Meet Our Board

Michelle Hord

Founder and Board Chair

Michelle is an award winning producer, author, and media executive and is the founder and current Board Chair of Gabrielle’s Wings. In 2022, she released her debut memoir “The Other Side of Yet” on Atria Books about the tragic loss of her daughter, Gabrielle, and the hope and resilience that she found during her journey.

As a result of her book at work with Gabrielle’s Wings, she has been featured in a number of media outlets including O Magazine, GMA, The Tamron Hall Show, The Talk and has shared her journey with audiences across the country.

She founded  a consulting practice where she focuses on Talent, Creative Content and DEI solutions. She has more than three decades of creative and executive experience at organizations NBCUniversal, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is a proud alumna of Howard University and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Tara Jones

Vice Chair

Tara Jones is the Founder and CEO of TJ Impact Strategies, LLC, where she provides strategic guidance and supports nonprofits in advancing their development efforts. Before launching her business, Tara served as the Chief Experience and Philanthropy Officer for the YMCA of Greater Seattle and as Chief Revenue Officer for Girl Scouts of Western Washington. She has also held leadership roles with multiple parent advocacy organizations and is currently the Vice-Chair of Gabrielle’s Wings.

A proud graduate of Howard University, Tara also holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Kristen Stierwalt-Huff

Treasurer

Kristen Stierwalt-Huff is an effective leader with more than 25 years of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She is a seasoned manager with a strong track record of project management and has successfully led teams completing complex financial, real estate and advisory projects for federal agencies. She has expertise in affordable housing, and real estate finance including origination, loan servicing, securitization, distressed loan sales, privatization of government assets and risk management.

Kristen has been a member of the Oak Creek Homeowners’ Association Budget and Finance Committee since 2010; an Associate member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.; and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She received a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with honors from Howard University.

Darnese Daniels

Board Member

Darnese facilitates, coaches and offers strategic thought-partnership for the advancement of Equity Transformation and Culturally Responsive Environments for the New York City Department of Education. In her role, she supports educators in becoming aware of how policies, practices, and processes around special education, discipline, and accelerated programming within school buildings and across districts can create harmful outcomes for our most vulnerable student sub-groups and provides coaching on strategies to mitigate and remedy such impact. Darnese has worked in education for over two decades. During her first decade of service, she worked in partnership with faith and community-based nonprofits to provide arts, cultural and academic enrichment opportunities and access for black and brown youth. In her second decade, she worked as a high school English/Drama and lead-teacher in the NYC area. She holds a Masters in Progressive Leadership from Bank Street School of Education, a Masters in Education from St. John’s University and did her undergraduate work at Howard University and New Jersey City University.

Darnese is the proud founder of her consulting company Lifting Light and Love LLC. which focuses on curating brave spaces, cultivating authentic connection and collaborating with Black beauty and brilliance in making deliberate movement towards healing liberation for Black folx.

Susan Jin-Davis

Board Member

Susan has 30 years of experience in the communications and technology industry. She was the first Chief Sustainability Officer of Comcast NBCUniversal, where she was responsible for identifying strategies and implementing Comcast NBCUniversal’s Sustainability Program across all business units and functions. Prior to this, she served as Senior Vice President of Operations Compliance. She served on Comcast’s Internal Diversity Council, as a Company liaison to the Comcast NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council, and as an executive sponsor of Asian Pacific Americans employee resource group.

Susan led the launch of Comcast’s Internet Essentials Program, which now offers affordable high-speed internet for low-income households to over 10 million people. Susan was named a Fellow in the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute of the Women in Cable Telecommunications, and she’s been recognized on the “Most Powerful Women in Cable” and the “Most Influential Minorities in Cable” lists by Cablefax, for many years.

Susan serves as the Chair of the Board for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies and is a director on the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship and has served on the boards of the Juvenile Law Center and the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bryn Mawr College, where she has served on the Board of Trustees, and her JD from Penn State Dickinson School of Law, where she now serves as a systems designer for the Antiracist Development Institute.

Tylitha Stewart

Board Member

Tylitha is currently on sabbatical from her career in technology product development.  She took some time off to focus on family and passion project.  During her sabbatical she wrote an anthology of stories and recipes that chronicle her love for food, family, and travel. 

Prior to her time off, Tylitha most recently served as Vice President and Global Head of Consumer Subscriptions and Services for HP, Inc., where she focused on researching, building, and delivering on the future of Consumer Services both physical and digital. Her experiences leading Fortune 100 companies have created growth and accelerated momentum for legacy and incubation businesses.

She is a motivated leader with experiences in strategy, product management, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, strategic valuation, and corporate finance. Lastly, Tylitha prides herself on being a leader dedicated to building better teams, culture, and companies as a DE&I seasoned professional with over 19 years of experience. Her career history includes roles in both the public and private sector spanning marketing, consulting, finance, and corporate strategy. She is a strategic advisor to the founders for the Cliff Avril Family Foundation and a founding member of the Detroit Area Mentors Program. She is a former board member of the Seattle Children’s Theatre, Jack and Jill of America Seattle Chapter, and the National Black MBA Association Twin Cities Chapter. She is also a double alumna from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business.

Becky Pastner

Board Member

Becky Pastner is a leadership coach and strategic advisor based in Austin, Texas. Building off of a 20+ year career in the social sector spanning diverse leadership, program, and operations roles, Becky launched Pastner Leadership LLC, where she partners with social sector leaders to create clarity and increase impact, and teaches graduate students as adjunct faculty at UT-Austin. Until June 2022, Becky served as Vice President of Evaluation and Strategic Learning at St. David’s Foundation, one of the largest and fastest growing health foundations in the country, investing more than $75 million annually in the Central Texas community through grants and community programs. In addition to leadership coaching, Becky specializes in collaborative approaches to engaging stakeholders in strategy design and implementation, and is trained in Liberating Structures, an inclusive and creative suite of facilitation methods. Becky is certified in Leadership and Performance Coaching from Brown University and the International Coaching Federation, earned her B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College, and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT-Austin with a concentration in health and social policy. Becky enjoys being outdoors, reading, and taking improv classes when she can. She is the proud mom to Elsie (age 15) and Micah (age 11), wife to Steven (a licensed social worker and child & family therapist) and dog mom to Grover, who inspired her to become a dog person.

Laurel Hord-Hill

Board Member

Laurel Hill retired as a Senior Vice President in the Government Banking Group at Wells Fargo Bank, a specialty practice at the firm that focuses on delivering financial solutions and strategic ideas that meet the needs of state & local governments. She had a long and distinguished career as a banker, concluding more than 39 years in the financial services industry, including 36 years at Wells Fargo, in August of 2023.

In the 18 years Laurel was in Government Banking, she served as the primary banker for the City of Atlanta, providing insight, ideas, counsel, education and training on a wide variety of financial matters important to the City including treasury management, debt and short-term investment management.  For her efforts, the Atlanta City Council issued a Proclamation in her honor, recognizing her for her impactful contributions to the City.  She’s a graduate of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2017. In addition, most recently, she has served on the Boards of the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Inc., Operation HOPE, Inc. (Southeastern) and West Hunter Street Baptist Church.  Ms. Hill received her bachelor’s degree in economics, summa cum laude, from Spelman College, where she remains an active alumna.

Seldric Blocker

Board Member

With over 20 years of experience in corporate talent acquisition, Seldric Blocker has played a pivotal role in shaping early career recruitment strategies for several Fortune 100 companies across the United States. He has successfully hired thousands of college students for internships and full-time roles, and has been a featured panelist and facilitator on national platforms within the talent acquisition space.

Seldric currently serves as Corporate Vice President, Head of Programmatic Talent Acquisition at New York Life Insurance Company, where he leads early career recruitment, program management, firmwide diversity recruitment, and internal mobility efforts.

His extensive background includes roles at J.P. Morgan, NBCUniversal, Bank of America, Lowe’s Home Improvement, and Wachovia Corporation (now Wells Fargo).

In addition to his corporate work, Seldric is the Board Chair-Elect for the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), an organization connecting over 17,000 professionals in the fields of career services, university relations, and recruiting.

Seldric is a native of Columbia, SC, and has lived in Charlotte, NC, and Harlem, NY, where he resides today. He holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University.

He is an active member of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, NY, a Steering Committee member for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Company’s Young Patron’s Circle, and serves as Recording Secretary on the Executive Board of the Kappa Xi Lambda Wall Street Alumni Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Hand-drawn pink butterfly

Together, we're building more than just spaces—we're creating foundations for lifelong success.

Meet Our Team

Beth Bunting

Executive Director

Beth is an organizational design and development leader focused on social impact as the owner of Codi Consulting, LLC. Beth advises teams on clarifying and operationalizing a vision, leveraging data-driven decision making, designing and delivering programs, coaching, leading change and cultivating diversity. She also regularly works with individuals on coaching engagements. Prior to her consulting work, Beth served in various roles at Comcast NBCUniversal, focusing on talent, organizational development and culture change through periods of dramatic growth. Most recently she was Vice President, Executive Search & Talent Management. When Comcast and NBCUniversal came together as one company, Beth served as Vice President, Integrated Talent Initiatives, creating strategies to evolve the way people thought about the organization, its culture, and talent. Prior to that, Beth founded BDC Consulting to guide strategy and implementation in talent management, change management, process design and improvement, leadership development, diversity, systems implementation, organizational design, and executive coaching. While at Comcast, she was recognized twice as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Cable. Beth earned her MBA from Drexel University and her Bachelors from the University of Delaware. She currently serves as Chair for Drexel University LeBow Dean’s Advisory Board.

Beth is an organizational design and development leader focused on social impact as the owner of Codi Consulting, LLC. Beth advises teams on clarifying and operationalizing a vision, leveraging data-driven decision making, designing and delivering programs, coaching, leading change and cultivating diversity. She also regularly works with individuals on coaching engagements. Prior to her consulting work, Beth served in various roles at Comcast NBCUniversal, focusing on talent, organizational development and culture change through periods of dramatic growth. Most recently she was Vice President, Executive Search & Talent Management. When Comcast and NBCUniversal came together as one company, Beth served as Vice President, Integrated Talent Initiatives, creating strategies to evolve the way people thought about the organization, its culture, and talent. Prior to that, Beth founded BDC Consulting to guide strategy and implementation in talent management, change management, process design and improvement, leadership development, diversity, systems implementation, organizational design, and executive coaching. While at Comcast, she was recognized twice as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Cable. Beth earned her MBA from Drexel University and her Bachelors from the University of Delaware. She currently serves as Chair for Drexel University LeBow Dean’s Advisory Board.

Laurie Beasley

Operations Coordinator

Laurie began her Human Resources career at Aramark in Philadelphia, PA. For more than a decade, she held a variety of HR leadership roles in correctional facilities and higher education and as well as in talent acquisition. She then transitioned to a career in education, as her family moved cross-country numerous times for her husband’s military career. She applied her talents to a wide range of roles, from advising business leaders and supporting hourly team members, to teaching students ranging from elementary school age through to the college level.

Laurie earned her Master of Education in Human Resource Development from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Truman State University (Missouri). A devoted community volunteer, she volunteers extensively for her food pantry and the local Rotary Club.