Janet Nami McIntyre (she/hers) is the first full-time Director of the Resilience Initiative. She brings over 28 years of experience in the nonprofit sector in various staff roles from ED, VP of Programs, Development Director, to board roles including chair, and she is also a consultant and certified coach.

She brings deep knowledge, respect, and love for social justice causes and their leaders, along with a collaborative and generous spirit that infuses all that she does.

In her free time you can find her trying to grow organic vegetables in her community garden, cheering on her hometown baseball team, tussling with her cat Miso, on her next food, cultural, or travel adventure, or volunteering for campaigns and candidates. She is the child of immigrants from Japan, and was born and raised in Los Angeles which she still calls home.

Deepti (she/hers) is a program manager at the Resilience Initiative, where she provides oversight and management of our grant programs and special projects. She also helps ensure that organizations are able to access RI offerings with ease.

Deepti brings a love of community and fostering powerful connections to her work. She has spent her career building organizations and cultures that enable people to bring their full humanity into their work. Deepti loves to use her skills as a facilitator, somatic coach, deep listener, and systems thinker to support leaders and organizations working to realize a world that is shaped by justice and belonging.

In her free time, Deepti likes playing with her pup Milo, testing out new board games, and spending time with her community of friends and family. She’s a first generation immigrant, world traveler, and life long learner that loves dreaming into her next adventure.

Michelle (she/ hers) is a program manager at the Resilience Initiative, where she supports operations and all peer learning programming, including workshops, 1:1 coaching, and cohorts. She’s spent  the past 20 years working with justice focused nonprofits and foundations in a number of capacities including program management, operations, and financial analysis.  

She is driven by a deep care for people on the frontlines of advancing justice and loves supporting the leaders and teams who keep those efforts moving. 

In her spare time, Michelle loves to be outdoors doing just about anything, especially with her partner, two teens, and (highly mischievous) dog. She lives in the Philly area and is a big fan of the local sports teams, no nonsense attitude, and all the good eats.

Vanessa (she/hers) is a Program Coordinator at the Resilience Initiative, where she supports many areas of the organization’s work, with a focus on grant programs and workshops. Vanessa graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior. Through her experiences in nonprofit work and managing an after-school program, she has developed a strong foundation in understanding people and organizations.

Improving the way we support the people within our organizations is the driving force that brought Vanessa to this field. As a young woman of color from a predominantly conservative community, she is committed to creating inclusive environments where every individual feels valued and empowered. Driven by a passion and commitment for social justice causes she hopes to continue leading and supporting organizations and people working toward a future rooted in equity, inclusion, and collective wellbeing.

Outside of work, Vanessa enjoys playing board games, going to the beach, watching cartoons, and spending time with her family.

Susy (she/ hers) is the communications manager at the Resilience Initiative where she provides program support and leads the organization’s communications efforts.

She has over 15 years experience leading local, state-wide, and national cross-movement narrative shift campaigns. Her strategic communications approach is rooted in a deep commitment to social justice. She’s most interested in reaching people where they are, in their language, and outside the matrix and algorithm.

On her time off she loves to connect with mother earth by growing food, is a student of natural building methods, makes art, and plays her jarana in the Sacramento area.