and team management, largely within the development sector across regions. She has sectoral knowledge and understanding in development and humanitarian sectors to include governance, social justice, human rights, health, water and sanitation, education, food security, livelihoods, women’s rights, emergency responses. A graduate in International Relations and a Certified Executive Coach, Lara’s strengths in Leadership and Management have been honed by a variety of experiences managing teams and providing mentorship and coaching support to upcoming and seasoned leaders and their teams. As Director of Principle Eight Consulting, she currently provides individual and systemic team coaching as coaching has been an invaluable approach to providing them with practical, real-time opportunities to grow, develop and achieve more. Lara adopts a collaborative and tailored style to work with individuals, teams and groups through stages of discovery, problem solving, practical planning and accountable actioning so that they may achieve the goals they set and become bold, more confident and well equipped to move to the next level. Participants often remark that Lara’s facilitation style enables them to move from complex or challenging ideas and situations to simplified, practical solutions, in an easy, light manner that leads to results. Lara has personally taken leadership in a range of professional and social initiatives locally and abroad and remains passionate about creating a ‘new crop’ of confident, bold, and conscientious transformational leaders.