Karina Barreto, MBA, has over two decades of effectively leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy and implementation in industry-leading organizations—including MIT, EMC/Dell, Parexel, and Converse/Nike. Working cross-functionally in various industries and functions provides her with a breadth and depth of experience she leverages to create a diversity strategy and implementation that is customized to the organization. She is a thought leader bringing expertise in DEI recruitment, development, and retention, as well as Six Sigma Process Improvement, Finance, facilitation, and coaching. Industries she has worked in encompass academia, retail, healthcare, technology, energy, finance, consulting, and non-profit.
Karina earned a High Technology MBA and an International Business and Finance degree from Northeastern University. She has been recognized with various awards including the Gould Award, the Boston NSHMBA Hayden Estrada Inspirational Leadership Award, “One of the 100 Most Influential Latinos in Massachusetts by El Planeta for three years, and was recognized by the Ad Club Rossoff 23 for her work in DEI. She is a Gender Intelligence Professional with Distinction, certified GE Six Sigma Black Belt, GE Financial Management Program graduate, and graduate of the Conexion and Partnership leadership development programs for diverse leaders.
Karina attended American international schools and was trilingual (fluent in English Spanish, and Portuguese) when she graduated high school. She is a third-culture kid, raised in the Brazilian, Argentinian, and American cultures during her formative years, which was different from the culture of her Peruvian parents. Today she resides in Massachusetts with her two teenage children and is a servant leader who loves coaching and driving a culture where all can feel respected, valued, and supported to achieve their full potential.
Randi Burlew, PhD is an Applied Social Impact and DEI researcher and consultant. Over the course of her career, Dr. Burlew has worked with nearly one hundred nonprofit and social service organizations to help them develop stronger partnerships with and increase their impact in historically excluded communities. Past and current clients include the Harlem Children’s Zone, the United Way of Southeastern Michigan, the Oho Department of Health, and Equal Justice Works. She is an experienced DEI trainer, particularly in the area of implicit bias and often works with organizations to evaluate their work through a racial equity lens.
Dr. Burlew has an MA and PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. She also holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has completed several fellowships including an Emerging Leaders in Public Health fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a White House Fellowship. Dr. Burlew is currently a senior staff member at Philliber Research and Evaluation and leads their Cincinnati office.
Andrea Cox, PhD., LPC, is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Missouri Baptist University and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Missouri. As a counselor educator, she enjoys teaching classes related to the development of clinical skills. Dr. Cox is an experienced grounded theory methodologist who specializes in conducting interviews and focus groups. Her primary research interest include an exploration of pedagogical theory as it relates to practical application of pedagogical strategies in higher education. Her additional research interest includes developing an understanding of the relationship between intersectionality and marriage intentions and exploring D.E.I. in the workplace. Dr. Cox enjoys spending time with her family and enjoying nature.
Jamaal Downey, PhD, comes to academia and consulting after a life as a blue collar worker. His expertise derives from a life of experiences as a biracial male living in predominantly white spaces with his white mother and stepfather. His personal story and academic interest converge around: identity; language, ideology and consciousness; pedagogy, and epistemology.
Jamaal received his B.A. in Education from New England College, M.A. in Globalization and Cultural Studies from Dartmouth University, and his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He also has received a graduate certificate in Social Justice Education, and is trained in Intergroup Dialogue [IGD]. His doctoral dissertation focused on the ways that humanizing and culturally sustaining pedagogies can help promote and foster racial literacy in predominantly white spaces.
Rana Elmir has devoted her career to storytelling, action and activism drawing from the experiences of her immigrant and Muslim family, who fled to the United States from Lebanon when Rana was a child. She is currently the program director of the RISE Together Fund, a donor collaborative within the Proteus Fund that exclusively partners with Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian organizations. For nearly 16 years, Rana was a member of the ACLU of Michigan’s senior leadership team as Communications Director, then Deputy Director and finally Acting Executive Director. Working with a 35-member team, Rana led various equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts and guided legal, advocacy and media strategies. Prior to her time in activism and philanthropy, Rana was a journalist. While she no longer boasts a byline, her biting critiques of Muslim life in America post 9/11 have been printed in the Washington Post and the Detroit Free Press. Lecturing often on anti-Muslim bias, the importance of free speech and the intersection of race, faith and gender, her serious side is frequently on display. But she’s also an indefatigable nerd and recovering introvert who enjoys spending her free time birding, watching Jeopardy, and reading Ms. Marvel.
Dr. Richard D. Harvey is an expert in the fields of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Change Management. He received his PhD from the University of Kansas in Psychology and Management. He has over 28 years of experience in providing a range of consulting services including engagement and DEI surveys, program/training evaluation, strategic planning, and DEI workshops and interventions for-profit and non-profit organizations. Furthermore, he has been on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at Saint Louis University with a joint appointment in the Social Psychology and Industrial/Organizational Psychology programs for the past 25 years, where he supervises the Collective Identity Laboratory that regularly conducts and publishes research on topics such as bias/prejudice, inclusion, social identity, and work engagement. He teaches courses on Stigma & Prejudice, Psychology of Oppression, Leadership, HR Selection & Performance Management, Organizational Development & Change, Social Psychology, and Research Methods & Statistics. Finally, he is the recipient of several research, teaching, and mentoring awards.
Nicole Hudson partners with individuals, teams, and organizations to think through complex problems and opportunities, and set strategies to address them by drawing on her experience in communications, applied storytelling, project management, on- and off-line community building, and strategy. Nicole’s early career was focused mostly on large-scale digitally driven communications initiatives, including a role as General Manager for the St. Louis non profit news start up The St. Louis Beacon, which merged with St. Louis Public Radio in 2013. In a shift toward policy and civic strategy, Nicole served as the communications director for the Ferguson Commission, which led to her leading the non profit the Commission created and tasked with supporting the region’s implementation of the report. After serving as the Deputy Mayor of Racial Equity and Priority Initiatives for the City of St. Louis, Nicole joined the administration at Washington University in St. Louis in 2018 as Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academy for Diversity and Inclusion. Nicole is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Dr. Jong Bum Kwon is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology in the Department of Global, Languages, Cultures and Societies at Webster University, St. Louis, MO. He received his doctorate from New York University and is a former Fulbright Scholar and University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Kwon’s research areas include contemporary Korean society and race and racism in the United States. His work appears in such prominent journals as Positions: Asia Critique and American Ethnologist. He has published on neoliberalism and policing in South Korea; multi-racial immigrant labor organizing in Koreatown Los Angeles, CA; masculinity and the cultural politics of memory in Korean social and labor movements; global unemployment; the Ferguson Uprising – “@Ferguson: Still Here in the Afterlives of Black Death, Defiance, and Joy,” and most recently, on whiteness and suburban motherhood in St. Louis.
Dr. Kwon’s current research examines Black youth’s aspirations, social mobility, entrepreneurship, and construction of racial identities in the current period of so-called racial reckoning and resurgence of white populism.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Kwon has been involved with racial equity projects in the St. Louis region, including with Forward through Ferguson; Focus St. Louis; and Before Ferguson, Beyond Ferguson, and has given public lectures on racism and racial equity (Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Maplewood School District, Center of Creative Arts (COCA), City Garden Montessori School, Big Brothers, Big Sisters (BBBSEMO), and more).
Adelaide Lancaster is a social entrepreneur, community builder, innovator, communicator, and advocate. In 2015, she co-founded We Stories, a St. Louis-based non-profit organization that engages White families to change the conversation about and build momentum towards racial justice and equity.
Prior to that she co-founded In Good Company Workplaces, a first of its kind community and co-working space for women entrepreneurs in Manhattan, which opened in 2007. In Good Company served thousands of women entrepreneurs and has helped shape the shared workspace industry of today. At In Good Company, Adelaide co-authored a book, The Big Enough Company, with her partner Amy Abrams, featuring the stories of over 100 women entrepreneurs.
Adelaide’s focus on racial justice galvanized while earning her B.A. in Educational Studies and Sociology from Colgate University. She went on to earn a M.A. in Organizational Psychology and a M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from Teacher’s College at Columbia University, where she studied racial identity development and group dynamics.
Adelaide also serves as a founding board member and past co-chair for Forward Through Ferguson, the organization carrying on the work of the Ferguson Commission. She is also a fellow with the Pahara Institute, an organization focused on developing leaders in the education equity movement.
Roshan Shah is an executive coach, facilitator, and change consultant with a passion for building inclusive, mission-driven environments where all individuals are motivated to achieve their full potential and create lasting change for their clients, colleagues and the world.
With over 20 years of experience in people development, project management, organizational and diversity & inclusion, Roshan is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of building high functioning teams, growing client relationships and implementing large-scale, complex projects for the world’s biggest brands. She is also an experienced talent management professional with expertise in training and development, performance management and inclusive leadership development.
Today, Roshan’s mission is to bring the breadth and depth of her experience to the leaders and organizations who are working to solve their most complex, pressing challenges. To help identify and achieve the objectives that matter most, overcome the barriers getting in their way and succeed at making meaningful, sustainable change. To define success, not just by getting the work done, but by improving how the work gets done, not just by the growth of revenue, but also the increase of diversity, empowerment, impact of all team members.
In addition to her experience in corporate organizations, Roshan has experience in the international development field, consulting on social enterprise and corporate social responsibility initiatives in Cambodia, Thailand and the US. Outside of work, she is a volunteer career development coach for diverse, first-generation college students navigating the job search process after graduation.
Atia Thurman is a skilled facilitator and activator of learning, community-building and social change. She has more than 20 years of experience in planning and facilitating collaborative design in the areas of community development, urban design, education, and health and human services. Her approach is rooted in social work and faith-based principles, and a deep-seated belief in collective learning and liberation.
As a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, Atia Thurman facilitates learning experiences for students, staff, faculty colleagues and community partners, with an emphasis on systemic change toward equity and justice. Previously, she served as the inaugural associate director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute, where she helped establish and steer the Institute’s mission to advance social, economic, and racial justice for children and the adults who care for them. During her tenure, Atia was instrumental in establishing the Graduate Policy Scholars program and championing high quality, equitable early childhood education.
Atia has made significant contributions to centering equity and inclusion at the Brown School and in the St. Louis region. She co-leads the school’s Equity, Inclusion and Diversity strategic initiatives, coaches Racial Equity Fellows, and is a member of Washington University’s Equity and Inclusion Council. She was a founding organizer of the St. Louis Racial Equity Summit and serves on numerous community-based initiatives to advance equity and justice.
From across the globe as a military child, to across St. Louis’ city/county divide as a “desegregation” student, Atia has been growing into her role as a community-builder and compassionate disruptor. At her core, she believes in the power of human relationships to catalyze peace, justice, and shared prosperity.
