about us
Erika Bernabei
Co-Lead, Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Erika Bernabei’s (she/they, white) work connects intentions and impact, in solidarity with Black, Indigenous and communities of Color and our collective humanity. Through Equity & Results, Erika leads the strategic design and implementation of whole organization and collaborative work to achieve racially equitable results. Erika works with small and large organizations, collective impact initiatives and public agencies to use results-driven, racial equity principles to build capacity for impact.
Equity & Results uses antiracist principles, developed by the People’s Institute, elders, scholars and organizers, to transform how systems work and strategically disrupt common practices and replace them with actions that address the root causes of the problem. Erika is an expert in Antiracist Results-Based Accountability (AR RBA), and has worked with groups locally and nationally to successfully use this tool.
Prior to E&R, Erika worked at PolicyLink for nearly a decade, co-leading the development of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute to support more than 50 place-based partnerships implement a results driven infrastructure and as an Assistant Commissioner in the New York City Department of Homeless Services. She has a MA in Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University and a PhD in Educational Leadership from New York University.
Erika lives in New York State with her partner and dog, and loves people, getting out of town, food and music.
Theodore B. Miller, Esq.
Co-Lead and Antiracist Impact Facilitator
Theo Miller (he/him, Black) has over 20 years of experience leading community and neighborhood development solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. An expert facilitator and educator on racial inequity and social change for Equity & Results, Theo has taught in university, criminal justice, corporate and community environments around the world.
Miller was most recently a Senior Advisor for the Office of Mayor London N. Breed, and the director of HOPE SF, the nation’s first large-scale partnership aimed at transforming dilapidated and segregated public housing neighborhoods into vibrant, racially equitable mixed-income communities without mass displacement of residents. HOPE SF is a twenty-year human and real estate capital commitment, now spanning three mayoral administrations in San Francisco. Theo’s work created ladders of opportunity for longstanding underserved families, particularly African Americans and Pacific Islanders, through deep investments in mixed-income housing, networks of community leadership and resident voice, and education, health and employment services.
A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Theo was inspired in college by the youth residents of New Haven, where he worked as a community organizer and mental health counselor. Throughout his career, he has advised and led businesses, universities, hospitals and elected officials in urban areas across the country to redesign policy, create new models of collaboration, and achieve dramatically better results for low-income communities of color.
Prior to his appointment to the Office by the late Mayor Edwin M. Lee, Theo managed community benefits for the SF Public Utilities Commission, was a corporate attorney at the firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, a commercial broker and real estate developer, and a lecturer and Fellow at the Hutchins Institute at Harvard University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bar Association, and lives in Oakland and has two young daughters.
Elodie Baquerot Lavery
Operations Lead, Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Elodie Baquerot Lavery (she/her, white) is an experienced senior executive with a demonstrated history of working across the public, non-profit, philanthropic, and private sectors to design and implement large-scale change efforts in service of racial justice. As the long-time Chief Operating Officer of two national non-profit organizations and a history of working in local and federal government, she has a deep and practiced understanding of what it takes - at the individual and institutional levels - to adaptively shape change from the inside-out. Much of her work falls at the intersection of antiracism and organizational development. Throughout, she deploys her facilitation, coaching, strategic planning, and operational skillsets to support organizational change that centers humanity and drives meaningful impact.
Most recently, Elodie served as the Chief Operating Officer at Public Allies, a 28 year old national social justice organization committed to changing the face and practice of leadership by recruiting, training, and supporting talented young leaders, with a passion for social impact, to create meaningful change in their communities. Before that, she spent nine years as the COO of Living Cities; a leading racial economic justice organization focused on harnessing the collective power of 18 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions and partnerships with localities across the country to close the racial income and wealth gaps in American cities. While there, Elodie managed the organization’s transformation from ‘start up’ to maturity; overseeing the implementation of an innovative results-oriented approach, driving strategic engagement with the Board of Directors, and overseeing talent/HR, culture, and finances.
Prior to joining Living Cities, Elodie was a presidential appointee in the Obama Administration, where she served as a senior member of Secretary Shaun Donovan’s Office at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Previously, Elodie was a Housing Fellow at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She has also worked as a Research Associate at Monash University and at the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Elodie is a member of the Antiracist Ecosystem of practitioners who work together for greater antiracist impact and is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BA) and the London School of Economics (MSc). She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
Ronak Davé Okoye
Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Ronak Davé Okoye (she/her) is the Oakland Director for San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR), an urban policy think tank. In her role, Ronak is responsible for developing and implementing SPUR’s vision for change through local action and complex political systems. Prior to SPUR, Ronak held various leadership roles within the public sector. As the Director of Community Benefits at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Ronak sat at the intersection of communities and big infrastructure, overseeing over $50M in community and environmental justice investments and revamping the agency’s affordability and shut off policies to center water as a human right. Prior to this, Ronak served in San Francisco’s Office of the Mayor as Deputy Director for HOPE SF, a multi-sector public housing transformation and reparations initiative disrupting intergenerational poverty through the development of equitable, mixed income communities and mobility pathways, without mass displacement. Her foundations in government were built working with the honorable Mayor Thomas Menino in the City of Boston where she built community health equity programs.
Ronak began her career in the technology sector where she practiced human centered design and agile management, which undergird her constituent-driven and operational approach to government. Ronak also dedicates her time to many advocacy efforts for women’s reproductive rights and racial equity.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and both an M.A and M.S from Tufts University where she investigated the intersections of health outcomes with the built environment, community development, and sociopolitical inequities. Ronak lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and two sons. She loves exploring the world through the eyes of her children, being outside, and experimenting with new recipes.
Marcais Frazier
Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Marcais Frazier is responsible for providing executive coaching, Results-Based Accountability (RBA) consultation, and performance management technology support to individuals, communities, and organizations that desire to make clear, measurable impact.
In his role as the Clear Impact Academy Director, Marcais founded and led the development of the Results-Based Accountability Professional Certification – a learning platform designed to certify the knowledge and application of the RBA framework. As a part of the online training, he has coached over 200 national and international professionals, including CEOs, executive directors, program managers, government leaders, consultants, funders, and staff.
Marcais Frazier is a certified transformational coach through the Coach Diversity Institute– a distinction recognized and credentialed by the International Coaching Federation. He is currently consulting and providing technical assistance in the application of RBA to the Food and Drug Administration and the NIH Scientific Workforce Diversity Office. He is also serving as a skills coach in NHLBI Leadership Lab 2.0.
Marcais is from Atlanta, Georgia – a city known as much for its southern hospitality as for its contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. As the city continues to evolve its legacy steeped in notable faith leaders, musicians, and comfort foods, he hopes to play an integral role in ushering in the new wave of community and culture.
Hyma Menath
Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Hyma Menath (she/her) has lived and worked in India, UK, Europe and US. She brings with her, the recognition and the experience of the effects of intersectional and hierarchical systems of power that can grant privilege or discriminate based on racial, cultural and social heritages. She has over 20 years experience in leading systems change inside organizations. She works to advance racial equity by collaborating with multi-disciplinary stakeholder groups both in government agencies and the private sector. She is an active practitioner of the Antiracist Results Based Accountability (AR RBA) methodology for racially equitable outcomes.
Recently, as Equity & Inclusion Advisor to the City of San Jose, Hyma designed and implemented frameworks for racially equitable community and economic development. She brought community partners, policy makers, data experts and City administrators together to develop racial equity indicators for the City, including disaggregated demographic data tools and the Equity Atlas. Her work in re-examining Agile methodology helped prioritize San Jose’s Emergency Operations Work Plan, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with racial equity at the center. Her technical expertise has been instrumental in leveraging technology (e.g., GIS) and advanced analytics (e.g., Use of Force data analysis in policing) to interrogate biased outcomes as well as build performance measures.
Hyma is also the co-founder/Principle of Talking Cranes and works with global organizations to create better multicultural workplaces. Clients include Walmart, Visa, SAP, Stanford and others. For 15 years, she led business growth and change management through digital transformation of Educational Publishers such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley in US, UK and Europe during a time of intense business process and culture change by disruptive technological changes. Based in Silicon Valley, California, she advocates for socially responsible technology. She enjoys traveling around the world marveling at the human spirit and experiments with diverse cuisine – in the pursuit of happiness!
Justin Merrick
Creative Advisor
Justin Merrick (he/him) is no stranger to Memphis. Formerly the Artistic and Operations Director of Stax Music Academy, where he received a Grammy nomination for his work in cultivating the voice of his students, Justin now cultivates authentic voice across our city. Artist, visionary, servant, and educator, Merrick unlocks the power of civic engagement and ethical storytelling throughout Shelby County to spur equitable practices, economic development, and thriving neighborhood democracies. He crafts an approach based on the conviction that systemic evolution and transitional justice must be informed by personal transformation. Accolades include featured articles in Ebony and Forbes magazines and most recently Memphis Flyer's top 20 under 30. Merrick earned his Masters in Opera and Nonprofit management from Indiana University and his Bachelors of Arts from his home by the sea, Hampton University.
Andres Oswill
Antiracist Impact Facilitator and Ecosystem Collaborator
Andrés (he/they) is a first-generation queer Peruvian-American living in Portland, Oregon. He is a policy wonk at heart, and thrives on the “how?” of movement building work. They believe knowledge and wisdom come in many forms, few of which are formal education. He has a Bachelors in Politics and Women and Gender Studies from Willamette University, and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University.
They currently work as Chief of Staff for Oregon Futures Lab, a non-profit working to create BIPOC political power in Oregon. Previously, Andrés worked for the City of Portland, first developing renter protections in the Housing Bureau, then as a Senior Policy Advisor for Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. He has served on advisory bodies including the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission and Willamette University Alumni Board, and is currently Board Chair of ROSE CDC, and a founding board member of Portland: Neighbors Welcome.
Andrés draws inspiration from the intellectual founders of the movement (Anzaldua, Estaban Muñoz, and the Combahee River Collective are some favs) while grounded in the reality that for our work to remain for the people, it must be accessible to all.
Nothing about us, without us.
JaNay Queen Nazaire
Collaborator
Dr. JaNay Queen Nazaire (she/her) is building a world where every person has the right to a healthy, abundant and connected life. A facilitator, convener and researcher, she is actively working to dismantle oppressive systems and restructure power and resources to enable an authentic multiracial democracy for future generations.
Dr. Queen Nazaire builds relationships and networks across sectors to empower and mobilize leaders as they advocate for people who have been left out and systematically denied social, political and economic power. She uses her leadership positions to create wealth and wellbeing for people of color, with a particular focus on Black communities, as equity and liberation for the historically marginalized will benefit every person. In her role as co-founder of Black Gravity, she serves as the gravitational pull that brings together organizations and initiatives creating and sustaining Black wealth, with the goal of closing the racial wealth gap by 2060.
As a Senior Advisor for PSG Equity, a private equity growth firm, she partners on social justice initiatives across a portfolio of 14,000 employees, expands access to diverse talent and creates connections for investable opportunities. As a PolicyLink Senior Fellow, she advises the economic mobility strategy to support moving 100 million Americans out of poverty.
Throughout her career, she has worked with public, private and philanthropic stakeholders across the country, providing creative, solution-focused leadership and strategy and deploying millions in public and private capital to overcome social and economic challenges for people and places. Previous positions include senior leadership roles at Living Cities, a national philanthropic collaborative, and Clear Impact, a social sector consultancy.
A consummate educator, Dr. Queen Nazaire serves as faculty and advisor for leaders and students, namely for the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York, FUSE Corps and the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. She is a collaborator with Equity & Results, a board member for Global Electronics Council, and serves on numerous advisory committees, including Ureeka, a platform that democratizes access and opportunity for entrepreneurs, and the Association of Enterprise Opportunity’s Tapestry Project, which accentuates and accelerates Black business development.
She speaks, writes and facilitates on topics such as impact investing, collective action, data-driven decision making, systems change, racial justice and disruptive leadership.
Akilah Scharff
Collaborator
Akilah Scharff (she/her) operates within the realm of reimagination. She is a creative and emerging tech consultant, racial equity facilitator, business coach, storyteller, and mentor. The centering of humans and values in every aspect of design, technology, and business is her goal for the future of our existence, with equity and access laced throughout.
Akilah’s experience spans several years in product innovation and R&D in both corporate and nonprofit sectors in the areas of AR/VR, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, biometrics, UX/UI/CX, rapid prototyping, and business development.
Her work as Racial Equity Facilitator and Product Strategy Consultant at Project Inkblot enables her to couple her extensive experience in technology with her lived experience, to identify areas for clients to build for equity in core areas of business, and for Project Inkblot to apply their years of research and praxis to create digital products which further the company mission (equity for all).
As a business coach, Akilah acknowledges that every outcome begins with an action or decision from an individual or team. Her holistic approach deepens the process of identification of unbeknownst obstacles on the path to an individual and/or company’s success, including the dissection of what success means, from a qualitative standpoint.
Expansive, creative, and responsive environments are where Akilah thrives. She is ignited by the prospect of building that which does not yet exist, whether it is a product, approach, or framework - Especially if it solves a pain point in our everyday lives, or helps to unburden the existence of systemically misrepresented groups.
E&R in action
