Rhunette C. Diggs, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Instructor at Columbus State Community College in the Department of Communication.  She has taught at several U.S. four-year institutions and at a college in Ethiopia.  Also, she is the Associate Director of PREVAIL-RESPECT, an entrepreneurial education and training organization.  She earned a B.A. in English from Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, both a Masters degree in Speech Pathology and a Doctorate in Communication from The Ohio State University.  She conducts research in the areas of intercultural, spiritual, and family communication.  She is co-author of a book entitled Communication, Race, and Family: Exploring Black, White, and Biracial Families and author of other scholarly edited book chapters and articles.  She has served as a keynote speaker for a variety of organizations and is a frequent presenter at professional meetings.  She is always eager to talk about how we can reach our full potentials as individuals and as members of families, communities, organizations, and institutions.

S. Alease Ferguson Ph.D., LPCC, is a therapist and the Director of Family Services for the Cleveland Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program. She also serves as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Phoenix Cleveland Campus in Beachwood Ohio.   Over the course of her career, she has served as a social services program administrator, evaluation researcher, organizational change consultant, and curriculum designer. Her research and practitioner efforts focus on cultural diversity, relational psychology, African American women’s mental health concerns and resistances to social oppression. She has recently published an edited volume with Toni C. King:  Black Womanist Leadership:  Tracing the Motherline (SUNY Press, 2011).  In her leisure, she is dedicated to the crafts of grand mothering, gardening, playwriting and community activism.

Jane (Bowman) Holzer is a 2008 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law.  Jane received her undergraduate degree from Macalester College. Throughout law school, Jane worked for the Minnesota Senate as a Legislative Assistant. She also clerked at the Ramsey County Public Defender’s Office. Jane is also on the Board of Directors of Project 515, an organization dedicated to ensuring rights for same-sex couples.

Toni C. King, Ph.D. is an Associate Provost at Denison University where she taught Black Studies and Women’s Studies for 12 years. She has also taught at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and at Norfolk State University.  She earned a Bachelors degree in psychology from Oklahoma State University, a Masters degree in Counseling from The Ohio State University and a doctorate in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University.  Toni’s courses in the areas of women’s studies, Black studies, and organizational behavior include:  organizational theory, group dynamics, race, gender and institutional change, feminist research methods, and black women’s leadership.  She has recently published an anthology with S. Alease Ferguson:  Black Womanist Leadership:  Tracing the Motherline (SUNY Press, 2011).  Her research explores relationships as a generative site for:  personal growth, recovery from institutionalized oppression, and personal/collective empowerment.  She specializes in designing and conducting workshops, seminars, and leadership retreats geared toward supporting women who seek to both thrive and transform society from within their organizations, families, and communities.

Kelly McGowan launched Going Upstream in 1999 to help community and organizational leaders advance social justice through participatory, real-time strategy planning and developing simple and enlivening organizational structures and practices. Kelly has a background in movement building starting with the student activism the mid-80s to divest universities from South African corporations as well as ACT-UP, drug policy, LGBT and, most recently, Occupy Wall Street. Presently, she coaches young leaders, serves on the board of the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance and is a Steward for the Art of Hosting/Participatory Leadership. Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration degree with concentrations in not-for-profit management and health policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has been a teaching colleague with the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

Tanya Rollins has a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University and MSW from Texas State University.  She has worked in child welfare since 1990.  Her experiences in child welfare include work in investigations, intake, and professional development.   She is currently employed as CPS Disproportionality Manager for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.  She is one of the six Knowing Who You Are Coaches in the nation.

Tuesday is a host/facilitator who has spent her life in non-profit and academic settings improving systemic responses for all people in a community. Throughout her career, she has worked in social movements for gender and race equity, including anti-violence work, with a focus on exploring the intersections of multiple identities and oppressions in people’s lives. Tuesday is passionate about working with groups to enhance awareness, understanding, alliances, and action across differenes. Tuesday’s efforts span all levels of transformational work–from individual coaching to large-scale systemic change processes. She is also a board member of The Berkana Institute (www.berkana.org) and a steward of the Art of Hosting (www.artofhosting.org).

Ann Steingraeber is a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.  She received her undergraduate degree from the College of St. Benedict / Saint John’s University in 2005.  As a VISTA Attorney, Ann focuses on building the capacity of the Housing Preservation Project and the Foreclosure Relief Law Project to better serve low income residents of Minnesota.  Prior to law school, Ann was a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama and worked on community environmental conservation projects.  She focused on sustainable land use practices in law school and worked as a legal intern at both The Nature Conservancy and the La Crosse City Attorney’s Office.  Ann was a student member of the University of Minnesota’s Land Use Clinic during her last year of law school.

Jermaine Toney is Research Consultant with the Applied Research Center. He holds a master’s degree in public policy and is working towards a doctorate in economics from the New School for Social Research in NYC. Previously, Mr. Toney worked as lead researcher with the Organizing Apprenticeship Project in Minnesota. There, he authored policy briefs on 14 Solutions that Expand Economic Opportunity and Reduce Minnesota’s Disparities and 16 Solutions that Deliver Equity and Excellence in Education; five Minnesota Legislative Report Cards on Racial Equity; a report on Weighing the Racial Equity Impacts of Minneapolis Schools Referendum and Pocket Guide to Budget Equity. He has presented policy research at PolicyLink’s Regional Equity National Conference in April 2008; Northwest Federation of Community Organizations’ Symposium on Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Getting State Budgets to Reflect Our Values in May 2010; Neighborhood Funders Group Annual Conference in September 2010.