Consultants & Training Organizations: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Numerous consultants and training organizations work with institutions and individuals to deepen commitment to and transform organizational practices in service of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The following are consultants and firms Philanthropy New York or PNY members have worked with. Please share additional recommendations.

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion" is a broad category that encompasses related but distinct concepts. The list of recommendations below is inclusive of a wide range of consulting work, expertise, and approaches. As you explore consulting firms and training organizations, it's important to unpack 'DEI' and understand what kind of work you're looking to do with a consultant.

Several consultants and organizations have developed assessment tools that help organizations reflect on where they are in terms of racial equity work and where they might want to focus. (For example, this organizational assessment from Race Matters Institute or this series of questions developed by Western States Center for organizing groups to assess readiness and capacity to move a racial justice agenda.)

See these helpful resources:

• Equity in the Center's So You Want to Hire an Equity Consultant?
• Building Healthier Equity Projects - a review of Equity in the Center's 2018 Summit, and
• FakeEquity's blog post, How to and How Not to Hire a Racial Equity Consultant.

Consultants & Training Organizations

ABFE: Responsive Philanthropy in Black Communities (Black/Woman-led)

• Contact: Edward Jones, Vice President of Programs and Philanthropic Advising Services
• ABFE is a membership-based philanthropic organization that advocates for responsive and transformative investments in Black communities. Partnering with foundations, nonprofits, and individuals, ABFE provides its members with professional development and technical assistance resources that further the philanthropic sector’s connection and responsiveness to issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Angela Park Consulting (POC/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Angela Park, Founder
• Angela Park helps mission-driven organizations embed social justice and equity throughout their operations and programs, bringing three decades of experience in sustainable development policy, environmental justice, equity and diversity, and organizational and leadership development. 

Authentic Coaching and Consulting (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Tanya Williams, Founder
• Tanya's mission is to provide and create spaces in relationships, conversations, and communities for all people to feel seen and appreciated for their authentic selves. I believe that educating and working toward equity, as well as creating spaces of justice and communication all grow out of that desire. ​

Centered Spaces (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Camille Cyprian, Founder and Healer-in-Residence
• Centered Spaces LLC offers services and experiences to intentionally facilitate transformative movement toward social equity & change for individual and collective bodies.

CGR Consulting (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Cheryl Green Rosario, Founder
• CGR Consulting provides services and support in six different areas - board/staff engagement, community engagement, disability awareness and training, diversity, equity and inclusion, grantmaking, and strategic planning.

Equity in the Center (Black/Woman-led)

• Contact: Kerrien Suarez, Executive Director
• Equity in the Center works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems within the social sector to increase race equity. We believe in a future where nonprofit and philanthropic organizations define, implement, and advance race equity internally while advocating and centering it in their work externally.

The Equity Lab (POC/Woman-owned)

• Contact The Equity Lab
• The Equity Lab works with organizations and individuals who are committed to engaging in the serious, difficult, and deeply necessary work of antiracism. By developing an understanding of identity and historical and cultural contexts, our partners are empowered to become agents of progress in their personal and professional spheres.

The EWS Collective (AAPI-owned)

• Contact The EWS Collective
• The EWS Collective offers training and consulting with practical, science-based practices to organizations and individuals in support of mission attainment and mental well-being. The teachings, training, and consulting guidance are focused on providing practical, science-based tools and applications which can be directly incorporated into organizations and personal life. The teachers help organizations and individuals sustain high performance over the long-term by balancing mission attainment with integrated mental well-being practices. 

Hackman Consulting Group (Woman-owned)

• Contact Hackman Consulting Group
• The Hackman Consulting Group is a broad-based group of trainers, teachers, and experts from multiple disciplines capable of addressing all of your organization’s needs regarding deep diversity, equity, and social justice issues. 

IAM Associates (POC/Woman-led)

• Contact: Inca Mohamed, Consultant, Facilitator, Coach
• Inca A. Mohamed is an internationally recognized facilitator and consultant supporting organizations to create effective management and powerful strategies for change. Inca has supported the work of frontline organizations for more than a decade. As the executive director of the Management Assistance Group, Inca led the organization’s initiative to expand beyond one-on-one consulting and provide leadership coaching as a stand-alone service, facilitating high-stakes meetings, and working with coalitions and other multi-organization groups.

Interaction Institute for Social Change (Black/Woman-led)

• Contact IISC
• IISC innovates at the intersection of equity, networks, and love, with racial equity as our core strategic focus. They believe that racial equity is a critical driver of transformational collaboration in this era and builds collaborative capacity in individuals, organizations, and networks working for social justice and racial equity.

Justice Associates (Black-owned)

• Contact: Jason McGill, Founder, and Principal
• Justice Associates partners with foundations, individual donors, and families to help them advance their philanthropic commitments to social justice and equity. Through thoughtful, creative, and effective engagement, Justice Associates works closely with you on projects vital to your philanthropic vision and leadership.

Keecha Harris and Associates, Inc. (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact Keecha Harris and Associates, Inc.
• Keecha Harris and Associates, Inc. (KHA) facilitates systems and institutional change that narrows disparities by working with its clients in philanthropy and government. KHA has led evaluations of federally and privately funded efforts in education, health, community development, rural development, and community food systems. 

LM Strategies Consulting (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Lisa McGill, Principal
• LM Strategies Consulting provides consulting services to philanthropic institutions and funders' networks. Lisa McGill has a diverse and eclectic professional background, and enjoys meeting others who share her passions for community engagement, economic security, philanthropic program design, race equity, and youth advocacy

Marta Esquilin (Woman/POC-owned)

• Contact: Marta Esquilin
• Marta Esquilin works as a diversity expert and consultant within organizational and educational environments including secondary schools, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, corporate settings, and higher education institutions around the United States. She also currently serves as the Associate Dean of the Honors Living Learning Community at Rutgers Newark and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the American Studies Program within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 

MP Associates (Woman-owned)

• Contact: Maggie Potapchuk, Founder
• MP Associates works with organizations to align their value of racial equity with their policies, practices, and culture, through training, technical assistance, coaching, and mediation. MP Associates also designs and facilitates workshops, meetings, retreats, curriculum, and manuals on structural racism, white privilege and culture, and change processes.
• Racial Equity Tools, managed by MP Associates, CAPD, and World Trust Educational Services, provides two curricula for trainers to develop skills and add to their racial equity toolbox

Movement Tapestries (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Sheryl Petty, CEO and Founder
• Supports the efforts of practitioners, organizations and community members to heal ourselves and our social systems, unleash our joy and creativity, and improve our collective life. Movement Tapestries focuses nationally and internationally on Deep Equity, Systems Change & Personal Transformation.

MSmith Consulting (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Mistinguette Smith, Principal
• MSmith Consulting is well-known for masterful group facilitation and result-oriented meetings and convenings. The organization places a high value on achieving measurable outcomes and understands that change requires leaders who model clarity and confidence.

oneTILT (Multi-Racial/Latina/Woman-led)

• Contact oneTILT
• oneTILT offers several forms of support that aim to promote inclusive management and accelerate a more diverse leadership pipeline. Their services are tailored to both organizations and individuals.

Open Source Leadership Strategies (POC/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Gita Gulati-Partee, Founder and President
• OpenSource Leadership Strategies, Inc. addresses the leadership and organization development needs of nonprofits and other social change agents across the nation and globe who want to be the change they seek in the world. OpenSource works with Client Partners to align mission-driven outcomes (i.e., what you want to accomplish) with strategy, structure, and culture (i.e., how you accomplish it) for greater impact and integrity.

People's Institute for Survival and Beyond - Undoing Racism Workshop (Black-led)

• Contact People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
• The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB), is a national and international collective of anti-racist, multicultural community organizers and educators dedicated to building an effective movement for social transformation. Through dialogue, reflection, role-playing, strategic planning, and presentations, the intensive process of the Undoing Racism Workshop challenges participants to analyze the structures of power and privilege that hinder social equity and prepares them to be effective organizers for justice.

Racial Equity Institute (Black/Woman-led)

• Contact the Racial Equity Institute
• The Racial Equity Institute is an alliance of trainers, organizers, and institutional leaders who have devoted themselves to the work of creating racially equitable organizations and systems. The organization helps individuals and organizations develop tools to challenge patterns of power and grow equity.

Race Forward (POC-led)

• Contact Race Forward
• Race Forward brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity. Race Forward catalyzes movement building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, we build strategies to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture.

Race Matters Institute (Black-led)

• Contact The Race Matters Institute
• The Race Matters Institute works toward a more just and vibrant nation where every child, family, and community thrives. The organization focuses specifically on promoting racial equity in organizational strategies, policies, and practices as a complement to the work of others who focus on racial equity at the individual and interpersonal levels.

Service Never Sleeps: Allyship Workshop (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Whitney Parnell, Founder/CEO
• Service Never Sleeps trains engaged community members to be bridge-building allies that promote social justice as a way of life through their 8-hour Allyship Workshop and have emerged as one of the most innovative nonprofits of its kind as the go-to for effective Allyship.

Stamey Street Consulting Group, LLC (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Joanna Shoffner Scott, Founder and Principal
• Joanna Shoffner Scott's consulting packages and services fall into three main areas: meeting facilitation, training, coaching, professional development, and assessments. 

Noor Consulting (Woman-owned)

• Contact: Simran Noor, Principal

Third Settlements (POC/Black-owned)

• Contact: Rico Blancaflor, Principal
• Third Settlements believes DEI work falls under three competencies—knowledge, culture, and structure. Every institution is at a different point in its journey and they see their role as helping their partners discover where they are and determine what work needs to be done to meet their goals. The organization uses interactive training modalities to facilitate authentic intergroup dialogue that strengthens individuals, teams, and organizations.

Tanya M. Odom (Black/POC-owned)

• Contact: Tanya M. Odom, Global Diversity and Inclusion and Education Consultant and Executive Coach

Tracy Allard (Black/Woman-owned)

• Contact: Tracy Allard, Strategist, Coach, Trainer, Facilitator 

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC (POC-led)

• Contact: Liz Morgan, Director of Training and Pedagogy
• Theatre of the Oppressed NYC engages participants to use theatre as a tool to "de-mechanize" the body and mind in order to explore and challenge our relationship to oppressive norms. Through their interactive skills-building and/or team-building workshops, participants can navigate difficult conversations around power and privilege, think critically about social justice issues, and brainstorm possible resolutions together. Through dialogue and brainstorming sessions, TONYC guides participants to explore how these theatrical techniques can address the specific issues faced by change-making organizations. This work fosters a deeper understanding of interpersonal power dynamics and problematic mental modes, empowering teams to drive change within their communities.

True North EDI (Black-owned)

• Contact: Cardozie Jones, Founder and Principal
• True North EDI facilitates across spheres to support organizations in making meaningful connections between people and ideas, reflection and action, and past, present, and possibility. Through workshops, training, and coaching, True North EDI supports professional communities in the development of human-centered practices, policies, and cultures that allow for and promote the possibility for each individual to show up and thrive as our whole and authentic selves.

Your Part Time Controller 

• Contact: Rachel Dematteo, Senior Manager
• Your Part Time Controller (YPTC) provides financial management for nonprofits - from accounting, to financial reporting, and best practices for nonprofits. YPTC provides nonprofit executives and boards of directors with timely information and the reassurance and security of knowing that their finance department is running the way it’s supposed to. Depending on the level of services you need, Your Part-Time Controller can serve as your bookkeeper, accountant, controller, or Chief Financial Officer. We tailor our customized services to your needs, conducted on your premises. 

 

Share additional recommendations with the Philanthropy New York community.