Kim Dabbs, Founder + CEO
Kim Dabbs is a global leader in Belonging and Purpose, whose unique life story informs her passionate advocacy for inclusion and understanding. Born in Korea and adopted by American parents, Kim's journey has taken her from feeling perpetually out of place in different cultures to becoming an influential voice in creating spaces where everyone feels they belong.
She served as the Global Vice President of Impact at Steelcase where she applied her extensive experience in social innovation, honed through roles like the Executive Director of the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology and a residency at Stanford's d.school, to foster more inclusive and equitable environments.
Kim is the best-selling author of You Belong Here, The Power of Being Seen, Heard, and Valued on Your Own Terms, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in 2024 and named a top book to read by the Financial Times. Her debut book reflects her transformation from a cultural chameleon trying to fit in to a thought leader who champions the idea of belonging to oneself. You Belong Here offers a new framework for individuals to create a sense of Belonging in any situation and serves as a launchpad for organizational leaders and culture builders to create safe spaces for individuals to show up as their authentic selves.
As a sought-after speaker, Kim has delivered keynotes to organizations and institutions such as Google, Microsoft, MIT, The Drucker Forum, and The Guggenheim, and serves as a trustee for Design for Good and as an advisor for NationSwell and IF Foundation Design Academy. She is the founder of To Belonging, a global community of movement builders exploring the intersection of identity and purpose at home, at work and in the world.
Kimfer Flanery-Rye
Aileen Strickland McGee
Kimfer Flanery-Rye
Kimfer is the founder of Inclusion Equals and partners with the Talks and Fellowships, helping movement builders turn their ambitions into lasting change. With 20+ years of experience, she helps organizations build culture from the inside out using what she calls the IDEA concept — Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility.
She's helped
Kimfer is the founder of Inclusion Equals and partners with the Talks and Fellowships, helping movement builders turn their ambitions into lasting change. With 20+ years of experience, she helps organizations build culture from the inside out using what she calls the IDEA concept — Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility.
She's helped brands like eBay and Alaska Airlines rethink their DEI strategy from the ground up. She's an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University and was the first-ever DEI leader for the American Marketing Association nationwide.
Mana Taheri
Aileen Strickland McGee
Kimfer Flanery-Rye
Mana is the founder of Mana Watches People and partners on the Workshops, building the experiences that get people out of their heads and into action. She's spent over a decade coaching at the HPI d-school and teaching design thinking around the world — from Havana to Kuala Lumpur to Cape Town.
Her doctoral research looked at how culture s
Mana is the founder of Mana Watches People and partners on the Workshops, building the experiences that get people out of their heads and into action. She's spent over a decade coaching at the HPI d-school and teaching design thinking around the world — from Havana to Kuala Lumpur to Cape Town.
Her doctoral research looked at how culture shapes the way design thinking gets taught, drawing on years of work with schools and institutions across four continents. Originally from Tehran, she brings an educator's eye and an illustrator's instinct to everything she builds.
Zena Barakat
Aileen Strickland McGee
Aileen Strickland McGee
Zena is the founder of Public Access and partners with the Rad Rebels Fellowships, bringing changemakers together to do the deep work of building movements. She led IDEO's inclusive design practice and co-founded their Inclusive Design Collective — a crew of designers pushing the company's own work to be more equitable, not just their cli
Zena is the founder of Public Access and partners with the Rad Rebels Fellowships, bringing changemakers together to do the deep work of building movements. She led IDEO's inclusive design practice and co-founded their Inclusive Design Collective — a crew of designers pushing the company's own work to be more equitable, not just their clients'. She's taught equitable product design at Berkeley Haas and innovation at CCA.
Before IDEO, she spent a decade in media — producing for the New York Times, ABC News, and NPR, including an Emmy-nominated series and a Sundance documentary.
Aileen Strickland McGee
Aileen Strickland McGee
Aileen Strickland McGee
Aileen is the founder of Prismatic Center and partners on the Studio, working alongside teams to shape the culture, process, and policies that sustain a movement. She's a designer, researcher, and futurist who studies how people, environments, and systems shape each other, using that insight to help organizations move beyond quick fixes.
H
Aileen is the founder of Prismatic Center and partners on the Studio, working alongside teams to shape the culture, process, and policies that sustain a movement. She's a designer, researcher, and futurist who studies how people, environments, and systems shape each other, using that insight to help organizations move beyond quick fixes.
Her work spans global research, strategy, and hands-on workshops across education, business, and social impact. Her practice is rooted in her education from the Institute for the Future, the Presencing Institute, and MIT Sloan, and she's currently a fellow with Design Science Studio.
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