Sandy Dang, Principal
Sandy is a social entrepreneur, inspiring speaker, experienced executive, leadership trainer, and management consultant. Her passion is to develop young people to maximize their leadership potential to benefit society.
From 2011 to 2018, Sandy served as a Presidential Appointee on the Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), an independent U.S. Government agency with a mission to strengthen bilateral relations between the United States and Vietnam. During her tenure, Sandy initiated a leadership development program that includes Public Narrative and Adaptive Leadership for hundreds of VEF Fellows who are scientists and engineers.
Born in Hanoi, Sandy left Vietnam when she was ten years old. After living in rural China and Hong Kong refugee camps, Sandy resettled in the United States at the age of thirteen. Because of her personal experience, Sandy has devoted her life to helping children and families. For more than a decade, she served as Founder and Executive Director of Asian American Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (AALEAD), an organization that supports immigrant and refugee families through a broad array of educational and social services. Sandy has received numerous awards for her outstanding public leadership, including being named Washingtonian of the Year in 2001. Sandy earned a Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a Master’s degree from Harvard Kennedy School.
Marc Ross Manashil, Principal
Marc is a consultant and educator specializing in leadership development. His background is in global health and philanthropy, having served in director roles with an international grantmaking foundation, a medical relief organization, and an NGO preventing child mortality in West Africa.
Marc studied adaptive leadership while pursuing his MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2009-2010 and served as a Teaching Assistant to Dr. Dean Williams. In the years since, he has drawn on the adaptive framework to help organizations and teams manage change and overcome unproductive conflict. Marc has also developed and facilitated hundreds of classes and leadership training programs for non-profit, public sector and for-profit organizations.
As an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Co-Founder of the Adaptive Leadership in Human Services Institute at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work, Marc has catalyzed a multifaceted set of adaptive leadership initiatives encompassing fellowship programs, leadership labs and courses at the master’s, doctoral and executive levels. He also teaches leadership at the University of California, Davis through its School of Continuing and Professional Education. In addition to his MPA from Harvard, Marc holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jamie Purdon, Senior Consultant
Jamie is the cofounder and President of RPA Consulting, a strategic partner of CoInnovate that offers training in leadership development, negotiation and strategic communication. Jamie has brought his extensive knowledge of storytelling and leadership development to some of the most influential companies in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. He has been called on when organizations are facing critical challenges and need help in crisis management. He has also enjoyed helping people exercise more effective leadership as a teaching assistant at Harvard and an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.
Before RPA, Jamie was one of the more influential journalists in Canada. He was responsible for the daily news gathering operations for the CBC both domestically and internationally. He is a multi-award winning television producer, and has managed, or created many of the outstanding programs in Canadian radio, including This Morning, As it Happens, and The Current. He also directed the CBC’s federal and provincial election coverage. Jamie has degrees from York University, Ryerson, and the University of Windsor. He is also a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where he received a Masters in Public Administration.
Linda Lausell Bryant, Senior Consultant
Linda is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Clinical Associate Professor, and Katherine and Howard Aibel Executive-in-Residence at NYU Silver. Her career spans 34 years in youth services in both the private and public sectors. She has introduced the Adaptive Leadership framework into the graduate social work curriculum at NYU Silver, including the launch of an Adaptive Leadership Fellowship program and the introduction of new graduate and doctoral-level courses grounded in the framework. Additionally, she has launched the Adaptive Leadership in Human Services Institute, convening human services professionals seeking transformative impact in the sector.
Prior to NYU, Dr. Lausell Bryant served as the Executive Director of Inwood House and as Associate Commissioner for Youth Development at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. She was appointed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the New York City Panel for Education Policy. Dr. Lausell Bryant was featured in the New York Times Corner Office column in May 2011, and her insights were featured in Mr. Bryant’s book titled Quick & Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEO’s on How to Create a Culture of Innovation. She is the co-author of A Guide for Sustaining Conversations on Racism, Identity and Our Mutual Humanity.
Nizar Farsakh, Senior Consultant
Nizar is a trainer on leadership, negotiation and advocacy with extensive experience across the Middle East and North Africa. He has been consulting and training diverse groups, from students, to young professionals, to executives and political figures. Between 2003 and 2008, he advised senior Palestinian officials including the President and Prime Minister.
Nizar was born and raised in Dubai, the U.A.E, studied at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and then worked for ten years in the West Bank, Palestine before immigrating to the US in 2008 to pursue a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. Upon graduation, he became a teaching assistant with renowned leadership professors Marshall Ganz on Public Narrative and Ronald Heifetz on Adaptive Leadership. Nizar subsequently became active in both the Leading Change Network as well as the Adaptive Leadership Network, which bring together hundreds of alums to enhance their impact in government, private and civil society sectors across the globe. Currently, Nizar teaches negotiation at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and is involved in several non-violence initiatives in Palestine/Israel and the US. He is also chair of the board of the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington D.C.
Angela Mason, Co-Founder
Angela is a successful fundraiser and public speaker with decades of experience in the global development and philanthropy arena. She has coached major donors, high-net-worth families and corporations, enabling them to enjoy the life-changing aspects of global philanthropy. In 1990, she left a lucrative career in executive search to found Touch Romania, a nonprofit organization helping disabled kids in that country. A twenty-year career with World Vision followed. Angela has traveled to nearly 80 countries with donors, media teams and business partners raising awareness about poverty, justice, health and environmental issues.
As Co-Founder of The Clarence Foundation, Angela was part of a dynamic team engaging donors through giving circles. She has produced award-winning television documentaries including the crisis of clean water, genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia, trafficking, street children, maternal health and children's education. Angela loves to teach fundraising, public speaking and media relations, mixing her British humor, development knowledge and zest for global adventure! Angela is the recipient of the Soroptimist International Award for “Women Helping Women,” the CBS/San Francisco Chronicle “Jefferson Award” and the ABC/Johnson & Johnson “Remarkable Woman Award” presented on the morning show The View.
Veronica Urquilla, Consultant
Veronica is the Founder and Principal of VEU Consulting, a strategic partner of CoInnovate that focuses on social justice, public health, and organizational growth. She is a social worker and community changemaker with over 20 years of experience creating and leading initiatives in the public, nonprofit, and education sectors. Her work is grounded in a “nothing about us without us” approach. She believes that centering the voice, experience, and expertise of marginalized people is key to creating meaningful impact in this world.
Working at both the national and local levels, Veronica has managed a number of projects and teams focused on sexual health for youth and young adults, youth development, COVID-19, health equity, and workplace culture. Veronica is a storyteller, a coach, a mom, and a collaborator who shows up with each of these personas in her work with clients. She is committed to supporting folks as they find their liberation, joy, and talents. Veronica holds a BA from Northeastern University and an MSW from Boston University and is a licensed social worker in Washington, DC.
Erik Yazdani, Consultant
Erik is an experienced coach, leadership educator and psychoanalyst. His passion is applying his knowledge of systems, psychology and change to build capacity in organizations, groups and individuals.
Erik studied organizational behavior and adaptive leadership while pursuing a joint MPA/MBA from the Harvard Kennedy School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. At the Kennedy School, he trained as a teaching assistant under Professor Ronald Heifetz and now currently co-facilitates the NYU Silver School of Social Work’s Adaptive Leadership Fellowship Program. Erik also teaches team building and leadership workshops for the NYU Wassermann Alumni Center.
In addition to his leadership development work, Erik runs a private practice in coaching and psychotherapy with a particular focus on identity development. Born in Iran but raised in the US, Erik brings a perspective spanning multiple cultures and a racial lens that he applies in running diversity training groups. Prior to his graduate studies, Erik had a career in technology entrepreneurship, focused on product management at early-stage companies. Erik also holds a Masters in Social Work from NYU and a BS from Cornell University.
Stefano Zordan, Consultant
Stefano is the Founder of the Adriano Olivetti Leadership Institute, a strategic partner of CoInnovate based in Ivrea, Italy, which is the first permanent Italian training center dedicated to the study and practice of leadership. The Institute is a physical and virtual meeting place for Italian communities united by the challenges of change and inspired by the community project of Adriano Olivetti.
Stefano is a graduate of Harvard University where he learned the practice of Adaptive Leadership directly from its founders and for whom he was a teaching assistant. Upon coming back to Italy, Stefano started spreading this framework by editing the Italian edition of The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (2018). He is also the Founder of "Sistema Italia," the Italian community of Adaptive Leadership practitioners. Stefano also teaches in university master's degree programs and designs training courses for-profit and non-profit professionals.