ABOUT US
OUR VISION
To provide comprehensive guidance to institutions and organizations who wish to engage in the deep work of dismantling their internal racist and colonial structures at the most systemic level.
OUR PURPOSE
Very rarely do institutions fully acknowledge that white power and privilege remains pervasive within their walls and exists to no small degree on the cumulative wealth built by Land stolen from Indigenous people and Lives stolen from enslaved Black people. This original taking of livelihood, liberties and opportunities continues through subtle and overt practices in these institutions. Furthermore, the damage of prejudice extends to other populations based on ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and more. Thus, our work has a deep understanding of oppressed identities and the complex intersectionalities in their liberation.
At The Black and The Red Consulting Group, we provide complex frameworks for reckoning with these on-going injustices. Through close and longer-term collaboration, we help organizations hold themselves accountable to creating lasting institutional change.
The Black and The Red Consulting Group designs and offers meaningful solutions that speak to the specific equity needs of our clients. It is our job to inspire and creatively inform institutions on how they can most effectively abolish their practices of systemic racism and bias in order for people of color and other marginalized groups to thrive.
WHO WE ARE
In 2008, our group came together around a shared vision, to address systemic oppression through an on-going commitment to anti-racist and decolonizing praxis. In 2019, we formalized this common vision and became The Black and The Red Consulting Group.
If you are an institution, organization, or department looking to promote diversity and inclusion, you will want a team that reflects these values. We are a multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-gender and multi-generational team.
Rick Chavolla
Founder & Executive Consultant
Rick Chavolla is the Founder and Executive Consultant of The Black and The Red Consulting Group, with over 30 years of leadership in the field of anti-racism, social justice and decolonization. His passion and commitment begins from his life as an Indigenous/Chicano person who faced a society full of social inequities. Through education, a B.A. from Boston University, where he was under the tutelage of Howard Zinn and an M.A. from Boston College, and his professional experiences, such as Yale, the American Council on Education and New York University, Rick learned how to make structural changes in diverse institutional environments. He has since expanded his work through consulting to include museums, non-profit organizations and civic bodies as noted in our Clients section.
Marissiko M. Wheaton
Executive Consultant
Marissiko is an educator committed to equity and social justice. She earned her B.A. in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine before going on to attain her M.A. in Higher Education/Student Personnel Administration from New York University. During her career as a practitioner in higher education, Marissiko has worked in a variety of areas including multicultural services, social justice education, service-learning, leadership development and residence life. Marissiko committed the majority of her academic career deepening her knowledge and understanding of identity, critical consciousness building and activism. In 2019, she completed her Ph.D in Urban Education Policy at the University of Southern California. Marissiko's research and practice specialize in equity-oriented leadership, identity development and organizational change.
Merete Geohagen
Executive Consultant
Merete has a background in community advocacy, human resources, and education. She is extremely passionate about racial equity, because she has lived the negative effects of these injustices from the lens of a Black woman. Her experience includes program/project management, recruitment, human resources, teaching young adults leadership development and soft skills, training and evaluation, curriculum development, community development, and facilitating seminars and workshops. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Community Regional Development with an emphasis on Education and a minor in African American Studies from University California of Davis. She also earned her Masters of Arts degree from New York University in Educational Leadership, Politics and Advocacy. Additionally, she is SHRM-SCP certified.