Meet Our Team

Amy C. Waninger

Founder & CEO

Amy C. Waninger (she/her) is the Founder & CEO of Lead at Any Level, where she improves employee engagement and retention for companies that promote from within. Amy offers assessments, advisory services, and training on essential skills for inclusive leaders. She is the author of eight books including Network Beyond Bias: Making Diversity a Competitive Advantage for Your Career.

Amy is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP), Certified Diversity Executive (CDE), and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach. She is also a Member of National Speakers Association and a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner. She’s been named a Top 100 HR Influencer globally, five years in a row, and has served clients and audiences on all seven continents, including Antarctica! Her other credentials include two degrees from Indiana University and a “World’s Best Mom” coffee mug.

Traci Adedeji

Associate Consultant

Traci Adedeji (she/her) is an insurance leadership expert. Her mission is to mentor, coach, and inspire others to identify and activate their superpowers and to leverage them to achieve their definition of success. Her over 30 years of experience includes training and development, Agile project management, and CliftonStrengths coaching.

Traci is a popular and engaging speaker, presenter, facilitator, and member of several professional organizations. She is the 2024 President & Chair of The Institutes’ CPCU Society, the first Black woman in the organization’s 80-year history to serve in this role. She is an alumnus of Leadership Rhode Island (’21 Rho II) and a member of The Rhode Island Foundation’s Equity Leadership Initiative.

Karl Ahlrichs

Associate Consultant

Karl Ahlrichs is a professional writer, trainer, presenter, and communications coach working with demanding audiences on human resources, ethics, harassment avoidance, and inclusion.
He has researched, written, and presented complex coursework for multiple industries and has facilitated challenging meetings with challenging audiences. Karl has a proven understanding of the motivation and psychology that enables behavior change, working with all areas of media and support material that creates a suitable environment for adult learning. He is one of fewer than 600 speaking professionals who are currently qualified as Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) by the National Speakers Association and is a Virtual Master Presenter.

Aimee Broadhurst

Associate Consultant

Aimee Broadhurst (she/her) works with organizations, as well as their D&I and Employee Resource Group (ERG) leaders, to harness ERGs’ power to create more inclusive spaces at work. Broadhurst is an ERG expert, highly sought-after speaker, presenter, panelist, and author. She has significant experience developing and implementing strategic and tactical plans for successfully leading ERGs.

Aimee is the author of The ERG Handbook, Everything You Wanted to Know About Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) but Didn’t Know Who to Ask, and The ERG Handbook Companion Workbook.

With her vast experience in ERG leadership, Aimee understands ERG leaders’ needs at all levels. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the ERG Leadership Alliance (ELA) Advisory Board and has consulted with more than thirty companies on creating global and local ally programs. Her clients’ industries have included aviation, entertainment, financial services, tech, investment, insurance, production, and more.

Amena Chaudhry

Associate Consultant

A second-generation Punjabi Muslim immigrant and a bi-continental citizen, Amena Chaudhry (she/her) is a DEI Strategist and Inclusion Coach whose upbringing was characterized by a sense of not fully belonging in either world. She intimately understands the yearning to be recognized, heard, and appreciated within systems that were not originally designed with people like her in mind. This lifelong journey of seeking belonging has inspired her current mission: to empower leaders to master the skills required to foster cultures where equity is pursued and belonging is the norm.

Amena is a practical optimist dedicated to transforming our world into one that works for and serves all of life’s needs. She is primarily guided by values of purpose, inner freedom, and interdependence. Life’s biggest gift she has received is to practice engaging with a full range of emotions without judgment and in equal measure.

Whether working with individuals or organizations, Amena helps leaders practice the conscious use of power to create systems that foster collaboration and transcend polarization.

SHRM-SCP | IDI Qualified Administrator

Nirupama Hayden

Associate Consultant

Nirupama Hayden (she/her), a certified Diversity Executive and Diversity Professional, has consulted for diversity and inclusion (D&I) for over two decades. Her clients range from Fortune 100 to small businesses, government, higher education organizations, and non-profits. Nirupama applies scientific methods in auditing to determine the current D&I climate within the business, troubleshooting to pinpoint root causes of D&I issues, creating successful results-oriented D&I programming, and resolving intercultural conflicts. As her résumé includes engineering, manufacturing, as well as quality assurance, her expertise is sought to develop strategic diversity policy, as well as programming. Additionally, Nirupama researches best practices in diversity and inclusion in corporate settings as a cultural anthropologist and continues to research inclusion topics, intercultural communication, and D&I best practices in various spaces. She advises domestically and internationally while continuing to volunteer locally to combat youth and women’s issues. Nirupama holds the Certified Diversity Professional (CDP®) and Certified Diversity Executive (CDE®) designations.

Angel Henry

Associate Consultant

Angel G. Henry (she/her) has a passion for workplace inclusion. Her knowledge of why women and minorities are oftentimes missing from the C-Suite provides awareness for business leaders to drive change. Angel has over 20 years of IT experience, primarily in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and over 15 years in the project management discipline. She has become a recognized thought leader on the topic of the Agile Mindset, which fosters an environment of innovation and productivity.

Angel is also a sought-after trainer, speaker, and adjunct instructor in the Indianapolis area, helping students realize their full potential. She is a member of several professional and community organizations, such as BDPA, Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF)- Executive, several Agile communities, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Angel’s book, Dents in the Ceiling, is a summary of experiences of 30 African American women working in tech. Angel partners with Lead at Any Level to provide consultancy services to improve employee engagement and increase the retention of top diverse talent. 

Dr. Helen Holton

Associate Consultant

Dr. Helen Holton (she/her) brings authentic truth, beliefs, and perspectives to situations without personal attachment. She speaks to what’s not being said from a sincere space of curiosity and inquisitiveness. The intention is to evoke a deeper level of real, vulnerable, and honest engagement in the work we do with leaders, teams, and organizations.

To every engagement, Dr. Helen brings complementary business skills as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and a Professional in Human Resources (PHR/SHRM-CP). She holds several coach certifications and is credentialed through the International Coach Federation (ICF) as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Mentor Coach. Dr. Helen is also a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach and Trainer, a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a Certified Personal and Executive Coach (CPEC), a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), and a Certified DISC Practitioner​.

Dr. Mary “MJ” McConner

Associate Consultant

Dr. Mary “MJ” McConner (she/her) is a Certified Diversity Executive and consultant who has worked in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and international education sectors for over fifteen years.

Navigating the workforce as a Black dyslexic woman who is hard of hearing has allowed her to experience firsthand the importance of centering equity, accessibility, and intersectional inclusion in organizational systems and practices. She has dedicated her professional career to understanding the evolving challenges impacting different organizational cultures and how to best foster environments committed to equity and inclusive excellence.

Her past professional roles include serving as vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion; chief of staff; executive director of inclusive excellence; multicultural student services director; social justice committee chair; international education advisor; and university instructor. Dr. McConner’s involvement in her community has been instrumental in her commitment to promoting DEI, community engagement, and social justice locally and nationally. It is servant leadership and her dedication to transforming community through education, collaboration, and inclusion that motivates MJ most.

Marta Miranda-Straub

Associate Consultant

Marta Miranda-Straub (she/her/ella) has over 45 years of experience as a clinical and organizational social work practitioner. During her career, she has served as the Social Services Commissioner for the State of Kentucky, various executive roles leading nonprofits, associate professor and department chair at Eastern Kentucky University, published author, entrepreneur, fund development professional, executive coach, trainer, facilitator, and keynote speaker.

Marta provides environmental scans and equity audits. She assists organizations in engaging in systems change that promotes and sustains diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing.

Doug Nathan

Associate Consultant

Doug Nathan (he/him) has worked with executives and leadership teams in global high-tech and business organizations, as well as government and public education. He loves learning about organizations, sussing out the unique strengths and challenges of their cultures, and then supporting leaders to tap into resources beyond their current thinking.

Doug brings a strengths-based, whole-systems approach to his coaching and consulting. He doesn’t just focus on the individual—he helps clients look at connections between people, systems and structures within an organization to understand why people do what they do. He is a partner who uses evidence-based practices to inspire creative, systemic approaches that enhance individual performance, team dynamics, and inclusive workplace culture. Doug’s credentials include ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Conscious Business Coaching certification, Brain-based Results Coaching certification, and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach.

David Rowell

Associate Consultant

David Rowell (he/him) is a career facilitator, instructor, consultant, and author. He previously enjoyed a stellar career in the Federal Government as an instructor at a national training center.

As a consultant, David leverages his experience and expertise as a coach, speaker, facilitator, and instructor in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, team-building, and leadership. Much of David’s work is focused on leading DEI engagements for organizations, as well as individual coaching that improves recognition and respect, voice, and influence.

David is a sought-after blogger on the topics of diversity, gender, and LGBTQ+. His book, Value and Voice – Solutions to Organizational Gender Balance, presents the issues of gender balance in the workplace, makes clear the tremendous value of gender balance, and most importantly pinpoints actions that can be taken to obtain ‘balance’.

Kizzy Smith

Associate Consultant

With over 20 years of progressive HR leadership, Kizzy Smith (she/her) is a results-driven professional specializing in recruiting, benefits, training, and change management. She has led HR teams for three hotel/casino start-ups, driving cultural change and achieving success in diverse HR functions. Her strategic business partnership, training, talent acquisition, and negotiation skills have contributed to the success of executive management teams.

With a BA Degree and certifications in Reid Interrogation, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Hogan Assessment, Kizzy’s skills extend to various HR systems and operations. She is a dynamic keynote speaker and workshop facilitator whose career showcases a commitment to fostering positive work cultures, employee engagement, and delivering results-oriented leadership.

Kristina Smith

Associate Consultant

Kristina Smith (she/her) is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP)® and Certified Cultural Facilitator.  She improves performance for individuals and teams in corporations, as an independent consultant in the private sector, government, and non-profits. She develops plans with organization leaders to exceed business results through diversity and inclusion strategies. 

Kristina also holds a certification in Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ), the “learnable ability to connect, navigate, and grow with others. She facilitates conversations about racial injustice with white women and Black, indigenous, and women of color. These conversations constitute learning communities to bridge the gap between various life experiences and create better understanding among women.

Kristina was most recently President of a local non-profit organization that serves people with disabilities.  She continues to serve on that board and serves on the Alumni Board of Emerson College (Boston, MA).

Terri Wada

Associate Consultant

Terri Wada (she/her) partners with leaders seeking to build organizational or community resilience through deeply understanding lived human experiences and people-centered solutions. 

As both an educator and practitioner in the field of design thinking and human-centered design, Terri has built her career around understanding people in a way that goes deeper than numbers by leveraging design research and applied ethnography to co-create better futures with people rather than for them.

To date, she’s led experience improvement initiatives, including journey mapping Indiana’s largest healthcare network, engaging hundreds of residents in a city-wide challenge to curb youth violence, and capturing work experiences of international employees from around the globe. Terri’s work and research has gained both national and international recognition through publications, presentations, and a personal invitation to share and facilitate her approach to design thinking at the Pentagon with the U.S. Army.

Tiffany Waddell Tate

Associate Consultant

Tiffany Waddell Tate (she/her) helps individuals and companies reimagine the future of work through coaching, digital education, and training & development for organizations and teams. As an in-demand coach, consultant, speaker and thought leader, she has been featured on Well + Good, The Everymom, The Muse, and a variety of podcasts. She is a master in coaching professionals to learn, lead, and grow at work while being true to their authentic selves and building their personal brand. Tate earned her BA and MA from Wake Forest University, and is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, Diversity Educator, and MBTI Certified.