The THRIVING Team
CEO || Founder || Lead Consultant
Dr. Pablo Otaola (he, him, el)
As a LatinX global citizen and immigrant into the USA, Pablo has developed the agility to quickly understand complex systems and provide on-ramps of learning and development for employees with expertise in developing equitable structures. Pablo has come to understand that organizational learning & change towards DEI requires an understanding of individuals, groups, and systems of various contexts and cultural values. Pablo has built a career of efficiently implementing systematic change, leadership…
Chief Operations Officer || Lead Consultant
Sara Kershaw (she, her, hers)
Sara has spent over 20 years working and consulting with complex, large, for-profit, global organizations. She spent the first decade of her professional career working within historically marginalized and diverse communities across the Los Angeles area. She quickly learned the importance of understanding cultural differences to be effective in her leadership role and create desired change. During this time, she built the scaffolding for grass-roots sourcing and development programs to successfully hire and develop a diverse…
HR || Lead Consultant
Kerryn Agyekum (she, her, hers)
Kerryn Agyekum brings more than 20 years of experience as a diversity & inclusion, communications, and HR practitioner — skilled at strategy design, implementation, and measurement across multiple industries. Kerryn most recently worked for Beauty Counter, a mission-based safer, cleaner skincare and cosmetics company in Santa Monica, CA. As vice president for corporate communications & community expansion, she led the development, execution, communication, & measurement of enterprise DEI.…
Consultant || Higher Ed and K-12
Dr. Paul de la Cerda (he, him, his)
Over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneurial leader and higher education professional, he plays an integral role in the strategic planning and partnerships and development processes to expand, market, and improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and organizations. Dr. de la Cerda is a relationship-builder with experience in planning, organizing, and administering credit and non-credit education programs for local and international students, employees, and business owners. He is an energetic…
Consultant || Government & For-Profit
Dr. Jen Zuchowski (she, her, hers)
Jen received a doctoral degree in Organizational Change and Leadership University of Southern California May 2021. Experienced Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the public sector. Skilled in DE&I, Continuous Improvement (Lean Six Sigma Green Belt), Strategic Planning, Workforce Planning, Public Speaking, Leadership, Project Management, and Policy Analysis. Strong professional with a Master’s Degree focused in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in…
Consultant || Non-Profit & Religious Organizations
Elly Conant (she, her, hers)
Elly Conant started her career thinking through equity and inclusion as a k-12 teacher in a bilingual school. Her classroom, however, had multiple ethnicities, nationalities, and languages. During a brief break from education, Elly volunteered for several nonprofits that empowered racial minority teen mothers in various sectors. During that time, and because of the profound impact this group made, Elly pivoted her career to work for a global nonprofit where she once again worked with teen mothers. Elly became an expert in DEI as she…
Consultant || Global Ventures
Jay Miranda (he, him, his)
Jay is an experienced non-profit and business leader with a proven track record in community organizing, major gift acquisition, volunteer recruitment, national & international youth development, inclusion and diversity training, and international sales and marketing. Additionally, Jay’s lived-experience adds to his unique leadership traits. He was born in Honduras and raised in the inner city of San Francisco, CA. He spent over a decade in San Francisco working in youth and community development. Jay also spent several years…
Consultant || Non-Profit and Coaching
Dr. Mary Vreugde McCracken (she, her, hers)
Experienced Non-Profit organizational leader with a demonstrated history of cross-cultural leadership success and empowering leaders for cross-cultural and multi-ethnic urban settings. Skilled in research, nonprofit organizational change, building multi-cultural teams, fund development, leadership, and strategic planning. Strong community and social services professional with a Doctor of Intercultural Studies focused in leadership development and mentoring of Latinx females in urban low-socioeconomic poverty.
Consultant || Non-Profit & Higher-Ed
Jael K.L.D.V. Chambers (he, him, his)
Jael K.D.L.V. Chambers is an emerging voice in topics focused on diversity, multi-ethnic leadership, cultural diversity, race, gender, and racial identity development. He is passionate about helping leaders in organizations not just function, but also thrive in diverse settings in how they think, react, communicate, and serve when it comes to other cultures and ethnicities. It is his belief that when leaders create healthy cultural systems and structures that are truly diverse then it creates unity in the work settings and productivity.
Consultant || Higher Ed & K-12, Culture Change
Dr. Daniel Hodge (he, him, his)
With 20 years of academic and education work experience, Daniel White Hodge, PhD, is a recognized culture expert & cultural literacy communications scholar. Dr. Hodge is Professor of Intercultural Communications, department chair of the Communication Arts Department, and research lead on the Catalyst 606 program at North Park University in Chicago. His research interests are at the intersections of faith, Hip Hop culture, race/ethnicity, & young adult…
Consultant || Training, Development, Coaching
Jenny Medrano (they, them)
With over a decade of varying education experiences, Jenny is skilled at teaching and facilitating groups ranging from children to adults. Jenny’s education experiences involve teacher-aiding, directing after-school programming, and teaching and facilitating on the topics of cultural intelligence, racial identity, diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI). She loves developing people to be more inclusive leaders both in group spaces and in a one-on-one coaching setting.
Consultant || Dir. of Inclusive Marketing & Visual Design
Felipe Contreras (he, him, el)
Felipe is Mexican immigrant with nearly two decades of experience in the non-profit, for-profit, and K-12 sectors. He is an innovator and an entrepreneur and has consistently scaled profit efforts through inclusive visual and marketing design. He has a comprehensive background leading community organizing, major gift acquisition, marketing, events and diverse cross-functional teams to ensure organizational success and goals. Known as an innovative and creative thinker…
Consultant || Non-Profit & Religious Organizations
Gerardo Magaña (he, him, his)
Gerardo began his career the non-profit sector doing youth development. He then went on to direct the local outreach efforts of a large multi-site organization focused in Orange County, Ca. From this position, Gerardo mobilized thousands of staff and volunteers that into being culturally intelligent when engaging with historically marginalized and racially diverse communities. Gerardo’s principled and values-based approach to organizational leadership centers on simplicity and effectiveness…
Consultant || Learning & Development, Coaching
Haley Todd (she, her, hers)
With nearly fifteen years in education and nonprofit leadership, Haley holds a deep commitment to those who have been most marginalized. As an innate teacher, facilitator, and leader, Haley has served in non-profit executive leadership, K-12 school administration, and faith-based spaces.
Consultant || Organizational Development
Maher Salhani (he, him, his)
Maher has spent over 20 years working with and for marginalized communities both locally and globally. Born in war torn Beirut Lebanon, he’s had quite a journey as an immigrant and refugee that’s beautifully shaped the way he perceives the world today. He spent almost a decade on the streets of North Philly working together with leaders and organizations that were truly passionate about addressing systemic poverty in their neighborhoods. As a result, a stronger community came together to improve the quality of life through…
Consultant || HR, Organizational Development
Dani Ramirez (she, her, ella)
Dani Ramírez is a Director of DEI for Thriving Culture. An experienced practitioner in inclusive communications, project leadership, and HR, Dani leads client work and Thriving Culture teams from inception to completion. Dani particularly has a knack for understand the particular needs of leaders and knows how to coach a room or individuals to leverage learning for culture change.
DEI Associate || Executive Assistant
Nicole Gurrola (she, her, ella)
Born into a family of LatinX immigrants, Nikki has developed a global perspective which has created a deep desire for systemic change revolving around diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has had extensive training in urban leadership development while involved in serving diverse and vulnerable communities in Metro Denver for the last 5 years. More specifically, she has worked in several non-profit organizations…
DEI Research Associate
Luke Schmitt (he, him, his)
Luke Schmitt is a non-profit director and educator with proven results in creating equitable and inclusive programs and organizational cultures. He has spent the past 15 years as a non-profit Director in global non-profit that serves adolescents. He has focused on creating equitable access to marginalized communities and people groups. He is experienced in leading organizational change and transforming culture…
Consultant || Curriculum Design & Coaching
Dr. Gabe Veas (he, him, his)
Dr. Gabe Veas is a Mexican-American son of Los Angeles who, in 2017, was named the first Professor of Mentorship in the United States. Veas has pioneered academic research which has helped a global audience understand the power of protégé-initiated mentorship and the significance of exploring one's Mentoring Lineage via genograms. Having taught at twelve institutions of higher learning….
DEI Associate || Executive Assistant
Nate Birdine (he, him, his)
Nate Birdine has years of experience leading diversity programs and loves showing people what their true potential could be if nurtured in the right cultural setting. Nate has been involved in youth programming for over a decade and has worked in multiple positions that engaged in diversity and inclusion. He received his undergraduate degree in leadership and has been inspired by the work of inclusion and diversity…
DEI Consultant || Non-Profit Development
Daniel Rose (he, him, his)
Daniel Rose is a dedicated professional with a passion for working to create social justice and equity. In this pursuit, he has focused on, and made a career of, understanding the specific needs of historically marginalized people groups in under-resourced communities. Daniel started his career path by spending 12 years working as a developer and director of low-economic communities across Denver Metro, where he increased…
Consultant || HR, Organizational Development
Daunté Cardiel (he, him, his)
Daunté is based out of Denver, Colorado. He has years of being developed through urban leadership development programs that have create a deep understanding of leadership development pipeline. Daunté specifically remembers how the Emerging Leaders Program, a program that Thriving Culture, LLC has helped lead and scale, has impacted his understanding of racial and gender identity develop…