Who We Are

Meet Our Experts

Dereca Blackmon

Co-Founder and President, Dereca Blackmon, is also our head trainer and responsible for the creation of the dynamic set of workshops and follow-up activities used by our team. Her experiential training models cut through “diversity fatigue” and allow participants to engage in deep, authentic, and meaningful dialogues.

For over 25 years, she has consulted with a wide variety of corporate, educational, nonprofit, and community-based groups to facilitate “uncommon conversations” on issues of race, gender, class, and social justice.

She served as the Associate Dean and Director of the Diversity and First-Generation Office at Stanford University where she introduced groundbreaking work on authentic engagement, intergroup dialogue, and unconscious bias to over 10,000 students, staff, faculty and alumni. She taught several courses at Stanford including Intergroup Communication with renowned cultural psychologist Hazel Markus, which has a waitlist of over 100 students.

She served as a nonprofit executive for 20 years, developing nationally-adopted experiential curriculum adopted by foundation Boards and staff and has raised over $5 million dollars for urban youth. As a member of the Braintrust of Susan L. Taylor’s A New Way Forward Initiative, she helped design their healing and mentoring work in Oakland, Chicago, and Detroit. Her awards and recognitions include commendations from Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), The County of Alameda’s Distinguished Citizen Award as well as recognition from Essence Magazine.

Erin Conner, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Vice President, Dr. Erin Conner, has enjoyed the privilege of a diverse and fulfilling professional history, grounded in educational consulting, business development, and social activism. Her academic background includes the completion of undergraduate and graduate work in both the biological and social sciences, culminating in a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Her career ultimately led her to work in both the education and technology sectors. She developed programs and served as an instructor in higher education at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. She also has several years of experience working in business, co-founding a social media company, and providing consulting support to both local and national organizations with communications infrastructure, research and evaluation, fundraising, and youth engagement strategies.

Mohammed Soriano-Bilal

Mohammed Soriano-Bilal is an accomplished Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) consultant, an educator, and a strategist. Currently, Mohammed serves as Associate Dean & Director of the Office for Inclusion, Belonging and Intergroup Communication at Stanford University, where he oversees a team of skilled facilitator-scholars, teaches two courses on intergroup communication, and consults on DEIB issues, including recruitment, retention, and design innovation. Additionally, Mohammed has spent the last 20 years using DEIB strategy to help Fortune 500 companies like Twitter, Whirlpool, and the Progressive Corporation remove blockages that stand in the way of impact and growth.

Gabriela Nagle Alverio

Gabriela Nagle Alverio is a political scientist whose passion for diversity and inclusion is rooted in her study of systems of power that exacerbate pre-existing social injustices. She believes that policy is the key change agent in shifting these systems of power, but knows that policy is simply a reflection of people. As such, she has dedicated much of her career to facilitating difficult conversations and empowering others to do the same.

She served as the Director of a cutting edge program at Stanford University at the intersection of public service and diversity and inclusion. In 2019 she received a grant to develop a diversity education curriculum to be implemented in the mandatory curriculum for all Stanford Medical School students. She continues advocating for change as a doctoral scholar at Duke University.

Lori Allen

Lori has spent the last 25+ years as an HR Leader responsible for designing talent strategies and partnering with executives to drive business results.  Lori is passionate about Diversity Inclusion and belonging and was named on the 2018 list of women worth watching in the Profiles in Diversity Journal.  Lori focuses on helping organizations translate their diversity goals into actions.  She has partnered with organizations to increase diversity, inclusion and belonging awareness, create inclusive cultures and evaluate their internal systems of accountability to drive change. Originally from Wichita, Kansas, she graduated from the University of Kansas with a BA and later received a master’s degree from Webster University.     

Noelle Blue

As a California native, born in Southern, raised in Central and currently residing in Northern, Noelle’s passions are people and food. Her experiences have ranged from owning a restaurant in Long Beach Ca, to a General Manager at a SF Tech startup to an Instructor at Oakland’s Laney College. Noelle holds a BA in Organizational/Interpersonal Communications and an MBA, both of which are put to good use in her current role as the Operations Manager at IDG.

Diversity is being asked to the dance. Inclusion is being asked to dance. Belonging is being able to dance how you want – and equity is having a turn picking the DJ