Sarah Gonzalez is a dedicated Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) practitioner committed to building thriving communities where every member can succeed. As a Latina and community leader, she leverages her lived experience to forge authentic connections with those she serves.

Sarah approaches her work with a deep commitment to JEDI principles, recognizing lived experience as vital expertise. She believes those closest to the challenges are best positioned to find solutions. Her mission is to help institutions build equitable relationships, centering the voices of the most impacted. Sarah excels in collaborative efforts, focusing on deconstructing, reimagining, and redesigning systems that have traditionally marginalized individuals and communities of color.

With extensive leadership experience across the nonprofit, philanthropic, and government sectors, both locally and nationally, Sarah brings expertise in strategy building, leadership development, program design, partnership building, community engagement, and neutral facilitation. She is a certified Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Qualified Administrator, often using cultural awareness as a starting point for deeper conversations on JEDI and creating spaces of belonging.

Sarah's notable achievements include revitalizing a failing community center into a vibrant hub serving 8,000-10,000 children, youth, and families annually in Maryvale. She also led the creation of The Heart of Isaac Community Center, Arizona's first resident-driven Family Resource Center, through a collaborative, community-led approach. Recently, she served as Interim CEO of a statewide foundation, where she worked closely with staff, the board, and community partners to stabilize finances, repair relationships, and set a new direction under a newly appointed CEO from within the organization.

Bilingual and bicultural, Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University. She is an active leader in various organizations, including the Latina Giving Circle, Valley Leadership Alumni (Class 38), and the Hispanic Leadership Institute through Valle Del Sol. Additionally, she serves on the boards of Dignity Health St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center and the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, where she champions DEI initiatives.

As a certified professional DEI Coach, Sarah helps individuals and teams at all career stages achieve their goals and step into leadership roles to drive transformational change. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is a devoted wife and mother of a daughter and a son.

Vikó is community advocate and public health professional based in Tucson, AZ. Born in the bustle of Mexico City and raised in their father’s ancestral lands, they are passionate about community health, social advocacy and justice, land based connections, and language.

Their professional career began after completing a Bachelor’s Degree in French Literature and Language at Arizona State University. Post-graduation, they served as an AmeriCorps Public Ally where they worked at a Phoenix-based LGBTQ youth resource and advocacy organization. Later, they earned a Master’s degree in Social Justice and Human Rights Advocacy also from Arizona State University. As a part of their capstone, Vikó developed  “VEME: Queering Phoenix“ a photo-story project that explored QTBIPOC identity in the Phoenix Valley.

Vikó currently serves as a Founding and Core Collective Member for Kindred Connections Collective: a community-embedded collective centered on holistic healing for TGNC (Trans and Gender Non-Conforming) People of Color in Southern Arizona. They continue to approach their work with curiosity and a desire to effect change in order  to build community connections that cultivate dignified and joyous lives.

Melia Dunn is the Founder of Melia Dunn Consulting - inclusion, embraced. Be it through program design, leading teams, community engagement or facilitating workshops, her career has always been rooted in the intention to do good.  Along her path, brave voices called her attention to practices and behaviors inconsistent with that intention - behaviors that did more harm than good. From there….“shift happened”. Her commitment to un-learning dominant culture practices, shedding white savior complex and demonstrating effective allyship took root. These practices remain core to her work as a JEDI specialist. With humility, she offers an honest examination of her experiences from the cringe-worthy to the redeeming. 

Melia hosts the monthly Southwest gathering of CWC (constructive white conversations) and is a member of “Kick Ass Consultants” an Arizona- based association of consultants who serve as accountability partners in applying a lens of equity and justice in their work. Melia has a B.A. in Speech Communication from Penn State University and earned her Inclusion Practitioner's certificate from The Center for Transformation and Change.

Prior to launching her consulting practice, Melia’s career history includes anti-bias education with the Anti-Defamation League, international community development serving in Peace Corps Albania and non-profit fund development work with both human services and arts/culture organizations. Finally, as a volunteer with AZ Humane Society, Melia is an unapologetic cat person who holds dog people in high regard.

Jeanine Bashir is the founder and principal consultant of Bashir and Associates., LLC., and is a revolutionary force dedicated to global community well-being. She has made significant contributions in maternal and child health, youth development, public health, early childhood education, and philanthropy fields.

Driven by a desire to create a more just and equitable world, Jeanine has dedicated their life to championing causes that promote fairness and inclusivity. She has spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at addressing systemic injustices and dismantling barriers to equity. Jeanine is known for her ability to leverage community partnerships to expand services for communities. She cultivated partnerships with government entities resulting in a $4 million childcare investment.

An ATHENA Award recipient and Community Luminary, Jeanine's work spans across local, national, and international entities. Internationally, she contributed to the development of the United Nations Handbook on Domestic Violence and helped to establish and support nonprofit organizations.

Jeanine’s educational background is in Public Administration, Justice and Woman's Studies. She believes that empowering and teaching communities how to advocate and become leaders around issues that affect them directly; will have a profound impact on improving society as a whole.

Sharifa Rowe, M.ED, is the Founder and Principal Consultant of S.Rowe Consulting and a cofounder of Lotus Liberation.  Her firm is dedicated to advancing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) across sectors. With over 15 years of experience at the intersection of social justice and organizational development, Sharifa specializes in creating equitable systems that center the voices of those most impacted by systemic inequities. Her expertise includes strategic planning, collective impact processes, and result-based facilitation. Sharifa’s data-driven, human-centered approach has made her a sought-after consultant, partnering with coalitions, government agencies, social profit organizations, schools, foundations, and for-profit companies.

Stephanie Luz Cordel, MSW is the Founder at All Voices Consulting and co-founder of Lotus Liberation. She is passionate about inclusive social change and collective leadership. Her work focuses on incorporating equity and inclusion into systems and organizations. She aims to democratize the ways organizations and groups approach social change in order to promote collaborative decision making and ensure that those most impacted by an issue are valued and engaged.

Jasmine Snipes (they/them/their) is an Arizona native dedicated to the effective empowerment, education, and leadership of others. They pride themselves in being a motivating and transformative support to others and organizations in effectively and intentionally planning and implementing community impact and change. Many clients, from across the United States, rely on Jasmine for their justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, accompliceship in action, and accessibility services. They gained meaningful experience and knowledge from their work as: the Organizing Director for the black phoenix organizing collective; the Operations Lead for Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro; the Communications Coordinator for former Arizona Secretary of State and Governor Katie Hobbs; the Legislative and Legal Coordinator and Lobbying Associate for a legal and public affairs firm; as an Administrative Staff Member at the Arizona House of Representative and State Senate. 

Jasmine has provided contract facilitation in anti-bias and anti-discrimination for grade 6 - 12 students, educators, administrators, and school districts across the country. They serve as a volunteer and member of the Anytown Leadership Camp Board of Directors and a member of Poder in Action Mental Health Crisis Response Planning Committee. Jasmine obtained Associate’s degrees in Communication and General studies from Estrella Mountain Community College with Honors of High Distinction and a Bachelor’s degree Community Advocacy and Social Policy at Arizona State University’s College of Public Service and Community Solutions summa cum laude.

 Jasmine facilitates workshops and conversations on social change, accountability, and justice and equity issues and leadership skills. Jasmine thrives and heals when enjoying quality time with their their chosen and given family. In their spare time, they enjoy making natural household and beauty products, practicing yoga, travel and being curious.

Karlyn Bradley (They/Them) is a Black, Fat, Queer, Femme, with degrees in Political Science and Gender and Women's Studies from the University of Arizona and uses They/Them pronouns. Karlyn is a scholar, theorist, community organizer, artist  and educator. They have been able to use and expand  their knowledge of Intersectional Feminist Theory to create programming that educates and empowers folks around topics of Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation and Power Dynamics.  Their studies have also shaped and influenced their ability to understand, critique and analyze policy through a critical race feminist lens. 

In 2021 they used their skill set to found The High Priestess Consulting Company LLC (HPCC), which aims to help individuals, communities and organizations develop their understandings of systemic, political and social challenges through the use of workshops and trainings. The HPCC specializes in helping people connect with their own power, just like the high priestess in the Tarot, we remind people of the things that we have always known intuitively and facilitate coming back to ourselves and reconnecting with that power. 

When they are not doing Community work Karlyn likes to hang out with their friends, eating and cooking a good meal, watching movies. They also like to work on their Podcasts Beneath The Surface. Writing poetry, drawing, living their dream as an Amateur Top Model and watching Scandal. Karlyn is Southern California born currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona which is the traditional lands of the Akimel O’odham and Hohokam peoples. 

Dagoberto is both sexually queer and gender-queer, and knows the power of transformation and change. He recognizes this in his immigration to the U.S. at a young age; going from a small town with roughly 500 people to a big city that was loud at all hours of the night. Dagoberto also recognizes the power of transformation when he uses his drag persona to organize communities through culture, such as when he organized against the passing of AZ prop 300 which barred undocumented students from educational opportunities. He started organizing with the Arizona Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, and through collaboration with the Arcoiris Liberation Team Dago and the other organizers realized they could more effectively organize if they joined. He helped guide the two organizations through a 2015 member summit in 2015 where the organizations’ memberships joined to create Trans Queer Pueblo. Dagoberto not only believes that radical transformation is good for us as people, and is necessary to continue to grow. When we learn how to organize for our own needs and recognize ourselves, we can better understand the needs of others.

I am a health project coordinator, I am a transgender migrant man.  I love spending time outdoors in communion with nature.  I feel my mission is to be transparent as a transgender migrant person of color and share about ways to have autonomy over our mind, body and soul.

Stephanie received her Bachelor of Social Work from Arizona State University and her Masters of Social Work specializing in community development and administration from Hunter College- City University of New York. Stephanie has committed her life’s work to collective liberation primarily through the gender justice and reproductive justice movements. She has held leadership roles at the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, Pro-Choice AZ and Arizona Birth Workers of Color to prioritize intervention, education and coalition building. Presently, Stephanie is the Assistant Director of Community Engagement for the University of Arizona’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. 

After working 15 years in the nonprofit field & 5 years in higher education, facilitating joy filled spaces always reminds me that it is possible to radically live our movement dreams. I believe in the power of community, movement building and liberated relationships. I believe in humanity. I believe in justice and that justice is deeply personal. I believe in healing & restoration. I believe in the natural world and as an indigenous person, I am committed to restoring that balance. I bring these values and weave them into a tapestry of practices to support groups, and individuals moving through and healing from internalized oppression, grief and trauma. I use years of cultivated skills and experience in system-based thinking, building diverse and inclusive ecosystems, frameworks of harm reduction, emergent strategy and healing justice. I specialize in organizing, capacity building, workshops and facilitated processes to build alternative systems that focus on being in right relationship with each other and creating possibilities of living into your most liberated dream. 

Desiree Hammond, a third generation Arizonan, brings with her over a decade of experience in nonprofit management, women’s advocacy, and healing justice. Prior to joining CFSA, Desiree worked with Greater Tucson Leadership, The Dunbar Pavilion, and Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, serving in both program and operational roles to expand programming and increase community impact. She also served as a Board Member and Commissioner for the Tucson Shambhala Meditation Center and Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission. Recently, Desiree graduated from State of Black Arizona’s African American Leadership Institute and Greater Tucson Leadership’s Lead Tucson Program.

Beyond her nonprofit work, Desiree is a certified Yoga Instructor, Somatic Practitioner and Full-Spectrum Doula. She actively supports her community as a workshop facilitator, convener, grant review panelist and space-holder, previously collaborating with human rights activist and professor, Loretta J. Ross on her “Calling In” framework. In 2023, Desiree was featured in the University of Arizona’s Afro-Chicanx Digital Humanities Storytelling Project and also produced and co-directed a storytelling docuseries titled, “Unerased: Stories of Black Tucsonans” in partnership with The Dunbar Pavilion and Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Desiree is a pleasure activist, holistic health enthusiast, and world traveler who is dedicated to creating inclusive spaces that prioritize equity and strives to create a world in which everyone has access to what they need to thrive.

Educator, Consultant, Founder of Live Wellthy LLC

Erica Glaze is a Health Educator and Consultant with more than a decade of experience in public health. Her expertise has allowed her to build strong partnerships with educational institutions, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Whether facilitating a workshop or consulting on a project, Erica has found her niche in the ability to deliver meaningful content and help organizations move from talk to action.

Erica's passion for helping people extends to her work with expectant parents. As a Lactation Consultant, she counts it a privilege to support parents in preparing for birth and breastfeeding. With Erica's expertise and guidance, parents can feel empowered and confident as they prepare to welcome their little ones into the world.

Erica has a Master of Public Health degree and a Certificate in Community Nutrition. Erica is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Erica is an Arizona native and lives in Phoenix with her husband and two sons.