Structure & Schedule

Niyonu D. Spann did her undergraduate studies in Voice Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  She earned an MS degree in Human Resources Management (Organization Development) from the American University/National Training Laboratories, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Transformational Studies from the California Institute of

Integral Studies and continues producing her music with her company, Nuyoni Productions. Niyonu created Beyond Diversity 101™ in 1999 and has led over thirty 5-Day BD101™ Intensives.

Zhenevere Sophia Dao, a transgender woman, is a poet, novelist, playwright, and existential and cultural philosopher. She was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University in Poetry and Literature, before leaving academia for the equestrian professions and to become an independent scholar. She is the founder of Mythosomatics, an original body of mythopoetic movement art, and the philosophies of Post-Daoism and Neo-Romanticism.

Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and organizer based in Minneapolis. He uses his art as a form of political medicine to support individual and collective healing from the injuries and ongoing reality of oppression. His activism has included support work for the Black Panthers and Young Lords and participating in or acting in solidarity with farmers, environmental, labor, racial justice, antiwar and other struggles for peoples empowerment. Ricardo’s book, The Land Knows the Way was just released in  January, 2025.​

Dr. Darya Funches is an author, inspirational speaker, educator, consultant, coach and ceremonial leader who has dedicated her professional life to the evolution of humanity to reach its highest potentials to benefit current and future generations at work, home and in community. In different professional practices, she is a corporate consultant, executive advisor, transformational guide and teacher, as well as a spiritual scientist and intuitive.

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Trained as a Social Studies and Sexuality Education teacher, Lisa spent the first 20 years of her professional life as an out middle and high school teacher in public schools in Boston. Currently, Lisa works as a DEI facilitator in the Northeast, working with schools, non-profits, and faith communities. Lisa Graustein first attended Beyond Diversity 101™ (BD101) in 2003, looking for a place to make sense of what she was encountering as a public school teacher in Boston and a gay rights activist. BD101 transformed the way that she teaches and approaches her activism.

Daniel Hunter is an activist, trainer, strategist and author of multiple books: Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow, Climate Resistance Handbook, and Strategy and Soul. He co-founded Choose Democracy to train tens of thousands about what to do in case of a Trump coup and has trained pro-democracy movements in Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, India, and many other places. He has recently worked as Associate Director for Global Training at 350.org, where he has developed numerous open source training materials available in many languages.