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.
Joey Leskin
Joey Leskin is a Masters-educated Leadership Consultant from London who has been designing and facilitating experiential and educational events for audiences across the globe for over a decade. He specializes in communication and management skills training, team culture development and event facilitation, bringing innovative solutions to companies, organizations and foundations that span sectors from international development to science and technology. He also has a particular focus on inter-cultural dynamics and the power of diversity, having had experience in over 70 countries. Notable clients include the British NHS, the Center for Cultural Power in Washington D.C. and Falling Walls Science Foundation in Berlin.
Jessi Bellama
Jessi Bellama is a strategy and design leader with 20 years’ experience creating direction from uncertainty for growing and changing organizations using Human-Centered Design and a shared value lens. She deeply believes in creating a world where organizations embody human and societal thriving to achieve purpose-driven goals. Jessi has crisscrossed the private, public and nonprofit sectors – and the world – which has enabled her to develop a well-rounded and diverse skill set to facilitate the design and implementation of action-oriented strategy, building values-aligned cultures, and guiding teams through growth and change. She has a particular knack for cultivating and strengthening teams, partnerships and networks to build momentum across cultures, as well as across sectors that may speak different languages such as healthcare, financial services, and sustainable development. Her career journey has included: developing an independent business model for LAUNCH, a partnership between Nike, NASA, USAID and the U.S. Department of State to support system-disrupting entrepreneurs in sustainability; spearheading a practice to drive corporate reputation through social impact at Booz Allen Hamilton; launching Wellington Management Company’s first global employee engagement program with 700 employees in the first year; developing an employee engagement strategy for a recognized fashion brand to launch and embed a newly developed purpose-driven mission; designing and delivering a course on human-centered project management and consulting for an African start-up technology design firm; and embedding a circular economy nonprofit’s organizational values by aligning operations, processes and behaviors to build the desired culture through a period of rapid growth. As a ‘Third Culture Kid,’ Jessi appreciates the opportunities to be found in ambiguity. She grew up in Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Zimbabwe, and South Africa and has direct cross-cultural work experience in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Belgium and Georgia. She speaks (to varying degrees of fluency) and has worked in English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Bangla and Georgian. She also speaks German, though has never lived or worked in Germany. Jessi holds an MBA in global strategy from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and an BA in Sociology and International Studies from Kenyon College. She is a level 2 certified CrossFit Coach, because she believes in fostering physical, mental and emotional wellness in all our human realms.
Ciku Kimeria
Ciku Kimeria is an author, journalist, communication and strategy specialist, adventurer and travel writer. She writes both fiction and non-fiction focusing on African stories that need telling. She is the current Quartz Africa Editor and a longtime contributor to Quartz, having authored almost 60 articles for the site, on topics as wide-ranging as the perils of traveling with an African passport to the optimism inspired by Africa’s first non-fungible token (NFT) art collections. She is the author of two mystery novels (Dance of the Monkeys and Of goats and poisoned oranges), and has written for a variety of outlets, including African Arguments, OkayAfrica, and The Africa Report. Ciku has a wealth of communication and project management experience, having worked for and served as a communication advisor to Dalberg Advisors, Open Society Initiative of West Africa, and The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. She has traveled to 56 countries, 23 of them in Africa. She has a bachelor of science degree in management from MIT and speaks English, Swahili, and French.
Alexandra (Alex) Gaspar Martins Teixeira
Alexandra (Alex) Gaspar Martins Teixeira (she/her) is a collective intelligence enthusiast, master facilitator and technical strategist with over 25 years of experience designing and facilitating participatory meetings and convenings for high-performing teams and organizational collaboratives including FHI 360, Ipas, MSI Reproductive Choices, the Urgent Action Fund, the World Health Organization and UNFPA among others. Prior to consulting, Alex spent 11 years advancing access to safe abortion at Ipas where she partnered with global teams and led organization-wide initiatives as a Senior Advisor for Technical Innovation and Excellence, the Associate Director for Community Engagement and Policy Advocacy and as the Senior Advisor for Organizational Learning. Alex has also served as the Philanthropic Partnerships Officer for the Astraea Foundation, as a Global Research & Policy Advisor for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (now OutRight Action International) and as a Program Fellow with the Global Fund for Women. She has served on the board of directors of the Safe Abortion Action Fund (UK), The Stone House (NC), the Third Wave Foundation (NY) and Resource Generation (NY). Alex has designed and led over 70 high-stakes participatory workshops, retreats and convenings for over 2000 stakeholders across Africa, Asia and North America. She is among the most seasoned facilitators, globally, of Abortion Values Clarification for Action & Transformation (VCAT) Workshops where she has led community members, activists, health care providers, ministry officials, multilateral donors and embassies—all with wide ranging positions on abortion—through a process that shifts their orientation from one of contentious debate to an opportunity for empathy and principled collaboration to advance bodily autonomy. She has trained and mentored over 150 emerging facilitators and team leaders globally on designing and facilitating inclusive, liberatory and participatory meetings. With two decades of experience advancing equity and justice through philanthropy and global health programming, Alex approaches facilitation as a strategic opportunity to practice high-impact, equity-based collaboration skills that live on beyond our convenings. Alex brings skillful attention to transforming personal, interpersonal and systemic barriers to meaningful participation. She is passionate about helping groups connect, navigate principled disagreement, prioritize, focus, and align towards powerful actions that advance justice, joy and wellbeing in the world. Alex is a recipient of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative William C. Friday Fellowship (2014-2016), holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French Literature from Connecticut College and a master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on gender, sexuality and international human rights from Columbia University. As the first member of her family to attend university, she is humbled to stand on the shoulders of self-taught entrepreneurs, savvy dissidents, survivors of Portuguese dictatorship and lovers of learning. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, in the Southeastern United States, in a beloved cross-class, multi-racial intentional community of gorgeously imperfect humans trying to build deep interdependence.
Anamaria Aristizabal
Anamaria Aristizabal is a Master Certified Coach (MCC), Facilitator, Author, and Change Agent. She is the founder of Re-Vision Academy, which offers a new approach to purpose, leadership, and human development. She also works with New Ventures West, a world class coaching school, as a coach and coach trainer. She is an Art of Hosting practitioner and trainer, with extensive experience designing and facilitating powerful learning journeys for different groups.
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.
Michelle Helman
Michelle Helman (she/her/ella) is committed to transforming the way people solve complex problems by integrating a trauma-informed and equity-centered data justice approach that results in improved social trust, peace, and health outcomes. For over twenty years, Michelle has worked with global leaders across public and private sectors to design, facilitate, and evaluate community-driven change strategies on projects such as supporting the Colombian peace process, public health education initiatives in Nicaragua, a US-nationwide Climate Science Adaptation initiative, and Community Safety & Violence Prevention efforts in Portland, Oregon. Michelle is a trained mediator, Rotary Peace Fellow, and Center for Public Service Senior Fellow who holds a MA in Peace and Conflict Studies and BA in Anthropology. She is bilingual in English and Spanish which she learned through serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Perú. [more info. Here: https://www.michellehelman.com/speaking.html]
Paola Pioltelli
Paola is a Social Communicator with a MSc in NGO management and social development from The London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been facilitating processes the last 18 years working with diverse communities, conflicts and objectives mostly in Asia, Japan, China, Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean, USA, Canada and London. Her experience includes working with corporate, non profit, government and international aid organizations which include The World Bank, Oxfam, Operation Smile, Citibank, Ministry of Health India, Ministry of Environment of Perú, Save the Children, and many others. She has complemented her studies with art therapy and theater methodologies in EGS Switzerland, which has become a big strength as it allows a more non-rational approach. She creates specific methodologies to every context, group and goals. She follows the principles of the participatory methodology which bases in working in a bottom – up way empowering and giving ownership to the groups. This methodology has been used for 50 years proving to maximize the dialogue, minimize conflict, challenge the status quo and design sustainable solutions. Her background, international experience and natural empathy gives her an integral understanding of the complexity of worldwide social problems and the potential behind the affected groups.
Gloria Alvarez
Gloria Alvarez has over 10 years of experience in philanthropy and specializes in connecting and convening the right people and resources to solve complex systemic problems. She most recently worked as a Strategic Partnership Manager and as Senior Project Manager at Color Of Change and was tasked with managing day-to-day operations and initiatives of the President’s Office. Gloria worked as an Alternative Responsible Officer and Operations Manager at Smaller Earth and International Cultural Homestay, where she served as the Department of State compliance liaison for 14 offices around Europe, the USA and Latin America. She is passionate about social justice and has represented Harvard, Tufts and Brandeis University service employees while working as a Contract and Grievance Enforcement Officer at 32BJ Service International Union. After the 2016 elections, she decided to move to New York where she worked on assisting undocumented people and DACA recipients while serving as the Queens Library’s Immigration Counselor. Gloria graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a graduate degree in nonprofit leadership from Fordham University. During her free time, Gloria volunteers with adult and incarcerated youth at New York State prisons.