OUR PARTNERS

 
 

KARIMAH EDWARDS

Hummingbird Community Cooperation (Hummingbird) understands the value small businesses and community organizations bring to communities - especially communities of color. Often these entities serve as important cultural institutions and community resources but sometimes lack the capacity to support sustainable operations. Hummingbird Community Cooperation is deeply rooted in the knowledge that pooling community resources and forming partnerships can increase capacity and empower communities.

Karimah Edwards MS, JD is the founder and Principal of Hummingbird. Karimah approaches all her efforts using a racial equity lens and is committed to elevating the voices, capabilities and needs of community members who often fall outside the circle of human concern. Karimah brings more than a combined 20 years of experience in research, training, facilitation, and planning. She spent the first 10 years of her career honing her research skills working in two top-rated research libraries, Wake Forest and Tulane Universities.

Her career transitioned when she completed graduate school and became a hazard mitigation planner for Cobb County, Georgia's Emergency Management Agency. During her tenure with Cobb County, she led a multi-jurisdiction planning process to write the county’s federally mandated and approved hazard mitigation plan. During the historic flooding of 2009 she served as the first point of contact in the Cobb County Disaster Recovery Center, assisting thousands of residents experiencing property loss.

Later, as an emergency planner with Seattle Police Department's Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Karimah was responsible for identifying corrective actions in compliance with ADA citations against the City specific to emergency shelters, focusing on planning specific to historically marginalized communities and providing regional equity-based trainings and conference planning for agencies and non-profits in King , Snohomish, and Pierce Counties.

Following her tenure at OEM, Karimah worked for Seattle Parks and Recreation Department (SPR) as a senior capital projects planner, managing over 25 capital projects throughout the SPR park system. While at SPR, Karimah served as the lead in revamping the division's public engagement strategy and project design program using a racial equity and social justice lens as well as assessing and implementing equitable hiring processes for division staff and contractors.

Skilled at navigating critical matters, Karimah has provided racial equity assessments for multiple departments throughout the City of Seattle, served as a transition facilitator for federal employees following the 2019 government shutdown and has served as a member of multiple public and private committees dedicated to eradicating racism and supporting social justice.

 

AGUEDA DUDLEY-BERRIOS

Agueda’s commitment to elevating racial equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion spans several industries, including housing and homelessness services, grassroots organizing and power-building, and community planning. As a Case Manager at YouthCare, working with housing-insecure young people, Agueda served on the Cultural Impact Committee (a group tasked with addressing the organization's racial equity work). She also led the Language Access Team where she helped develop and implement training for staff across the agency, and she piloted and co-facilitated her department's race-based caucusing. As a consultant, she has supported operations, communications, training curriculum development and facilitation for various equity and leadership initiatives across the country. Agueda provides deep analysis of racial and relational dynamics and has a unique ability to stay grounded while engaging in and leading difficult conversations.

 

LAUREN KITE

As a teacher and facilitator of more than 10+ years, Lauren brings a keen, discerning lens to the on-going conversation around environmental, social, and racial justice. Lauren has a passion for supporting individuals and organizations to identify and implement sustainable and integrated action, while fostering a radically respectful internal culture of learning, growth, and accountability, for deeper and more lasting impact, while emerging as a leader in their respective fields. 

 
 
 

Tiffany Pertiller

Tiffany Pertillar is an unapologetic social reformer and compassionate crusader for justice, whose mission is to elevate equity and promote health for all people. She’s known for her thought-provoking insights into the social issues that adversely impact the health of racial and ethnic minorities throughout the United States and beyond. She has a profound ability to captivate and connect audiences in efforts to bridge the racial and wealth gaps that have both defined and divided our nation. A University of Maryland trained public health social worker and co-founder of Epic Health Solutions, Tiffany works tirelessly to engage, educate, and empower this generation to incite the kind of social change that lifts up equity and upholds social justice in all ways. Always.

 
 

CAT CUEVAS

Cat Cuevas (she/her) offers 14+ years of strategic and tactical experience in organizational development, leadership, learning & talent development, and people operations, including developing global programs, systems, partnerships, and frameworks that yield broad, dramatic impact. She is a senior organizational development strategist who eradicates complex business roadblocks while fostering the values of equity and inclusion, diverse leadership, and team cohesiveness. As a diplomatic mentor and catalyst​ of personal and political change, she offers deep coaching and change leadership experience, plus advisory seats for elite think tanks, conferences, and capacity-building coalitions. Cat is an outstanding relationship builder who earns trust and collaboration across verticals, industries, companies, and departments turning conflict into opportunity and inspiration into action.