Marcel Proust
Boston-born and world-trained, Derek Lumpkins works and lives at the intersection of intentional community engagement and meaningful social change. In his early career, he led the transformation and growth of a community-based organization in Roxbury from its focus on Colonial American history to its role as an advocate for the neighborhood's contemporary artistic, cultural, and economic development. This included growing a network of cultural and historic organizations to leverage their collective resources and elevate their messaging and influence beyond their individual capacities. Following that, he led initiatives in the higher education and banking sectors to develop new relationships and pathways for community members in adjacent and underbanked communities, respectively, to leverage and access institutional assets, resources, and information.
Derek founded ReFresh Strategies after the national and worldwide protests for Black lives and the release of corporate America’s vague and tepid statements in support of the movement. He draws upon over a decade of experience supporting the growth and visibility of communities of color in the for-profit, non-profit, and higher education sectors. His experiences provide him with the insight to recognize that 20th-century performative approaches to community engagement and allyship are still being applied to more complex 21st-century situations. As such, he has an eye on sustainable relationships and fresh perspectives, and works with clients to design progressive, creative, ethical, and socially-just solutions that push at the boundaries of the status quo to create meaningful change.
Derek’s support of public arts and community engagement initiatives includes being a member of the Boston Cultural Council, Governor Patrick’s Public Art Task Force, and Mayor Walsh’s Arts and Culture Transition Team. He has spoken about community engagement and cultural economic development at NEFA’s Creative Communities Exchange Conference, the International Town Gown Association conference, at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and at Northeastern and other Boston area universities. Derek has also been mentioned in Bostinno and The Boston Globe and he has appeared on CityLine and Basic Black. Additionally, Derek has lived, worked, and studied in Japan, England, and Spain, and he holds an MS in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London, SOAS.
Brianna Boggs is a leadership coach and consultant to executives and boards of directors in periods of growth and change. She focuses on racial equity (dismantling white supremacy culture, supporting leaders of color in white-founded organizations, helping white leaders build tolerance for the discomfort that comes with authentic racial equity work, preparing organizations for transition) and fundraising (building skills, confidence, and creative strategies; responsibly transitioning funding relationships from founders to new leaders).
As co-founder and co-facilitator of the Racial Equity Leaders Learning Circle, with Rebecca Jackson and Madeline McNeely, Brianna developed the curriculum and facilitates a 10-month cohort for nonprofit senior leaders seeking to dig deeply into the personal side of leadership on racial equity and implement new practices to improve their organizations.
Prior to her coaching and consulting work, Brianna’s career focused on fundraising and communications in social justice organizations including GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders). At Trinity Boston Connects, she led public-facing strategies for the organization’s work to unlock opportunities for youth of color in Boston. At The Boston Foundation, Brianna led fundraising for StreetSafe Boston, a gang violence intervention strategy aimed at reducing homicide amongst the most active gangs in the city and, through counseling and job training, providing young people a way up and a way out. Brianna has served as a board member or volunteer for organizations including the Boston Women’s Fund, One Love Foundation, GLAD, the Ms. Foundation, the Eastern Massachusetts Abortion Fund, Coro Allegro and InnerCity Weightlifting. She holds a BA in Women’s Studies from the Ohio State University. She is a proud midwesterner who descends from a country music singer/songwriter and an opera conductor. She lives in Dorchester, MA with her husband Sean.
Rebecca N. Jackson, MSW is a clinically trained facilitator, teacher, consultant and coach. Her career began in a small Mattapan church where she served as pastor from 1999-2005. Rebecca completed her MSW in 2009, and has since focused on young people and families who have experienced trauma.
She joined Trinity Boston Connects in 2012 and founded its Organizational Equity Practice (OEP) in 2017 where her team provided specialized equity consulting and training services to local and national organizations. Madeline McNeely and Brianna Boggs were Affiliates of OEP and co-founded the Racial Equity Leaders Learning Circle. As Chief Program Officer at Trinity, Rebecca led a strategic planning process for the organization’s five programs and developed new human resources processes based in equity and restorative justice.
Rebecca teaches at Harvard, Boston College and Bridgewater State University. Through LoveSeed, Rebecca applies her decades of leadership and teaching experience in supporting mission-driven organizations to strengthen their equity practices, internally and externally. Rebecca creates spaces where people can have difficult but necessary conversations, learn, grow and thrive. She builds sustainable and brave leaders, teams and organizations that bring their equity values to life.
Yvonne Ng has more than 20 years of annual fundraising and stewardship experience in the nonprofit sector. She has helped build a multi-unit annual giving program from the ground up and has collaboratively raised more than $30M for open education from individuals, corporations, and foundations.
With solid experience in strategic planning, marketing and communications, and events management, she is inspired by the role of nonprofits and community-based organizations in leading the way for creating local change with global implications.
Madeline McNeely is a multi-sector, interdisciplinary leader. She is a master level coach, a coach’s coach, consultant, facilitator, trainer and faculty member with over 25 years of experience. Her clients, ranging from former gang members and youth workers to surgeons and C-Suite executives, come from the non-profit, government and corporate sectors. Madeline has coached and consulted to over 100 corporate and non-profit organizations, small businesses and leaders.
Madeline’s leadership experience includes Managing Director at The Tracing Center, the educational non-profit based on the Emmy nominated documentary, Traces of the Trade and as Co-Program Director of City Year Boston overseeing 300 corps members and many staff. Organizational areas of expertise include culture change, leadership and organizational development, equity-based strategic planning, team building and group dynamics, executive transitions, facilitation and collaboration skills, executive leadership and career coaching, supervision, community and board development, meeting mastery, communication, leadership and neuroscience, Conversational Intelligence and Open-Space Technology. At Harvard Extension School (HES) graduate program, Madeline teaches Nonprofit Leadership and Community Engagement. At HES’s Division of Continuing Education Professional Development Program, she teaches Leadership Coaching Strategies, Executive Leadership Coaching: Mastery Session and has offered Leadership Coaching in the Virtual Age. She is also a certified Integral yoga teacher. McNeely earned her bachelor's degree in International Development from Lewis & Clark College and an M Ed from Temple University.
Lucía (Lucy) Ponciano brings a wealth of experience and passion for fostering positive change to her role as Administrative and Project Coordinator. With fluency in multiple languages, Lucy embodies a commitment to global communication and understanding, enhancing her ability to connect with diverse communities and stakeholders.
Previously, Lucy dedicated 10 years to empowering young minds as a teacher. In the classroom, she fostered a learning environment that celebrated diversity, encouraged critical thinking, and inspired students to reach their full potential. This dedication to fostering growth and inclusion naturally translates to her current role, where she provides administrative support and project coordination to support missions fighting for equity and inclusion. In short, Lucy is enthusiastic about leveraging her organizational skills and collaborative spirit to contribute to positive social change.