Patty's path into this work was shaped long before any degree or job title. It began with her mother's stories of colorism, classism, and revolution, and deepened through her own lived experience as a second-generation Nicaraguan American. Those early questions — why do racial and economic disparities exist, and how do we change them? — led her to a bachelor's degree in International Studies and a Master of Social Work in Community-Based Practice. Along the way, she trained in educación popular and became a certified Instructional Designer through ADT. She'll also tell you that motherhood and a towering stack of books have been among her most profound teachers.

Over fifteen years, Patty has developed and implemented DEIJB strategies across health, social services, child welfare, global economic development, and workforce sectors — primarily in the nonprofit and public arenas. Among her most formative experiences were two transformative years living and working in Nicaragua, where she designed experiential education programs to improve U.S. foreign policy and minimize harm to communities in the Global South. That season rooted her in cultural humility and a lifelong commitment to institutional change work. Back in the Pacific Northwest, she spent the following decade building organizational capacity for intersectional equity and inclusion through learning, policy, practice, storytelling, and data.

In 2020, Patty launched Practica Consulting — a name drawn from the Spanish word for practice, reflecting her belief that this work is a living, ongoing commitment rather than a checkbox or a destination. She brings to every engagement a rare combination of "OG" wisdom and fresh thinking, deep regional roots, and a genuine sense of community accountability. Patty believes that better outcomes for people create better outcomes for organizations, and that deep listening, power sharing, and authentic relationship-building are the foundations of lasting transformation.

At the heart of it all, Patty does this work for the next generation, for her ancestors, and for the shared human need to be seen, valued, safe, and free.

Samantha's journey in the field of philanthropy and nonprofit management blossomed with her remarkable leadership at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. Here, she spearheaded efforts to direct financial resources, grants, and contracts towards recovery initiatives, demonstrating her capacity to manage large-scale projects and her commitment to community service. Her role was instrumental in fostering resilience and rebuilding in the aftermath of disasters, showcasing her ability to mobilize resources effectively and efficiently.

In her pursuit to further her impact, Samantha founded DBR Consulting, where she currently serves as President. Under her guidance, DBR Consulting has flourished, offering training and technical assistance, facilitation, management and financial consulting, and grants management support, along with business program and project management services. Her work through DBR Consulting emphasizes her belief in the power of capacity-building partnerships between philanthropy and community-based organizations, advocating for mutual support to enhance their collective impact.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Samantha is a recognized figure in her community, participating in various initiatives that promote leadership, community service, and academic excellence. Her dedication to empowering others and her innovative approach to problem-solving make her a valuable asset to any organization or project she is involved with.

Samantha Bickham's legacy is one of resilience, innovation, and unwavering commitment to making a difference in the lives of others through strategic grants management and project management. Her work continues to inspire and pave the way for future leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

Hai is a native Oregonian and proud Vietnamese-American. He loves connecting people, ideas, & resources - and has been weaving through the worlds of business, art, and politics for over 20 years. He founded a boutique business consulting firm in 2022 to support small businesses recover from the pandemic and previously worked strategically with global Fortune 10 to 100 C-suite executives.

In 2012, Hai earned the unique distinction of being the first Vietnamese-American political campaign manager in Oregon - he has worked on local State Representative campaigns in Portland, Oregon, a City Council race in Queens, NY, and two national presidential campaigns.

Hai works as an employee benefits risk management consultant at a top 10 national insurance brokerage. In his spare time, Hai enjoys fishing, snowboarding, hiking, paddle boarding, and working on his first documentary about the nationally historic election of five Vietnamese-American State Representatives in Oregon during the November 2022 elections.

I’m a speaker, author, and brand strategist. I built my first business while in college and, for over a decade, ran a profitable business with loyal customers, but struggled to break out of the pack in my industry. I had talent, skills, and a story, but no clarity. I was chasing everything, trying to be for everyone, and wondering why nothing was working.

I grew up in a refugee camp. That gave me perspective. But it wasn’t until I found my message and learned how to share it that things really changed.

Which is why I wrote my book, The Art of Resilience, which is part memoir, part mindset guide. It’s about finding clarity when life gets confusing, and turning your pain into power without pretending it didn’t happen.

Now, I work with leaders, teams, and founders who feel overwhelmed by competing priorities, constant changes, and the pressure to keep up with trends. My talks help them build clarity in their vision, strengthen their resilience when challenges hit, and sharpen their communication so they can lead effectively and build brands that truly resonate.

With a powerful mix of personal story, practical strategies, and actionable tools, I don’t just motivate audiences — I help them transform how they lead, collaborate, and communicate. Whether it’s aligning a team, navigating change, or building a brand with purpose, I show people how to rise above the noise and create meaningful impact.

Find more of my work at rising-authors.com and husseinalbaiaty.com.

Jordan Thierry is a fundraising strategist, storyteller, and capacity builder with nearly two decades of experience helping nonprofit leaders raise more money, sharpen their message, and deepen their impact.

Jordan has helped raise over 5 million in funding for small nonprofits through grants and strategic partnerships, and participated in awarding over 10 million in funding as a philanthropic consultant.

As the Executive Director of Dream Chase Media, he has partnered with foundations, social justice organizations, and community-based nonprofits across the country — guiding them through the full arc of organizational growth, from crafting compelling fundraising narratives to designing the systems that sustain them.

Jordan's path to this work was shaped early. Growing up biracial between Portland, Oregon and Galesburg, Illinois, he learned from a young age what it means to navigate different worlds, hold multiple identities, and find belonging across lines of race, culture, and community. That experience gave him a rare capacity for empathy and cross-cultural understanding — qualities that now define his approach to working with diverse organizations and the leaders who run them.

Jordan's work sits at the intersection of communications, philanthropy, and movement-building. He has helped organizations such as the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, Feeding America, the Public Welfare Foundation, and the Blue Shield of California Foundation develop and execute strategies that connect their missions to the money. Whether co-designing a $20 million grantmaking initiative, facilitating a strategic planning retreat, or coaching an emerging executive director through their first funder presentation, Jordan brings both big-picture thinking and the practical tools leaders need to move their organizations to the next level.

He understands the unique pressures nonprofit leaders face because he has lived them. As co-founder and Interim Executive Director of the Beaverton Black Parent Union, Jordan helped build a grassroots organization from the ground up, raising over $300,000 in its first two years through grants and community investment. That experience — writing the proposals, managing the funder relationships, and reporting on outcomes — informs everything he brings to his consulting work. He doesn't just advise; he knows what it takes to do the work.

His expertise extends to the California Black Freedom Fund, where he managed the State of Black California event series in partnership with the California Legislative Black Caucus, and developed the Chinedu Valentine Okobi Sabbatical Program. Earlier in his career, he served as Education Policy Lead at PolicyLink, where he helped establish an intermediary fund for grassroots organizations and managed a national community of practice for nonprofit professionals serving youth of color.

Jordan holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication and Media Studies from Howard University, a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon, and a Certificate in Fundraising Management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He is also the author of A Kids Book About Systemic Racism, published by Penguin Random House and featured on Oprah's Favorite Things List — a testament to his lifelong commitment to making complex systems legible and actionable.

If you are a nonprofit leader who has ever swallowed your ask, who has ever made yourself smaller before a funder, who has ever left a meeting wondering if your work was enough — Jordan Thierry has come to remind you: you are enough. Your story is worth telling. Now let's get to work.

Alexis Ball (she/her/ella) identifies as bicultural (Latina and white) and as a social worker with a deep commitment to racial equity, multi-level systems change, and building relationships with those most impacted to inform her work. She is currently the Latinx Community Partnerships Strategist in the Multnomah County Health Department where her focus is on strengthening relationships with and among culturally specific organizations and community health workers to address the social determinants of health. She previously served as Equity and Inclusion Manager for the City of Beaverton for almost 9 years. Before her time in the public sector, Alexis worked in community based organizations focused on furthering racial and social justice initiatives in health care, education, and advocacy with immigrant and refugee communities. She also spent several years working with a Latin America solidarity organization to lead educational programs on the impact of US policy, in partnership with civic organizations and rural communities in southern Mexico. Alexis has a Master of Social Work from Portland State University.

As Justice Funders’ Senior Director of Innovation, Mario partners with philanthropy and field practitioners to design, pilot and scale both innovation and collective action that advances social movements through our Movement Commons Lab. Mario comes to the organization via Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), where he served as a 2016-2017 Civic Innovation Fellow, as well as Guidestar, where he held the position of Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He is the founder of the movement-building technology platform, Giving Side.

In 2010, Mario co-founded the New American Leaders Project, the country’s first and only organization dedicated to training first- and second- generation immigrants to run for elected office. He has held leadership positions at the Kapor Center for Social Impact, as well as the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, providing leadership around new and unprecedented philanthropic investments in both integrated voter engagement strategies and for a fair and accurate 2010 census count. He built significant community organizing experience as the National Coordinator of Racial Justice 911 and at CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in the Northwest Bronx.

Mario is a long-time philanthropic and nonprofit consultant, speaker and trainer. He currently is an advisor to the High Net Worth POC Donor Collaborative, Digital Impact and New Media Mentors, and previously served as board member of Resource Generation, American Prospect, and as board chair of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

Educator, Activist, Strategist, Organizer, and Change-Agent

Khalil has worked for social change, Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, racial equity, and fighting for justice for the past 20 years. Khalil was born and raised in Portland, OR. Khalil's passion for education and strong belief that knowledge is power led him to become a teacher. Upon graduating from the Portland Teachers Program, an initiative that works to increase the number of educators of color in the classroom, and receiving his Master’s Degree from Portland State University’s Graduate Teacher Education Program in 2004, he moved to Southern California where he taught Middle School and High School English for three years.

 

In 2009, Khalil joined Black & Beyond the Binary Collective (formerly PFLAG Portland Black Chapter-the first Black chapter of PFLAG in the country and the only organization in Portland, OR specifically serving the Black LGBTQ+ community). Under his leadership, the organization saw tremendous growth including the release of a first of its kind groundbreaking report that highlights the experiences of Black LGBTQ Oregonians. As Racial Justice Manager with Basic Rights Oregon Khalil co-launched the Our Families initiative centering the voices of LGBTQ+ people of color and their families in Oregon. Khalil moved to California in 2016 and joined the Los Angeles Black Worker Center (LABWC) as the new Organizing Director leading the organizing team to support the mission of increasing access to quality jobs, reducing employment discrimination, and improving industries that employ Black workers. Currently Khalil volunteers as a member of the LABWC Political Education Committee and serves as a board member with LABWC.

With over a decade of experience in grassroots fundraising, leadership development, campaign planning, and program and organizational development, Khalil joined Power California in 2018. As Development Director with Power California, he leads fundraising strategies to fund the movement of building power with young people of color. In his role he leads fundraising efforts to raise over $9M annually for Power California, their sibling entity, PowerCA Action, and their respective Political Action Committees. 

Khalil and his partner of 15 years, Zack Mohamed, currently reside in Compton, California. An avid Robert Jordan fan and karaoke enthusiast, on his downtime from work and volunteer commitments you can usually find him with a book or mic in his hands.

"It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains" -Assata Shakur.

Alexis Braly James is an educator, strategist, and culture builder with over a decade of experience helping organizations align people, purpose, and performance. As the Founder and CEO of

Construct the Present, a certified B Corporation, she leads teams through data-driven and human-centered approaches to workplace culture, equity, and leadership development.

With a Master’s in Teaching and an MBA, Alexis blends the art of learning with the science of systems. Before launching Construct the Present, she spent years in operations and data analytics, studying what truly changes behavior and builds belonging inside organizations. Her work now sits at the intersection of equity and efficiency, helping leaders translate values into measurable, lasting impact.

Whether designing equity audits, leading executive retreats, or training teams nationwide, Alexis remains grounded in one belief: when people feel seen, systems work better.

Dan Flood is Head of Customer Growth at Talkoot, an AI-powered product content platform built for large B2C ecommerce brands. He leads the full commercial motion — new business, account expansion, and sales strategy — with a focus on scaling the sales organization from the ground up.

Prior to Talkoot, Dan served as Chief Sales Officer at Challenger (and the combined Richardson/Challenger business following their merger), where he led global sales across one of the most recognized names in sales methodology, The Challenger Sale. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at Gartner, the world's largest corporate research and advisory firm. He held a number of sales leadership positions, rising to Managing Vice President and overseeing sales and community across the company's executive peer network, and led a team of over 100 people.

Dan is a student of team dynamics, leadership, and the art of selling. Outside of work, he is a proud husband and father, and is an amateur musician in his spare time. He is based in Portland, Oregon.