JOANNE K. REECK, m.a., Ed.D. (She/Her)
FOUNDER & LEAD Consultant
Born in the Midwest of the United States and raised by two white women, I had the unique experience of growing up in an all-white community as a biracial child who was perceived by others as Black. My journey navigating life in this complex world of race, culture, and ethnicity while working simultaneously through my own complicated racial identity development led to my passion of educating and training around issues of intercultural competency, social justice, and anti-oppression work. I hold a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, and have nearly 20 years of facilitation experience. I believe that providing individuals and organizations with the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to work effectively across cultures leads to environments where all are affirmed in the entirety of their identities and able to reach their full potential. When I’m not training on behalf of United for Change Consulting, LLC. or serving as the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at Augsburg University in Minneapolis MN, I can be found with my 11-year-old son, camping or hiking at any of the Minnesota State Parks, or playing in a softball league with friends.
AKEMI MECHTEL, M.P.P. (she/her)
SENIOR Consultant
As one of our longest standing consultants, with a decade’s worth of experience working across the non-profit and public sectors, I get the great joy and pleasure of working alongside some amazing organizations at UCC. After graduating from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, I started my career in education working as an advocate for accessibility and equity in the classroom. After witnessing the barriers my students faced I went back to school to better understand the impact of policy in our communities, and obtained a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. I have impacted both large government systems and small nonprofits to think critically about the way that race shows up in how we do our work, and build better systems that decentralize power, maintain momentum, and push back against the status quo. The years I have spent supporting students to further their education, engaging in policy reform, and building relationships across the communities that I occupy has further solidified my passion for working towards a socially-just future. When I’m not working to change systems I can be found spending time with my partner and dog, reading a good book, or traveling to see friends and family.
RAMON L. KNOX, M.S. (HE/Him)
Consultant
As a Black man who grew up in Indiana and who has resided in Missouri, New York, Minnesota, and California, my lived experiences have continuously cultivated my innate equity-mindedness and fueled my passion to work for social justice at home and abroad. As such, my professional journey has been deliberate and provides me with a unique outlook on intercultural dialogue and DEI-based program development and implementation. I also believe that my humanistic-approach to this DEI work makes me a dynamic consultant/trainer who naturally creates opportunities for those with whom I work to learn from one another. To me, this is key as I believe that everyone’s involvement adds to the overall strength and value of the work completed together. With this principal understanding as my cornerstone, I have spent the last 20 years infusing a social justice lens into my work building beneficial business partnerships, leading highly effective teams, and delivering innovative strategies that promote accountability, awareness, and organizational change management connected to employee engagement, policy development, and talent acquisition. When I am not serving as an equity gladiator, I enjoy traveling, cooking, and remaining connected with friends and family. I believe we only die once but get to live every day!
KATIE LANE, M.A. (she/her)
Consultant
Day one as a fifteen-year-old camp counselor and throughout the subsequent eleven summers, I witnessed firsthand the transformative effects on children and teenagers when they were wholly welcomed and affirmed as their full selves within an inclusive community. My desire to bring that kind of transformative community-building to adults lead me to my Master’s degree in Leadership in Student Affairs at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Specifically, my degree had a concentration on disability advocacy and access which allowed me to focus my professional career on ensuring that all environments support full inclusion regardless of individual ability. As a person with multiple privileged social identities, I continually engage in my own anti-oppression work and encourage others of privileged social identities to do the same. I also am passionate about my work with United for Change Consulting, LLC. and regularly consult in the areas of intercultural competency, conscious and unconscious bias, microaggressions, and social justice. My personal interests include singing, camping, nearly all things nerdy, and curling up with my two kids and a good book.
JoAQUIN MUNOZ, Ph.D. (he/him)
Consultant
I grew up on the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation in Arizona, where I learned early on about the complicated issues of race, culture, history, and oppression. Now I serve as an assistant professor of Indigenous Education in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. My research focuses on supporting teachers to be effective when working with diverse Indigenous populations, through cultural awareness, critical pedagogy practices, and culturally responsive pedagogy. I have spent the past decade developing skills for this work by using methods that include Indigenous Circle Work, various forms of art, and dialogue and literacy tools. I also consult with schools internationally, working on anti-racist education, cultural competency, and culturally responsive approaches in the U.S., Germany, Israel, and Mexico.