Team

Isoke is an Imaginal practitioner who is committed to fostering and creating the conditions that allow cultural leaders to explore engagements that deepen, complexify and embody experience. Through imaginal transformation theory and practice leaders increase their capacity for recognizing and working with difference in radically new and effective ways.

Referred to as GLIDE’s Maven of Transformative Learning, Isoke is committed to bridging the gap between western psychology, liberation theory and African American spirituality in order to encourage true care of the soul.

Over 70 years ago, an aspect of soul decided to journey into 3rd density in continued pursuit of the key to happiness: unconditional love of all and every. It decided to come as female, black, chubby, poor and unwanted. It decided to sprinkle in some really good stuff, like a love of learning in the world’s sense, a love of Jesus and other advanced souls; the talent for singing, teaching and practicing psychology. Then it really went for it by writing into the script a shift. It decided that at an early age (11 to be exact) it would leave black community and become immersed in whiteness and middle class-ness.

Her aunt named her Deborah, but she changed her name to Isoke in 1983. For the past 36 years she has studied and worked to unlearn oppression and the consciousness that gives rise to it. She now suggest that liberation ultimately necessitates that humans recognize our divinity. For it is only the Divine Self, which is also our collective, shared Self, that is able to alchemize the intense energies that emerge when groups attempt to reckon with a past characterized by domination and exploitation.

Melissa brings almost 20 years of business design, strategy, and financial management experience to With/In Collaborative. As Finance Lead, she oversees business accounting, financial forecasting, and analytics.

Prior to joining With/In Collaborative, Melissa co-founded an award-winning worker-cooperative business in Berkeley, California. Melissa supports many women-owned businesses, cooperative businesses, and innovative companies with her expertise in financial operations, analysis, and strategic growth.

Melissa holds a degree from UC Berkeley and lives in Northern California with her family.

Kris is an independent consultant with nearly two decades of experience supporting nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to improve their effectiveness and impact. Kris works with organizations to design, implement and learn from a variety of measurement efforts, with a particular love of surveys. As an evaluator—as well as a coach for more than 60 Listen4Good organizations to date—Kris brings a realistic, learning-focused and action-oriented approach.

Kris is particularly experienced in organizational capacity building, leadership development, constituent feedback, health and health care, youth services and workforce development. Her recent clients have included: the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Lemala Fund, Peninsula Bridge and First 5 Napa County.

Kris previously worked at the strategic consulting firm Informing Change, where she oversaw evaluations for clients working to promote health and improve opportunities, primarily among vulnerable populations. Kris holds dual Master’s degrees in Public Health and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UC San Diego.

Yeshi Neumann has been working as a midwife since 1970. In 2000, she created Homestyle Midwifery, a unique model of care, blending home and hospital birth. In 2006 Homestyle Midwifery received a certificate of honor from Mayor Gavin Newsom, and in July 2007 was voted “Best Way to Have a Baby” by San Francisco magazine.

In addition to her work in the United States, Yeshi has taught and learned from nurses and midwives in Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Trinidad, Tibet, Morocco, India, and China. For many years she was the team leader and principal educator of the Pachamama Alliance sponsored maternal-child health project, Jungle Mamas, in the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador.

Yeshi has facilitated hundreds of workshops about women’s leadership, diversity, conflict resolution,organizational development, communication and healing family relationships. She brings her passion for women’s empowerment and social justice to her work with mothers, grandmothers and community leaders. Yeshi also trains social change leaders from the non-profit, philanthropic, labor and socially responsible business sectors in the Art of Leadership at Rockwood Leadership Institute.

Yeshi has developed a relevant and inspiring curriculum for the grandmothers of our time, Conscious Grandmothering Workshops.

Yeshi is honored to carry on the work of her beloved sister Ricky Sherover Marcuse, founder of Unlearning Racism Workshops.

Yeshi is a dedicated student and practitioner and teacher of Mindfulness.and Wisdom Healing Chigong. In addition to being a Certified Nurse Midwife, Yeshi has a Masters degree in History and a Masters degree in Public Health. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.

Yeshi is the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of four granddaughters, all of whom were born into her own hands.

Amy is the chief designer, CEO, and founder of Duende, a creative consultancy working in the areas of strategy, leadership and team activation, and experience design. She enjoys engaging with clients to grapple with stubborn challenges and imagine fresh pathways.

Amy began her design journey in literary and technical publishing in 1996, as an editor for publications such as Poetry Flash and Dr. Dobbs’ Journal, demonstrating an early proclivity for seeing across categories and fields of practice. She founded the first incarnation of her consultancy, AMY WU words & design, in 2006. In 2014, the growing practice rebranded under the new name Duende; its mission: to use design to enhance the progress of leaders and the communities they serve.

Random things to know about Amy:

• At first a poet. Early in her journey, Amy aspired to be a poet and publisher until she discovered that she didn’t want poetry to be her business but to keep it her personal project. You can find some of her writings at amywu.us.
• Classically trained pianist. Amy studied piano for 13 years and credits her music study for teaching her from a young age how to break large compositions and challenges into smaller phrases and problems — and then to connect the polished parts together in a single coherent performance.
• Pretty good cook. Her secret superpower is being able to make something delicious out of whatever is in the fridge.
• Bad gardener. Amy does not have a good track record with plants.

Amy lives by the beach in San Francisco with her partner, two children, and dog.