Meet our Facilitators

Alex Tiant
Director
Alex Tiant
Director
Pronouns: She/her

Alex is a Director on Paradigm’s Learning Team. As the leader of the Client Partnerships function, she helps clients plan, manage, and execute DEI strategies, designs and facilitates workshops, and coaches executives on their DEI journey.

In Alex’s role, she has led Paradigm’s work with high-growth startups, global professional services firms, and Fortune 500 companies — she has partnered with organizations including Blackstone, Snap Inc., Kearney, DocuSign, Nike, Gibson Dunn, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She advises on the effectiveness of DEI Committees and Employee Resource Groups for global organizations. She is passionate about evolving organizational cultures, developing leaders, and empowering professionals to prioritize their well-being.

Prior to joining Paradigm, Alex spent almost a decade at Deloitte as a DEI project manager and risk management consultant. She organized initiatives such as leadership development programs, succession planning, recruitment efforts, and designed other effective strategies and tools for advancing the firm’s DEI goals.

Angela Razzano
Senior Consultant
Angela Razzano
Senior Consultant
Pronouns: She/her

Angela is a Senior Consultant within Paradigm’s Learning team. With a global reach, she collaborates with organizations to develop impactful DEI training programs.

Angela’s expertise lies in providing comprehensive support and guidance to leaders as they navigate the implementation of these programs. Angela’s facilitates workshops for leaders and employees across industries focused on fostering inclusion, practicing allyship, and optimizing the effectiveness of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Angela has a particular passion for assisting organizations in establishing and strengthening their ERG infrastructure. As a DEI Consultant, she works closely with ERG leaders, enabling them to harness their unique perspectives and develop their leadership skills while prioritizing long-term sustainability.

Before Paradigm, Angela worked at YSC Consulting, where she built and operationalized their Diversity & Inclusion practice and led global training initiatives and development programs. Angela’s enthusiasm for driving equitable change began with producing large social events and theater productions, amplifying underrepresented voices and partnering with human rights organizations. She graduated from Rutgers University.

Carissa Romero, PhD
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Carissa Romero, PhD
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Pronouns: She/her

Carissa is a Managing Director at Paradigm and leads the Learning team. As one of Paradigm’s Co-Founders, Carissa developed Paradigm’s philosophy around evidence-based diversity, equity, and inclusion work. She has led Paradigm’s work with high-growth startups, leading media agencies, top law firms, and Fortune 500 companies — she has partnered with organizations including American Express, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Gap, Etsy, Lyft, The New York Times, and Zillow Group. Carissa’s team focuses on equipping individuals – from executive teams, employee resource groups, managers, and individual contributors – with practical strategies to contribute to diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations. Her team’s work includes expert-led training, advising on how to create effective DEI learning journeys, and the creation of tools to sustain and deepen learning.

Before coming to Paradigm, Carissa co-founded PERTS, a research center created at Stanford University focused on the practical application of behavioral science themes like belonging and growth mindset. Carissa was named to Forbes 30 under 30 list for her innovative work on growth mindset at PERTS, where she currently serves as chair of the board.

Carissa’s work has been featured in dozens of media outlets, including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal, and she has published her academic research in publications like Nature, Psychological Science, and Emotion. She has spoken at various conferences, including AtlanticLIVE, TechCrunch Disrupt, and SXSW. Carissa holds a doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University.

Diego de los Rios, PhD
Senior Consultant
Diego de los Rios, PhD
Senior Consultant
Pronouns: He/him

Diego is a senior consultant in Paradigm’s Learning team. In this role, he works with clients to help them design and implement DEI learning journeys, design and facilitate workshops, and coach internal facilitators and DEI leaders.

At Paradigm, Diego has partnered with a variety of clients of different sizes and in different industries, including Uber, Nike, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Le Creuset, and Fair Trade International. In all his work, Diego brings his background and passion for social science to help clients become more inclusive, stronger organizations.

Diego holds a doctorate in Sociology from Northwestern University. Prior to joining Paradigm, he worked as the Assistant Director of Research, Professional Development, and Academic Affairs at the American Sociological Association where he advocated for the needs of different constituencies in the discipline and organized and facilitated professional development events for members. He has also taught sociology courses at Northwestern University, Georgetown University, and American University.

Kae D’Apice
Senior Consultant
Kae D’Apice
Senior Consultant
Pronouns: They/them

Kae supports clients across Paradigm with Strategy and Learning work. With over 10 years of facilitation, program management, and strategic advising experience, they bring their passion for teaching and breaking down complexity to individuals and organizations at every stage of their DEI journey.

Kae supports clients across industries and regions like PepsiCo, FedEx, Snap Inc, Wildlife Conservation Network, Blueprint Medicines and more. They work closely with executives, people leaders, DEI practitioners and committees to design custom DEI strategies, prioritize initiatives across multi-year DEI roadmaps, lead critical trainings on unconscious bias, inclusive leadership, and allyship, and to recommend data-driven initiatives aligned with company mission and values.

They advise on DEI Committee enablement, build comprehensive inclusive toolkits, analyze organizational data to set strategic goals, and advise on change management communications. By drawing on research and best practices, paired with empathy for each unique challenge, Kae acts as a natural extension of teams to develop the skills, tools, and momentum to set and achieve DEI goals.

In Kae’s previous work as a DEI Program Manager, and Learning & Development Manager, they consulted internally with Executives, Business Partners, Marketing Teams, and key People Leaders to incorporate inclusion and equity into programs, processes, and policies.

Kae’s connection to this work has kept them an active partner in their communities. They supported efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive tech community through collective action by serving on the Steering Committee for TechTownPDX. They coached junior roller derby, volunteered with the Portland Children’s Levy, and currently help to advise on DEI for their regional YMCA. Kae stays grounded in their commitment to serving and creating inclusive spaces for youth.

Michelle Lopez
Principal Consultant
Michelle Lopez
Principal Consultant
Pronouns: She/her

Michelle has made it her mission to make workplaces more equitable and inclusive, and is committed to leveraging her talents to help companies thrive by developing fearless, collaborative environments.

As a highly accomplished former management defense employment lawyer and media executive she is recognized as a sought-after and trusted advisor, facilitator, and leadership coach for executives and leaders in various industries. With a remarkable track record as a senior executive at Paramount Media Networks, Michelle played a pivotal role in architecting the organization’s employment law practices, with a strong emphasis on building bridges, fostering relationships, and cultivating trust among leaders and teams.

As a Senior Consultant on the Paradigm Learning Team, Michelle relies on her unique experience to design and execute high-impact, data-driven workshops and curriculum, coach leaders, implement initiatives that sustain learning and foster inclusion, and curates experiences that increase inclusive behavior aligning organizational objectives with equitable practices. Michelle has partnered with many organizations, including Disney, GoPro, Amazon Studios, Google, SilverLake, and Akin Gump in adopting evidence-based practices that lead to sustainable, long-term individual and organizational change.

Michelle began her professional journey as an assistant attorney general she played a significant role in shaping key legislation on disability and family leave laws. Michelle’s contributions on these crucial laws along with her passion, expertise, and leadership continue to have a lasting impact on organizations and the lives of countless individuals within the workforce.

Niomi Sterling
Consultant
Niomi Sterling
Consultant
Pronouns: She/her

Niomi is a DEI consultant on both Paradigm’s Strategy and Learning teams. She approaches her work with a passion for driving change and growth in organizations. Drawing on her background in international business, talent acquisition and management, Niomi brings a global view point to implementing best practices for fostering diversity, equity and inclusion.

In her work at Paradigm, Niomi employs research, coaching, training and advising to support her clients. She leads some of Paradigm’s culture and inclusion assessments, strategy development, as well as behavior change work in facilitation and coaching. Niomi has worked with clients such as Nike, Snap, Grubhub, Mazda, Tencent and more. She takes a genuine interest in each of her clients; taking time to understand their goals and how best to achieve them. She uses this insight to craft custom DEI strategies and learning approaches tailored to the unique needs of each organization.

Prior to her role at Paradigm, Niomi led DEI-focused hiring strategies as a Talent Acquisition Manager, implementing bias-mitigation and inclusive hiring practices across the US. Niomi completed her MBA with a concentration in Organizational Behavior at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

Natalie Johnson
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Natalie Johnson
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Pronouns: She/her

Natalie is Paradigm’s Co-Founder and the Managing Director of our Strategy team. Natalie’s team of data scientists, qualitative researchers, and strategy consultants is dedicated to helping clients assess, design, implement, and benchmark their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies through long-term partnerships. Natalie focuses her time on developing new products and services, including Paradigm’s DEI strategy platform, Blueprint, and delivering impactful DEI work with a focus on research, data, and impact. In addition to currently leading Paradigm’s strategy team, Natalie previously led and helped scale the firm’s Training team. In this role, she helped develop Paradigm’s DEI training offerings, and delivered impactful training to thousands of employees and executives globally.

Natalie has led Paradigm’s engagements with dozens of companies across industries and across the world, and has partnered with executives at innovative companies including Airbnb, Box, Capital One, GE, IDEO, NerdWallet, Lyft, Amazon, American Express, Greenhouse, Paramount, and Stripe.

Before co-founding Paradigm, Natalie was a part of Google’s People Analytics team, developing and analyzing a wide range of diversity and inclusion initiatives. During her time at Google, Natalie was one of the original facilitator’s of Google’s Unconscious Bias training where she helped deliver hundreds of training sessions across the United States and Europe. Natalie received an impact award for her meaningful work with Gayglers—Google’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group– where she organized an effort to bring a group of Gayglers from across the world to celebrate Global Pride in India. Natalie holds a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Joelle Emerson
Co-Founder & CEO
Joelle Emerson
Co-Founder & CEO
Pronouns: She/her

Joelle partners with leaders of some of the world’s most innovative companies to consult and advise on diversity and inclusion strategies. She has written extensively about diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and on the cover of The Atlantic. She has been named to Recode’s list of the 100 most influential people in business, Marie Claire’s “New Guard” list of 50 women changing the world, and The New York Times’ Groundbreakers.

Before founding Paradigm, Joelle was a civil rights lawyer. Joelle’s legal background highlighted the consequences that can result from companies failing to consider diversity and inclusion early, and inspired her to found Paradigm. Joelle is a graduate of Stanford Law School.

Pin-ya Tseng
Senior Consultant
Pin-ya Tseng
Senior Consultant
Pronouns: She/her

Pin-ya is a Facilitator on Paradigm’s Learning Team. Pin-ya develops and leads Paradigm’s high-impact trainings that are tailored to clients’ needs and promote learning, while fostering more diverse and inclusive organizations.

At Paradigm, Pin-ya has facilitated hundreds of trainings with executives, people leaders, and individual contributors across a range of industries, from Fortune 500 companies, to non-profit organizations, to academic institutions. Her clients have included Capital One, Google, Airbnb, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the NFL, and the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.

Pin-ya’s work draws from years of experience in psychological research, teaching, and leadership development. Before joining Paradigm, Pin-ya was an organizational consultant, where she conducted in-depth assessments of executive-level clients, focusing on behavioral strengths and opportunities, business challenges, and team dynamics. Pin-ya holds a master’s degree in Social Psychology from the Ohio State University, where she taught undergraduate courses in psychology and scientific writing. She has presented research at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology national conference, as well as at other academic forums.

Anastasia Greenmore
Facilitator
Anastasia Greenmore
Facilitator
Pronouns: She/her

Anastasia Greenmore is an experienced equity and inclusion Facilitator. Anastasia has an extensive background in cultivating psychologically safe learning spaces, helping adults metabolize and lean into potentially uncomfortable topics like racial equity and systemic biases, and hosting workshops that leave people feeling inspired, educated, and energized to take their personal and professional equity work to the next level.

She has nearly 15 years of experience building diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging programs from the ground up in both nonprofit and corporate spaces. She approaches the work with the mindset of helping people understand and move through complex ideas and behavior changes. As a people leader, she developed and implemented global diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging programs from recruiting to HR systems, learning and development to data analysis, and more. Anastasia has worked with employee resources groups at many stages to build strong communities, especially for people from backgrounds that have been historically marginalized. She prides herself on doing the hard work to create psychologically safe spaces for learning and growth. She holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelors in Strategic Communications and Spanish.

She is a mother and an advocate for environmental, social, and economic justice, passionately championing causes related to early childhood, caregiver support, and black mother and infant success. When she’s not working, you can find her on the Peloton or with her family camping and hiking around Washington.

Ronnie Braithwaite
Facilitator
Ronnie Braithwaite
Facilitator
Pronouns: He/they

Ronnie Braithwaite is a DEI Training Consultant-Facilitator on Paradigm’s Learning team. He is a seasoned professional at the intersection of DEI, eLearning, and organizational development. They bring over seven years of rich experience across various facets of DEI training facilitation, eLearning product management, and learning experience design. 

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Ronnie graduated Cum Laude from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, where he studied marketing, screenwriting, and motion pictures. With an academic background that also includes an MBA from Clark Atlanta University and specialized training from Yale School of Management’s Fostering Inclusion & Diversity executive development program, Ronnie has cemented his expertise in crafting impactful learning and development initiatives. 

He has spent the last seven years leading learning & development consulting where he’s developed and implemented blended learning programs for clients like Adobe, Apple, Google, and the Television Academy. Further, as the company’s first product manager at both Seed&Spark and ReadySet, he developed and managed enterprise DEI learning solutions, FilmForward.io and NewDay. Since 2019, he has created and implemented over 200 workshops and eLearnings ranging from product/software training to people skills training to process training.

Beyond his corporate achievements, Ronnie is an anti-racist activist and independent documentary filmmaker dedicated to crafting narratives that foster self-growth and empowerment, particularly within marginalized black communities. His work as a filmmaker has produced critically acclaimed films like “Woke,” which earned eleven festival awards for its insightful exploration of race in fraternities, “Bipolart,” which marked his directorial debut, focusing on mental illness, and “He They,” which explored his gender identity journey. His films are celebrated for their honest examination of internalized oppression related to race, disability, and gender and have been featured in film festivals in Atlanta, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, London, Cannes, among other cities worldwide. Active listening, inclusive communication, vulnerability modeling, sentiment analysis, and storytelling are a few skills Ronnie enjoys practicing in common between his roles as a DEI Training Facilitator and a documentary filmmaker.

Alex Lahmeyer
Facilitator
Alex Lahmeyer
Facilitator
Pronouns: They/them

Alex is passionate about helping people realize their role in creating access to opportunity. Their childhood dream of becoming an architect is reflected in their desire to design sustainable, equitable systems in the workplace. With a background in talent acquisition and organizational development, Alex loves helping clients weave DEI into the fabric of their operations.

Alex’s perspective draws from a blend of in-house and consulting experience. Building on their work driving grassroots DEI initiatives in tech startups, they served as Thumbtack’s first DEI leader, where they developed the company’s global strategy and served as a trusted internal consultant to employees at all levels. In 2020 they received the For All Leadership Award from Great Place To Work for their lasting impact on Thumbtack’s culture.

Before joining Paradigm, Alex was a senior consultant at Collective, where they partnered with clients to conduct cultural assessments and practice audits, co-design DEI strategies, and develop implementation plans that centered the needs of marginalized employees.

Alex holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from Indiana University Bloomington. As a proud San Francisco resident, they spend countless hours wandering the city’s hills in search of beautiful views, writing inspiration, and delicious food.

Talia Bender
Facilitator
Talia Bender
Facilitator
Pronouns: She/her

Talia is a facilitator on Paradigm’s Learning Team. She brings experience in training and facilitation, leadership development, employee engagement, and coaching. She thrives within the intersection of people and systems, and is passionate about cultivating environments of learning and inclusivity.

In addition to DEI, Talia’s experience includes: working in the education non-profit space, building an employee development function at a global sports and entertainment company, consulting HR leaders on employee retention and engagement challenges, and executive coaching.

Talia holds a master’s degree in Social-Organizational Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University. She is also a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation

Analia Stratton
Facilitator
Analia Stratton
Facilitator
Pronouns: She/her

Analia is a facilitator on Paradigm’s Learning Team. She brings years of experience in curriculum design, facilitation, and growing innovative programs to her work with Paradigm clients. As a former educator, professor, and leader in New York City special-education spaces, Analia is passionate about incorporating intersectionality into disability-inclusion efforts. In her role, she has partnered with high-growth startups, global professional services firms, and Fortune 500 companies — such as Snap Inc., Xylem, DocuSign, Blue Shield, Gibson Dunn, and Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluations — to design DEI learning programs with impact. 

Analia is passionate about incorporating intersectionality into disability-inclusion efforts. Drawing on her past work in education, Analia cultivates diversity and inclusion through education about disability bias and advocating to remove environmental and social barriers for people with disabilities. Prior to joining Paradigm, Analia was an Assistant Professor of Practice at Relay Graduate School of Education, where her teaching focused on bridging research with practical application, and designing culturally responsive learning environments. A Teach for America alum and a co-founder of KIPP Infinity Elementary School in Harlem, Analia remains committed to innovating education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Southern California and a MS.Ed. in Special Education from CUNY Lehman College.