Partners
Our Partners
Meet Our Partners
Brittany Brathwaite, MSW, MPH (Her/she) is a reproductive justice activist, youth worker, creative entrepreneur and community accountable scholar with a deep-seated commitment to supporting the leadership, organizing, and healing of girls of color. Most recently, Brittany was the Organizing and Innovation Manager at Girls for Gender Equity, where she successfully won the Schools Girls Deserve Campaign. She also is the co-founder of Kimbritive and The Homegirl Box.
Brittany has worked with us since early 2020, when she helped us create our Needs Assessment. As part of Rebellious Root Collective, Brittany has also offered Technical Assistance and Capacity Building opportunities to Network members and helped guide the work of this grant. She is currently offering Equity Praxis support to organizations.
Mickey Ferrara (She/her) is a fierce community organizer, sister and youth worker who has been organizing for justice for the last 15 years . Most recently, she was the Deputy Director of Atlas DIY, a holistic youth drop-in space in Sunset Park centering immigrant and undocumented youth and a co-organizer of the Ray of Hope Walk to End Violence Against Women. By night, she can be found designing graphics and earrings for the revolution. She is also the co-founder of The Homegirl Box – a gift box for the revolution!
As part of Rebellious Root Collective, Mickey has worked with us since 2020, offering Technical Assistance and Capacity Building opportunities to Network members and guiding the work of this grant. Mickey was part of our August 2022 Planning Retreat. She is currently offering Equity Praxis Support to organizations and working on an Equity Guidebook with our CAB.
Sade Swift (she/her and they/them) is a queer AfroDominican freedom fighter and artist who has been organizing for the last 10 years. She’s currently creating magic at Green Worker Cooperatives, which supports small businesses develop as cooperatives across NYC. Sade’s latest work includes co-founding Cards by Dé, a handmade greeting card cooperative, sitting on the NYCNOWC Advocacy Council to support the cooperative movement, developing healing workshops as a YP4 Fellow and so much more!
Sade has worked with us since early 2020, when they helped us create our Needs Assessment. As part of Rebellious Root Collective, Sade has also offered Technical Assistance and Capacity Building opportunities to Network members and helps guide the work of this grant. Sade was part of our August 2022 Planning Retreat.
Olajiwon McCadney (he/him & they/them) is the Chair for Diversity Studies & the Executive Director for Intercultural Student Success & Strategic Partnerships at HACC, Pennsylvania Community Colleges. Additionally, McCadney is a board member for the National Association for African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) as well as serves as a facilitator for the national team with the national team for the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego. Lastly, McCadney holds an MSEd in Organizational Leadership & Performance Technology from the College at Potsdam, State University of New York as well as certification in Professional Coaching and is a current doctoral candidate at Northeastern University.
Olajiwon has worked with us since 2021, when they joined our Antiracism Listening and Learning Series as a co-creator and co-facilitator of discussions on How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. He is also working on creating the 2023 Series on Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. Olajiwon helps guide the work of this grant and was a part of our August 2022 Planning Retreat.
Lolan is a cultural worker & organizer who strives to root their work in community, study and practice. They have spent the last decade cultivating an expertise in cross-sectoral nonprofit administration, specializing in crisis management, program strategy, and board development that is grounded in an anti-oppressive framework, and trauma informed lens. Lolan currently works as the Organizing Director at Funders for Justice, and formerly served on the Board of Directors for CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities & the Audre Lorde Project. A member of the National Writers Union (Local 1981), they have numerous publishing credits, including the recently co-authored “Individual Struggle, Widespread Injustice: Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Peoples’ Experiences of Systematic Employment Discrimination.
Lolan has worked with us since early 2020, when they helped us create our Needs Assessment. Lolan has also been a co-creator and co-facilitator of our Antiracism Listening and Learning Series since early 2021, and has led 2 Series on So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and 2 Series on How to Be An Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi. They are also working on creating the 2023 Series on Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. Lolan helps guide the work of our grant, and was a part of our August 2022 Planning Retreat.
Carolina Kroon (she/her/hers) Carolina is a visual producer, educator and activist who collaborates with organizations and individuals working towards social justice. For more than two decades she has assisted in representing communities, conspiring with many of the countries’ most effective publications and non-profits. She has facilitated and taught visual literacy and production with many people ranging in age from 8-80 in both community and academic settings. Her organizing has been focused within the LGBTQ and Women’s communities. She is a fluent Spanish speaker.
Carolina has worked with us since early 2020, when she helped us create our Needs Assessment. Carolina has also been a co-creator and co-facilitator of our Antiracism Listening and Learning Series since early 2021, and has led 2 Series on So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and 2 Series on How to Be An Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi. She is also working on creating the 2023 Series on Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. Carolina helps guide the work of our grant, and was a part of our August 2022 Planning Retreat.
Krystle Ellis is the Founder and Chief Culture Analyst of Ellis K. Consulting. Krystle is a culture broker who helps organizations and individuals with pulling out the best qualities from within. Her multidimensional consulting firm specializes in catapulting businesses’
in varying industries to the next level through data analytics, strategic leadership planning, policy
remastering, and executive coaching.
Krystle worked with us to offer Equitable Policymaking Workshops in Spring of 2023, including 3 in-person workshops.
Kevin Spencer Beckford (he, him, his) is an internationally recognized Operations Executive, Change Agent & Anti-Racist strategist and Executive Servant Leader with experience working in the for-profit and non-profit sector. Kevin is currently the SVP Chief People & Healthcare Integration Officer of GRYT Health Inc., a Healthcare Technology company. Prior to that Kevin was the Sr. Director Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (2017-2021) at the University of Rochester (UR). In this role Kevin provided Anti-Racism and Equity strategies and direction to assist the UR in achieving a more equitable and inclusive culture for its 32,000 employees.
Kevin worked with us to offer operational support to organization leaders in Spring 2023.
Shea Beiter (they/them) is a Registered Nurse at URMC in the adult Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). They serve as Charge RN and can often be found precepting new staff members. In their role as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Representative for Perioperative Services, they expand initiatives in clinical education and mentorship at the department level. They also serve as the Staff Co-chair on the Cultural Inclusion Council, a sub-committee of the Professional Nursing Council, are a member of the Nursing DEI Advisory Board, and a member of THRIVE. They are thrilled to offer clinical expertise in caring for transgender and gender expansive patients. Shea co-facilitated our second offering of Navigating Difficult Conversations through Healthcare Equity in April 2022.
Bianca is a community trainer at the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Bianca co-facilitated the first of our two 4-week Feedback Learning Labs in early 2022.
Gwen Olton (she/her) is the interim director of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, and is a lifelong student of nonviolence and brings her unique background in mental health nursing and conflict transformation to her work at the Institute. Gwen designed and co-facilitated our 2 4-week offerings of Feedback Learning Labs in early 2022.
OJ Shepard is an Equity and Inclusion Learning Specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Prior to joining URMC, OJ was employed at Alfred State College where he held a number of roles specializing in equity & inclusion work. OJ earned his bachelor’s degree from Alfred University in sociology and is currently working toward his Master of Business Administration degree in organizational development. OJ co-facilitated our first offering of Navigating Difficult Conversations through Theater for Healthcare Equity in March 2022.
Carli Gaughf (she/her) is an Equity and Inclusion Learning Specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is a facilitator with a long history of using theatre with diverse groups to address inequity. With URMC, she has adapted Theater of the oppressed techniques for the medical field. She has an M.A. in Applied Theater from the City University of New York. Carli created and co-facilitated 2 sessions of Navigating Difficult Conversations through Healthcare Equity in early 2022.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
Armstrong Tingwane, Shivang Shah, and Lynnette Ford co-created and co-facilitated a workshop for us on the unique Triad Management Model that GMHC utilizes.
Sara Cousins (she/her) owns Mighty Spark Design, designing and developing accessible and responsive WordPress websites. Starting her sole proprietorship in March 2007, Sara offered branding services, design for print and digital media and web design and development. In 2021,
Sara redesigned a client’s website to be ADA compliant. A pivotal time for Mighty Spark Design, Sara decided then and there she wanted to focus solely on web accessibility. She is currently working on her Web Accessibility Specialist certification with the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. Sara Cousins/Mighty Spark Design is also a New York State Certified Women-Owned Certified Business Enterprise.
Needs Assessment
View a list of everyone who worked with us on our Needs Assessment.