BEA YOUNG
Founder & Partner
Bea Young is a 50-year pioneer in the field of Educational Equity, Racial Justice and managing complex Cultural Change efforts in organizations. She and her team have consulted with many Illinois colleges and school districts using their unique Equity & Cultural Audit process.
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DR. CARMEN I. AYALA
Partner
Dr. Carmen I. Ayala has over 40 years experience in education. She recently completed four years as state superintendent for the Illinois State Board of Education serving almost two million PK-12 students in almost 4,000 schools in 852 districts across the state.
MICHAEL KILGORE
Michael has co-authored scores of cultural audits for corporations and school organizations including those for Plainfield District 202 and Berwyn North District 98, which are both described in Restoring the Soul to Education: Equity Closes the Achievement Gap, by Bea Young, Carmen I. Ayala and Michael Kilgore.
DR. ALEXANDRA ESCOBAR
Alex is a Latinx female social justice educational leader from the Chicagoland area. She is an advocate for students and their families and strives to establish a culture that celebrates diversity, cultural awareness and promotes social responsibility and equity.
TERRENCE SEAPHUS
For many years, Terrence has been a facilitator leading workshops in diversity, inclusion and equity. He is author of Balancing the Bias, which is being produced for television and lectures on college campuses emphasizing how media and social media shape our thinking.
ABEER RAMADAN-SHINNAWI
Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi is an 18-year veteran middle school social studies teacher. She is currently Program Director of Re-Imagining Migration.
JOAN WOOLWINE
Joan is an educator with multiple years of teaching and administrative experience in public, private, and college environments. She began her association with Ayala & Young Associates in 2005 when her district implemented a Cultural Audit.
ANDREA PIMENTEL
Andrea is an organizational development professional who has spent a large part of her career partnering with leaders to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in educational institutions and corporations. She focuses on increasing overall effectiveness by guiding individuals, groups, and organizations through systemic cultural change.
MARIA ELENA MEDINA
Maria is a seasoned bilingual (English/Spanish) and multicultural professional with more than eighteen years of non-profit, corporate and multicultural sales, marketing and advertising experience combined with over twelve years of diversity consulting, training, recruitment, project management, event planning and community relations expertise.
SUE O'HALLORAN
Sue has been a Senior Consultant with Ayala & Young Associates: Collaboration for Educational Equity since 2005. Sue and Bea have designed a new workshop for the Illinois Association of School Boards entitled, “Equity: An Educational Imperative.”
ERIKA WALKER
Erika has a strategic partnership with Ayala & Young Associates, LLC and over 18 years of Human Resources and Diversity, Inclusion and Cultural Competency experience.
DUANE BARNES
Duane has been a facilitator of training for profit and nonprofit organizations, assisting teams of small and large groups in such areas as diversity, inclusion and overall team building.
In Memoriam
Duane is the beloved husband of Bea Young and friend to the entire team. He devoted much of his work to the company.