M. CARMEN LANE, MSOD (Principal) has worked as an experiential educator, facilitator, trainer and consultant for over 15 years. Their passion is working with individuals and organizations to support their development as competent and ethical agents of change. Carmen has also engaged communities as a diversity practitioner for 25 years.
Carmen's model for change work as an organization and systems development (OSD) consultant and diversity practitioner is indicative of their life long journey as a human being interested in a just world--an integration of ancestry, legacy, and spirituality. Carmen uses technologies developed through training at NTL Institute's Diversity Leadership Practitioner Program, the Gestalt OSD Center, and the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland integrated with teachings from movement elders and through Indigenous forms of knowledge.
Carmen has developed and taught coursework in diversity at Chicago Theological Seminary. A member of NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, they are an Amanda Fourther Scholar and former co-steward of the Personal Growth Community of Practice. Carmen holds a master's degree in organization development from American University, School of Public Affairs and is a Segal-Seashore Fellow and Hal Kellner Awardee.
Carmen has been practicing meditation for over ten years. They spent six months studying at Ananda Ashram in Upstate New York and for the last four years has been a practitioner of Sahaj Marg, a practice that focuses on the heart.
Carmen lives in Cleveland, Ohio and enjoys spending time with family, friends and working in their studio.
Specialties: group dynamics, facilitation & training, coaching, organizational + arts leadership, diversity & inclusion, change
ELFI MARTINEZ, MBA is a walker of several worlds. From inner-city Chicago to Wall Street to Hollywood, he has lived a life of eclectic and profound experiences that have honed a unique strategic worldview and creative approaches to obstacles and opportunities. He cultivated his ability to create and communicate emotionally resonant messages while writing for television as a selectee to the prestigious Warner Brothers Television Writers’ Workshop and the CBS Writers Mentoring Program.
Elfi develops his strategic and facilitation acumen as an independent Organizational Development Consultant - specializing in Leadership Development, emotional intelligence, Visioning /Business Development, and Diversity & Inclusion for non-profits and Fortune 500 clients. He learned to develop meaningful and powerful relationships as a financial advisor with John Hancock and Morgan Stanley and more recently as a Relationship Manager for high-net worth clients at The Vanguard Group.
Elfi’s analytical skills were honed via an MBA in Corporate Finance and Accounting from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester and later as an Assistant Vice-President in Securities Lending for the Bank of New York.
Elfi enjoys giving back to the Latino Community as an active member of the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s Philadelphia Chapter – where he’s held several leadership positions including Vice-President of Marketing and Corporate Relations. He was elected chapter President for 2014 – where he lead a Board of 11 Officers and over 500 members and served as the key liaison with corporate partners, universities, chapter members and community organizations.