Danielle supports The Equity Lab’s Nexus Fellowship. Danielle brings 17 years of experience in strategic planning, training design and delivery, and leadership development in the education and nonprofit sectors. Her career has consistently focused on organizational climate and culture, with a unique concentration on the influence of identity, wellness, and race.

Danielle’s approach creates space for leaders and teams to think outside of traditional white dominant culture solutions, processes and systems. She pushes for liberated solutions-orientated thinking that centers personal identity and life experience. Danielle’s work serves as a bridge for leaders and teams to journey from the assumptions and barriers implicit in their current approach to imagining and choosing a more liberated future.

In addition to numerous district-wide, regional and nonprofit leadership roles, Danielle serves as the Founder and Principal Consultant of Liberated Development. Danielle’s training includes Google’s Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence Leadership Training (SIYLI); the People’s Institution for Survival and Beyond’s Undoing Racism; DePaul University School of New Learning’s Innovative Strategies for Facilitating Adult Learning; the Institute for Organizational Development’s Change Implementation: Organizational Development Process Consulting; and The Institute of Cultural Affairs’ ToP Facilitation Methods. Danielle was also a fellow in Cohort I of TEL’s Nexus Fellowship.

A proud Chicago native, Danielle’s formal educational background includes a master’s program at Moody Theological Seminary, a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University New Orleans, and a nonprofit leadership development program at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management's Center for Nonprofit Management. She is currently based in the Washington, DC area.

Dr. Cierra Kaler-Jones (she/her) is a social justice educator, storyteller, writer, and choreographer based in Washington, D.C. Cierra’s research broadly focuses on how to create and sustain educational spaces rooted in joy and love, while refuting control and management tactics in schools that deny young people opportunities for creativity and critical consciousness-building. Over the past ten years, Cierra has learned alongside preschoolers, K-12 students, college students, and adults as an educator. With her roots in dance and arts education, Cierra has also taught classes on U.S. history, public policy, foundations of educational research, social change & leadership, and storytelling for change. Her heart’s work includes facilitating a program that uses art and political education to fuel social change through the co-creation of healing-centered spaces for and with Black girls and TGNC (transgender, non-conforming) young people. She serves as the Director of Storytelling for Communities for Just Schools Fund and the Director of Unlock Your Story. Cierra is so grateful for the opportunity to continuously learn and grow alongside the Seeding Disruption Remix Fellows.

Karen Lee has a passion for education and young people. When Karen first moved to Washington, DC, she worked as a social worker focusing on housing and educational placements for homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. After hearing young people’s frustrations with failing schools and their discontent with their education, she decided to transition back into the classroom and proudly taught social studies at Maya Angelou Public Charter School and Thurgood Marshall Academy for the past 18 years. Karen dedicates her time to help students feel more empowered to take ownership of their education and become change makers in their community. Karen has recently joined the DCPS Becoming team to support secondary schools using the science of learning to redesign educational practices to focus on whole child supports and centering students' voices in their own educational experiences. Karen is the faculty advisor for the student led activist group, Pathways 2 Power, who work tirelessly to end gun violence in DC. Karen was awarded the Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching in 2012 and spent eight months in Finland studying the role of choice on student motivation. She also has been awarded the Mikva Challenge DC Inspiring Educator Award and DC Teacher of the Year Runner-Up in 2019. She has a BS in Secondary Education and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.

Josh McCarty is the CEO of Good Points Communications and a seasoned communications strategist with a longstanding focus in education. He has dedicated his career to driving measurable social impact through storytelling, and he brings more than a decade of experience honing messaging for nonprofits. He received his undergraduate degree in history from Purdue University and his MBA from Purdue's Krannert School of Management. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, Romina, and their cat, Banjo.

Alli Wachtel (she/her) has been privileged to support The Equity Lab on branding, graphic design, and strategic communications since 2017. Her consultancy, Dot Grid Studio, helps people and organizations who are doing good in their communities match their visual presence to their on-the-ground impact. With nearly a decade of experience in the education sector, Alli’s understanding of the challenges that many mission-driven organizations face allow her to hit the ground running with clients to create insightful brands and beautiful materials.

When she’s not blabbing about Pantone colors or font weights, Alli can be found gardening, hanging out by a body of water, and spoiling her pets (not all at once) in San Diego.