About Our Facilitators & Speakers

Adán De La Paz is the Principal Consultant, Founder, and Coaching Candidate of De La Paz Education Services. His firm provides customized support to individuals seeking to become inclusive, equitable leaders and organizations seeking to advance their DEI efforts by building stronger communities of understanding, belonging, and solidarity.

He has worked on various projects and programs with organizations and institutions such as Apex Leaders, Association of International Educators (NAFSA), Boise Cascade, Boise State University, Boise Young Professionals, City of Boise, College of Idaho, College of Western Idaho, Conservation Voters for Idaho, Drake Cooper Advertising Agency, Drake University (Iowa), Foothills School of Arts and Sciences, Idaho Legal Aid Services, Idaho Partners for Good, Menlo College (California), National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE), University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), Federal TRIO Programs, and various other companies, K-12 public, independent, and international schools worldwide.

Prior to starting his own company, Adán was the Assistant Director of Inclusion and Intercultural Engagement and managed International Education at The College of Idaho. During his six years at the College, record growth resulted in both marginalized domestic and international students reaching over 40% of the overall population and hailing from more than 90 countries.

He co-led all programming to advance marginalized domestic and international student engagement and advocacy, served as a task force member for campus Inclusive Excellence Initiatives, assisted in the restructure of the institution’s Council on Diversity & Inclusion (CDI), and was a founding member of the College’s Representation, Inclusion, & Equity (RIE) Alliance.

Angela Baylis is the Director of Culture, Engagement, and Inclusion at the esteemed J.R. Simplot Company, bringing over a decade of business leadership experience spanning sales, training, and communication. Her career journey commenced in the energy sector, where Angela assumed a critical role in overseeing the training and safety of personnel operating in electric, water, natural gas, and oil & gas environments. Her responsibilities expanded across various capacities, including Director of Training and Director of Employee Development. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Angela is deeply committed to community engagement. During her time in energy, she chaired several volunteer boards, including Women in Leadership (SGA), and Emerging Professionals (MEA). Following her transition to Simplot, Angela continued her dedication to community involvement by joining the Network of Executive Women Idaho (now NextUp) board and serving as co-chair for the NextUp Mountain Region.

Angela actively participates in the Blue Sky Institute Community of Practice core team and holds the distinguished position of President-Elect on the Boise Art Museum board. Her multifaceted career, dedication to personal growth, and extensive community engagement underscore her passion for fostering a culture of excellence and inclusion in every aspect of her professional and personal life. Angela’s strength and empathy stem from her personal experience of growing up with a parent who battled severe substance abuse, a defining feature in her life that has deepened her understanding of resilience and compassion, both in her professional endeavors and her community work. Part of Angela’s story is major anxiety and panic attacks, which inform and shape the way she interacts in every setting and drive her passion for inclusion and awareness.

Alyssa comes to Idaho via Arizona in the last four years, after graduating from Northern Arizona University (NAU), where she minored in Business Management and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychological Sciences. While at NAU, Alyssa participated in an Organizational/ Industrial Psychology research group, looking at diversity indicators on various college campuses. Much of Alyssa’s lived experience with diversity comes from her time serving as a volunteer missionary in the greater Seattle area, working with folks from around the world. Since 2019, Alyssa has had the chance to work with folks experiencing homelessness, folks with severe mental illness and behavioral disabilities, and working currently with the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights as the Community Support Specialist where I create and maintain programs such as the Human Rights Certification, the Civil and Human Rights Training, a program for incarcerated residents and a program looking at having difficult conversations in the community in our business organizations. Alyssa’s passion for this work comes from recognizing that life is a people business, and relationships of all types are an integral part of the human experience. Whether it is investing in an organization’s employees, friends, family or investing in yourself, all deserve the chance to succeed and life a life where their full potential is possible and realized.

Ann Smith, founder of Guide & Grow Consulting, has been a leader in the world of talent development for over two decades, extending her expertise across an array of industries, including legal, technology, food and agriculture, manufacturing, property management, government, and non-profit sectors.

Ann’s mission revolves around helping businesses flourish by empowering them to attract, nurture, and retain skilled employees. She achieves this through her comprehensive approach, encompassing career pathing, leadership development, and robust team training. Her passion lies in the art of assessing, designing, and facilitating learning dialogues, forging resilient relationships, instilling a deep sense of belonging, and sparking innovation. This dynamic approach is particularly valuable during periods of uncertainty and change, ensuring personal and business success.

In addition to her pivotal role in talent development, Ann is a trailblazer in fostering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives for numerous organizations. Her contributions include designing unconscious bias e-learning modules, co-founding the first employee resource group at a global company, and spearheading inclusive behavior by facilitating learning in areas such as micromessaging, allyship, and cross-generational collaboration in the workplace.

Ann Smith’s profound impact on talent development and her unwavering dedication to fostering DEI efforts make her a driving force behind the growth and success of organizations across various industries.

Chelsea is a queer, Chicana, proud momma and wife, born on the ancestral lands of the Shoshone Bannock and Paiute people, known now as the Treasure Valley.

After receiving her BA in psychology and minor in education from the College of Idaho, Chelsea spent 18 years in the mental health field as a behavioral therapist with neurodivergent youth, building her political stamina and organizers skill set on the side. She’s the founding and principal consultant for MG Strategies; offering equity, inclusion and advocacy workshops, strategic planning, lobbying and more. She is also a birth doula and reiki practitioner. y

She serves as the Executive Director for the statewide- volunteer run non profit, Add the Words, Idaho, initially formed as a PAC with a one piece of legislation focus, (adding “sexual orientation and gender identity,” to the Idaho Human Rights Act) She flipped it from a PAC to a community centric non profit focusing on mutual aid, community education and advocacy all through an anti racism and radically inclusive lens.

Initially getting involved with ballot initiatives around education, she has served as the state liaison to 2016 the Sanders presidential campaign and has worked her way through the state political party ranks starting at a county level, co-founding a statewide LGBTQ+ Caucus and now serves as the National Committeewoman for Idaho on the DNC. She’s ran for the State Legislature twice, coordinated campaigns, provided mentorship and workshops across Idaho. While Chelsea doesn’t believe political parties will bring us liberation, she does see it as a way to spread seeds with collaborators who can start to envision a thriving future and reduce harm wherever possible along the way.

Chelsea believes that when we move from a place of abundance instead of scarcity, there is always enough.

Christina is currently the Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise where she works to promote dignity and diversity through education. Prior to joining the Center, she worked in refugee resettlement for over 24 years where she learned from and with people from many countries, faiths, ethnicities and world views. This work, in addition to having an immigrant mother and family scattered around the world, has informed her appreciation for the complexities of people’s situations, the importance of remaining curious and open to learning, and the deep value of furthering belonging and respect for dignity.

Jeremy Harper is a queer, multiracial Black educator, community organizer, and game designer. They currently work as the Interim Managing Director of the BUILD Program at Boise State University, where they help Boise State employees learn to create more inclusive and equitable learning and working environments. They have facilitated workshops and taught courses on a wide range of topics including Inclusive Teaching, Gender-Based Violence, LGBTQIA+ Identities, Multiracial Identities, Conflict Mediation, Feminist Research Methods, and even Game Design for Justice.

Outside of their work in higher education, Jeremy has devoted a lot of their time to anti-violence movements. They have served as a courthouse advocate for survivors of family violence and a hotline counselor for a rape crisis center. More recently, they worked with an organization dedicated to supporting currently and formerly incarcerated LGBTQIA+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS. When not working, Jeremy loves cooking, reading and playing games, and spending time with their partner and two dogs (Clover and Kai).

In all they do, Jeremy’s work is guided by a vision of building safe, inclusive communities where every member has the supports they need to be successful.

Jess Westhoff is an educator committed to co-creating inclusive and joyful spaces for people to share their stories, learn together, and engage in the challenging work of building community. With a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and English from the University of Idaho and a Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University, Jess brings twenty years of experience teaching students of all ages. Jess enjoys hiking in the foothills with her family, running along the Greenbelt, and immersing herself in great books.

Leta Harris Neustaedter, MSW, LCSW is an arts educator, performing artist, community builder and Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Her three primary areas of focus are education, performance and mental health, which she often intertwines.

Her professional work started during grad school at the Treasure Valley YMCA where she created the template for the Music Theater Program as a non-competitive way for kids to learn prosocial skills and build confidence. After graduation she worked as a clinician in Oklahoma and then landing back in Idaho at Ada County Juvenile Court. After several years she left ACJCS to go into private practice and open Metamorphosis Performing Arts Studio, LLC where she focuses on prosocial work with youth and adults through arts programing. As a consultant, she has facilitated racial justice workshops across the Treasure Valley. She was a keynote speaker for the 2022 Region 4 Trauma Conference presenting on Race-Based Trauma, with an emphasis on impacts of covert racism and isolation for BIPOC living in predominantly White communities. She was a founding member of the Antiracism Coalition of Idaho Arts and Culture Organizations and she has been named to multiple committees and task forces within Boise City and the Boise Police Dept. In 2020 she created The Lovely Afro, a weekly radio show for the BIPOC community to share their experiences and perspectives. She collected oral histories from nearly 70 people and is currently editing the interviews into downloadable podcasts.

She is an Idaho Certified Change Leader with the Idaho Commission of the Arts and served on the Community Advisory Board for the Boise City Library, Radio Boise Community Radio, and Boise State Public Radio. In 2019 she was named a WCA TWIN Award honoree, and in 2023 she was selected as an honoree for Idaho Business Review Women of the Year.

Lisa Patterson Phillips is the Vice Provost for Community Engagement and Belonging at Boise State University. Drawing upon more than 30 years in higher education, Dr. Phillips leads efforts to maintain and create efforts that support a richly diverse, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and staff.

Throughout her tenure in higher education, Lisa has demonstrated a commitment to creating
inclusive environments by working to dismantle systemic barriers, empower students to advocate for themselves and others, and create and advance opportunities to better understand the experiences that shape our own identities, and informs our interactions and expectations of others. Recognizing that the power of an individual voice is amplified in a community that values diversity, Lisa believes in the importance of intentional efforts focused on justice, equity, inclusion and belonging that allows all members of our community to show up as their whole and authentic selves.

Lisa has a PhD from Ohio University in Organizational Communication, a MEd from James Madison University in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Higher Education
Administration, and bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from East Stroudsburg University.

Salome Mwangi relocated to the US via the refugee resettlement program from Nairobi, Kenya. Though she went through the orientation sessions meant to prepare her for navigating life in a different culture, she still suffered through culture shock. This made her contemplate moving back to Kenya, where the culture was predictable and needed no orienting to.

As she raised her child, who was 8 months old at the time, she began to see the difference in cultures which started her on the quest to understand herself and the cultures that defined her. This gave her the courage to explore life with others who come from different cultures, enjoying the intersections and handling the differences with less friction.

That she can communicate with Kiswahili, Gikuyu and English spiced up this new world that she was living in. As a language interpreter and translator, she got a sneak peek at both sides of the coin, which helped her develop as a cultural broker. You can learn more about this through her 2020 TEDx Boise talk “Being a cultural broker.”

Jeremy Harper is a queer, multiracial Black educator, community organizer, and game designer. They currently work as the Interim Managing Director of the BUILD Program at Boise State University, where they help Boise State employees learn to create more inclusive and equitable learning and working environments. They have facilitated workshops and taught courses on a wide range of topics including Inclusive Teaching, Gender-Based Violence, LGBTQIA+ Identities, Multiracial Identities, Conflict Mediation, Feminist Research Methods, and even Game Design for Justice.

Outside of their work in higher education, Jeremy has devoted a lot of their time to anti-violence movements. They have served as a courthouse advocate for survivors of family violence and a hotline counselor for a rape crisis center. More recently, they worked with an organization dedicated to supporting currently and formerly incarcerated LGBTQIA+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS. When not working, Jeremy loves cooking, reading and playing games, and spending time with their partner and two dogs (Clover and Kai).

In all they do, Jeremy’s work is guided by a vision of building safe, inclusive communities where every member has the supports they need to be successful.