Interactive Diversity Solutions

Michael Baran is a cultural anthropologist with more than twenty years experience conducting and organizing ethnographic research for social change on a variety of issues, including race and identity, racial disparities in education, violence against children, healthy housing, environmental health, human services, criminal justice reform, immigration reform, climate change, and early childhood development. Dr. Baran has conducted research domestically and internationally, most extensively in Brazil, Guatemala, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada and Haiti.

He currently consults for businesses, schools and non-profits on issues related to diversity and inclusion, often incorporating the digital tools developed at Interactive Diversity Solutions as part of a blended approach. In this capacity, he has presented on diversity and inclusion issues to representatives from companies such as Starbucks, Boeing, Nordstrom and Costco. He has been quoted or featured in numerous articles on race in the media from sources such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Slate, Wired Magazine, CNN, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and others.

In addition to his IDS work, he has taught courses on race and identity, Latin America, child development, expository writing and research methodology at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He has worked as Associate Director at the FrameWorks Institute and currently works as a Principal Researcher at the American Institutes of Research. In that capacity, he manages the community-based research on a USAID-funded project aimed to leverage deep foundational research to better inform interventions and communications to reduce violence against children in Haiti. In this project and others, Baran builds capacity with teams of local researchers to conduct culturally relevant research and to support the long-term sustainability of multi-year, multi-method projects with previous funders including the MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, UNICEF and the Bernard van Leer Foundation.

Dr. Baran received his B.A. from Emory University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology with a certificate in ‘Culture and Cognition’ from the University of Michigan. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is learning Haitian Creole.

mbaran@interactivediversitysolutions.com

Michael Handelman has been creating educational interactive multi-media for the past 15 years. He has produced over 100 products (apps, software titles, toys, video game platforms, MMOs) with combined sales of over 40 million units. Many of these products have won awards such as the Educational Toy of the Year, Parents' Choice Gold Seal and Common Sense Media’s top 100 educational programs. Handelman has led efforts to design new approaches to teaching phonics, math and social emotional curriculum to young children. He has developed innovative interactive play patterns, several of which are patented. Handelman also has created game design templates that led to cost and budget reductions of over 35%, as well as standards and guidelines for a variety of educational software platforms. Recognized as a leader in the field, he has presented at several conferences including the Austin Game Developer’s Conference.

In addition to his work at IDS, Handelman currently consults and contracts with leading educational and game publishers such as Hasbro, Mattel, Houghton Mifflin and LeapFrog. He also advices companies, such as PBS Kids, around their childrens’ digital strategy and best practices for designing educational experiences. Handelman has previously worked as an interactive producer for LeapFrog, and Director of Content and Co-Founder of an educational games start-up company.

Handelman received his B.A. from Emory University and his M.A. in psychology from Alliant University.

mhandelman@interactivediversitysolutions.com

Officer Willard McIntosh, Jr. is a Consultant at Interactive Diversity Solutions. After serving in the United States Air Force, he has worked for 29 years in the Columbus Police Department. In this department, he has occupied various positions, including his current position in the Court Liaison Unit.

In addition to his work in the Columbus Police Department, for the past 10 years he has worked as a Diversity and Inclusion facilitator. He designs and conducts trainings on the topics of bias, cultural competence, and workplace culture. While he facilitates trainings for a wide variety of audiences, he specializes in curriculum design and workshop facilitation for police departments. Because of his extensive experience as an Officer, he is able to maximize the relevance of diversity and inclusion topics for the work of police officers, and he is able to communicate effectively for those audiences.

Officer McIntosh was born and raised in Columbus, OH and was one of the many children who were affected by the 1979 school desegregation of Columbus Public Schools. He has been married for 27 years, and he has three children and three grandchildren.

Effenus Henderson is an Advisor at Interactive Diversity Solutions. He is also President and CEO of HenderWorks, Inc. and Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. He served as Chief Diversity Officer for Weyerhaeuser Company, Federal Way, Washington until his retirement in December 2013. In this role he advised the CEO and senior management team on diversity, inclusion and affirmative action related matters. He has over 40 years of experience in a variety of human resources roles and responsibilities.

He is an internationally recognized diversity thought leader and has been invited by numerous companies and organizations to share his expertise. He has provided advisory support on diversity to the US Federal Government’s EPA office, Office of Personnel Management, US Forest Service, State Department and the USDA.

He has addressed members of the General Assembly of the United Nations on intercultural and interreligious diversity, and also addressed a high level panel of the Alliance of Civilizations in Madrid, Spain in 2008, Istanbul Turkey in 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010 and Doha, Qatar in 2011. He was a keynote speaker at the 9th and 10th Forum at Fez Morocco (2012, 2013) and at the 2nd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku, Azerbaijan (2013). He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Dialogue Foundation, located in Melbourne, Australia.

He has served as Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Standards Project sponsored by the Society of Human Resources which will lead to national standards, approved by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in the areas of lead diversity professional competencies, diversity programs, and diversity metrics. In September 2016, he was named convener of the International Organization for Standardization's Technical Committee on Human Resources (TC 260), Working Group 8 to co-lead the development of global diversity and inclusion standards.

He has served on numerous boards including the International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals (ISDIP) where he is a member of the founding board, the National Urban League Board where he has served as a national trustee and president of the Council of Affiliate Board Members. He is also a past chair of the Attrition Retention Consortium, a national group studying turnover trends in Corporate America. He has served as member of the Board of Advisors, School Business, Florida A&M University.