Our vision is for individuals and organizations - regardless of type, size, location, or makeup - to move far beyond racial tolerance to being proactive and responsive to racially and culturally diverse populations in an authentic and just way in an effort to create a more fair and equitable world.
OUR TEAM
The Kinder Group is powered by a consortium of professionals dedicated to the work of racial equity.
Azeb Kinder, Ed.D.
Azeb Kinder is an experienced educator, facilitator and trainer who works with individuals, communities and organizations to address and dismantle racially based inequities by transforming their beliefs, assumptions, and behaviors. Prior to founding The Kinder Group, Azeb was a classroom teacher, administrator, and consultant in public and charter schools for over 15 years. During her tenure in schools, she focused on educational equity and racial literacy as a means of empowering historically marginalized students and families. Her passion for racial equity began during her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), where she was trained in the Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR), a social justice education program that blends theory and experiential learning to facilitate students' learning about social group identity, social inequality, and intergroup relations. She has facilitated numerous dialogue groups in schools, colleges and religious organizations and has experience creating and leading professional development for teachers, administrators, and other school staff.
Azeb holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Temple University and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Gwynedd Mercy University.
Jason Biehl
Jason Biehl is an anti-racist educator, born and raised in D.C., with over 20 years of experience working in education with youth from diverse backgrounds. In 2017, he founded Change The Narrative, and works collaboratively as an educational consultant to further racial equity within organizations and schools. He believes in the benefit of “interrogating whiteness” work and is a trained facilitator, who is active in nurturing anti-racist community. As part of the Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ DC) Education team, he worked on curriculum development and organized a Masculinity and Whiteness Reading Group, which has become meaningful and transformative for white men in this work.
Jason graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in African-American Studies and received his Social Studies teaching credential from San Francisco State University. He can be reached at jbiehl@gmail.com.
Mike Dixon
Mike is a skilled facilitator, organizer, and orator. He was first exposed to racial equity work as a parent of elementary school children in Washington, DC. As a result of that exposure Mike began working in the DEI field. Excited about the opportunity to create equitable results for families, Mike entrenched himself in the work and quickly gained notoriety in the Washington area. His work with organizations in the DMV has been featured in the Washington Post, several news stations and podcasts.
Formerly educated in DC public schools and Florida A&M University, Mike is a life-long learner and a true advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Almaz Kinder
Almaz is a writer, creative thought partner, and strategic communications specialist based in Philadelphia. She has over 20 years' experience in strategic communications and multimedia relations and has worked with a diverse group of stakeholders on event planning and production, content development, creative storytelling, messaging and branding, social media strategy, public relations, and marketing and promotion. Almaz has worked extensively with nonprofit organizations and corporate clients on language and messaging related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including developing guides for best practices as it relates to word choice and historic etymology, tone, and active listening responses.
Almaz earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing/Creative Nonfiction from Chicago State University.
Yesenia E. Relagado
Yesenia is a racial equity facilitator and trainer with a deep passion for creating the environment for brave dialogues about oppression, privilege, culture, and anti-racism. Through her work in schools and the nonprofit sector, she has facilitated groups with parents on the impact of race on their child’s education and has supported groups’ collective action towards equity. She has also created and led professional learning opportunities for school staff members to examine how their individual beliefs, practices, and school culture create inequitable learning environments and outcomes for Black and Latino students. Yesenia continues to guide diverse cohorts of community members in critically examining racial and economic inequities and exploring actions that inspire personal transformation and leadership to influence change in their communities and organizations.
Yesenia holds a B.S. in Sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a postgraduate certificate in Education and Equity from McDaniel College