Cole holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and has worked as a community facilitator, strategist, and consultant with non-profits, socially responsible corporations, and governmental agencies. Cole's background crosses multiple sectors but as a young queer consultant of color with almost ten years consulting and facilitation experience she is often uniquely positioned to bring together groups across divides. Drawing from her experience as a policy advocate, researcher, and organizational development consultant she brings an approach to strategic planning that centralizes financial management, operations, and fundraising while aligning with an organization's values and mission.
Cole is a graduate of Mills College in Oakland, CA, a member of the Progressive Consultants Network and the Development Executives Roundtable. In addition, Cole co-authored Through the Lens of Culture: Building Capacity for Social Change and Sustainable Communities. The work from this piece has been used to forward understanding of culturally competent training and group facilitation across the country.
Malachi Larabee-Garza, Community Justice Network for Youth
Before coming to CJNY, Malachi had been a leader in the fields of community organizing and popular education for the past 12 years. Most recently, Malachi served as the Advanced Political Education Coordinator at the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL), training over 2,000 people and 450 organizations throughout the U.S. and in collaboration with organizations in Mexico. Through SOUL, Malachi directed an international training and internship program, classes and institutes focused on curriculum development, facilitation, political analysis and community organizing.
Malachi currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Transgender and Intersexed Justice Project and is active in the organizations work serving low-income queer and transgender communities of color who are formally or currently incarcerated within California's prison system. Malachi is a 2005 Kopkind fellow.
Danielle Mahonnes, Center for Third World Organizing
Danielle spent the ten years from 1993 to 2003 fighting for workers in the labor movement. She has organized hotel workers with HERE Local 2850, janitors with the California Justice for Janitors Local 1877, and just before returning to CTWO was the Worksite Organizing Director for the Stanford Division of SEIU, Local 715. Danielle graduated from the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program in 1993. She returned to CTWO in 2003 as a Senior Trainer, and in 2004 was named Executive Director. She still keeps her hand in direct program work by facilitating Spanish-language trainings, providing strategic and organizational consultations to key allies, and developing curricula for the California Lead Organizer Institute and other CTWO programs. Danielle is a board member of SOUL (School of Unity and Liberation).
Q Ragsdale, Orange Moon Media
Q is a filmmaker, performance artist and new media enthusiast who integrates these mediums to explore topics ranging from social justice to gender identity and expression. From Dallas TX, Q is a masculine of center lesbian who serves as the Outreach & Media Chair of BUTCH Voices, the largest butch organization in the nation. Q is also a founding member of the DFW Senators, a local organization that aims to empower, educate and entertain lesbians of color.
Q is the driving force behind Orange Moon Media, a multi-function media production company that provides video production, graphic design and social media marketing services. Orange Moon Media launched Q-roc.tv, an online TV show that celebrates the uniqueness and diversity of the queer community. Q is also responsible for organizing the Queer Film Series, which seeks to promote awareness and support of black Queer films and filmmakers.
