Bart Bailey, MBA (he/him/his)

Bart Bailey, MBA: a seasoned business executive, certified leadership coach, and the author of It’s in Our Bones. My work sits at the intersection of operations, emotional intelligence, and soulful leadership. Lately my deepest labor has been with men’s well-being.

I bring lessons from Six Seconds EQ and the KCG model (Know, Choose, Give) into conversations about purpose. Tying emotional skill to your noble goal in life. I weave in Jason Wilson’s truth-telling Cry Like a Man and The Man the Moment Demands, literally reading one chapter at a time with my two sons as we reckon with what it means to be a man today. I’ve facilitated three men’s retreats at Wellspring Manor (Upper Marlboro, MD), led Zoom sessions on wellness and grief, and speak openly about my Type 2 diabetes journey, a 33-week story I published on social media to invite honest dialogue about health, accountability, and hope.

My practice includes daily meditation and mindful eating. I stopped drinking alcohol on April 1, 2025, to protect the medications I take for high blood pressure. I also draw on Resmaa Menakem’s work on generational trauma, clean pain vs. dirty pain to help men heal, not harden.

I’m a husband, father, friend, coach and mentor. I coach all people professionally, but my work with Black men is deeply personal: we explore skinned-knee syndrome, code-switching, toxic masculinity, and, ultimately, what it means simply to be.

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartmbailey/

Shawna Knipper, (she/her/hers)

By way of personal experience, Shawna Knipper entered into organizing, facilitating, and educating around substance use/abuse awareness, disability advocacy, and women’s rights over 18 years ago. Her deeply personal journey has taken her into political and social justice arenas, lobbying for meaningful structural change in governance as well as the minds and hearts of communities. Shawna‘s experience has earned her opportunities to provide education to diverse groups of youth entering the medical field, coordinate DEI education and planning of structural change for large networks and co-facilitate environmental justice groups in base building and striving for more profound views on equity and justice. Her electoral experience ranges from leading field campaigns for winning United States Representative seats, to leading a virtual field program that contacted over 5 million women in one weekend and 20 million women in the course of the electoral season in order to register and move women to the polls, creating a surge of women voters. She holds a degree in Business Administration and currently sits on the board of Women’s March, a national women and family rights advocacy organization. Knipper has been involved in organizing with Women’s March, who is responsible for 3 of the 5 largest protests in United States History, as a founding member since 2016.

Sharmalee Butler

Sharmalee Bulter is a Data Analyst who assesses qualitative and quantitive data to create an organization’s JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) story. With over a decade of front-facing financial data experience in corporate spaces and a keen leadership perspective, she quantifies the organization’s journey in reports detailing its barriers, enablers, and a strategic roadmap for its way forward. She specializes in recruitment and retention analysis, particularly for organizations that struggle with retaining BIPOC staff. She has an unwavering passion for inclusiveness in the workplace, and her life experience as a Black immigrant woman, move this work to the forefront for her. Sharmalee migrated to the United States from Jamaica at the age of 14, facing significant adversities, which motivated her to drive for Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in all areas of life. She believes that transparency, advocacy, and empathy are key drivers in her ability to impact change in the workplace and society.

Kalil Bailey

Kalil is a steadfast mental health professional, ally, and advocate. In his work he prioritizes the intersectionality between increasing our collective humanity and providing equitable opportunity for all. After obtaining a degree in psychology from University of New Hampshire he immediately immersed himself in the field of psychology. Kalil’s passion and understanding of the mental health system was further developed through working in numerous mental health settings, including psych hospitals and residential centers. Throughout his experiences he’s gained insights into the disparities in how particular communities, primarily BIPOC identities, are systemically underserved. These insights deeply embolden his pursuit for equitable resources. A drive to increase awareness, engage radical communication, and utilize research-driven approaches remain forefront in his mission to push the envelope of compassion and authentic connections. In further establishing bridges of understanding within and between cultures and identities, he intends to close the resource gap and foster conversation to support those who may otherwise go neglected.