PRAISE AND
GRATITUDE
Testimonials
Dr. Kathy Obear
President, Center for Transformation & Change
Co-Founder, Social Justice Training Institute
“Marta Esquilin is one of just a few facilitators I choose to work with when I have an opportunity to invite a co-facilitator to engage clients. I choose Marta because her style brings people into conversations and she can engage difficult dialogues across a breath of difference. She is thoughtful and intentional in her educational approach and she provides sharp insights about the complexities of intersectionality. As a highly skilled and experienced educator, she knows how to design learning opportunities to challenge participants to move to the next level of growth and development. She has demonstrated proven approaches for dismantling oppression and creating inclusive, socially just organizations. I highly recommend Marta as a presenter and consultant. I personally look forward to every opportunity to work and learn with her.”
Dr. Kathy Obear
Dr. Shirley M. Collado
Shirley M. Collado, Ph.D.
President
Ithaca College
“Marta has been a key thought partner, curriculum designer and innovator for over two decades of my work in both private and public higher education. She was my right hand leader and co-developer when I founded the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network, which now reaches across sectors of the academy to empower authentic, visionary and courageous college women. Most recently, she contributed to the professional development and curriculum design needed to strengthen our new student orientation program at Ithaca College. Marta helped activate our wish to fully embrace student identities to build community and to lean into difficult dialogues rooted in the importance of shared humanity. Marta has the ability to powerfully work with faculty, staff, students, and administrators in an affirming way that demands the very best of us.”
Dr. Shirley M. Collado
Dr. Corlisse Thomas
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Rutgers University-Newark
“As someone who has known Marta Esquilin for many years, I can attest to her outstanding skill as a facilitator, consultant and professional. Marta’s work in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space is exceptional. She is creative, insightful, perceptive and highly skilled at recognizing the needs of an organization or group and designing an educational approach with a social justice lens that uniquely addresses their needs. When seeking DEI expertise, Marta Esquilin is my first call. “
Dr. Corlisse Thomas
Dr. Kevin Nadal
“Having worked closely with Marta Esquilin for the past two decades, I can attest that she is one of the most passionate and skilled facilitators I have experienced. She has a wealth of knowledge on a range of topics - from the negative impacts of systemic oppression on people and groups to the various dynamics that occur among institutions and workplace settings. Her style is welcoming and warm, yet thought- and emotion-provoking, allowing participants to learn and grow on multiple levels. Perhaps the greatest of Marta’s qualities are her heart and commitment to the work. She genuinely believes in educating for justice, and engages in a breadth of activities to do her part to make the world a more equitable place for all.”
Dr. Kevin Nadal
David Maxwell
President emeritus, Drake University
Senior Fellow/Senior Consultant – Association of Governing Boards
Trustee (former Chair), Grinnell College
"I had the pleasure of collaborating with Marta on a months-long project for a private post-secondary institution. We worked with a trustee/administration/faculty/student work group with the charge to improve shared governance and participatory, engaged decision-making at the institution—Marta as the facilitator of the group’s meetings and I as the “subject expert.” We had frequent conversations with the institution’s president in debriefing and planning meetings. I was consistently impressed with the ways in which Marta managed the work group deliberations, which was not an easy task, thanks to power dynamics and some underlying issues of trust among the participants. Marta was endlessly patient but firm, tactful and supportive, welcoming diverse points of view and perspectives, but guiding the group toward consensus, encouraging participants to focus on the work and the opportunity to shape the institution’s future. Marta made herself consistently available to work group members outside of meetings to listen to their concerns and aspirations as the work went forward, and to lower the emotional temperature when necessary. She was extremely wise counsel in shaping the meeting agendas and goals, and an incredibly valuable thought partner to both the president and me. I have recommended her to other institutions, and would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Marta again."
David Maxwell
Dr. Janet Schapiro
Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Mary Hale Chase Professor in the Social Sciences,
Social Work and Social Research and Director of the Center for Child and Family Wellbeing
I highly recommend Marta as consultant and facilitator. Marta brings a rare combination of depth of knowledge and great capacity to engage diverse groups of people as they undertake transformative work in the areas of social justice, equity
and inclusion. Marta is able to help organizations identify their strengths, but also key gaps, in the capacity for navigating difficult dialogues and working toward organizational changes that support diversity, equity and inclusion. Through an intersectional lens, Marta skillfully worked with our students, faculty and staff to build knowledge and skills to constructively engage in DEIAR work in ways that helped to move our social justice mission forward. We look forward to future opportunities to work with Marta as we continue to engage in DEIAR work.
Dr. Janet Schapiro
Dabid Proulx
Interim President
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Marta has worked with RISD since early 2021 to help senior leadership create divisional social equity and inclusion (SEI) plans to support the institutional SEI plan. Marta made an immediate positive impact on our institution by taking the time to understand RISD, our plans/goals and to create an environment that not only provides great information and perspective but also plenty of opportunities to ask questions and share thoughts/feelings within a non-threatening environment. Marta has worked across several areas of our institution and quickly develops trust with each group she works with. She engages all members effectively to push them to go beyond their comfort zone and explore issues from different perspectives. Marta is very organized, thoughtful and brings a higher education background to the table which sets her apart from many other partners we have engaged with. Marta's work has been well received and we are grateful to her for investing her time with us.
David Proulx
Julian K. Braxton
Director of Community and Inclusion
History Faculty
The Winsor School
Marta Esquilin is the real deal! Her knowledge, skill, and passion comes shining through in all of her work. She knows the culture of schools and has a vision for how they can be more equitable places. Marta prepares educators to do DEI work by giving them both the tools they need and the confidence they must have in building truly inclusive and diverse communities. Simply put, Marta Esquilin is a phenomenal leader, and I feel blessed to work with her.
Julian K. Braxton
Rico Blancaflor
Vice President of Strategic Projects, The Posse Foundation
"Marta can work very closely with students and has deep knowledge of issues around diversity, retention and student success. She has contributed significantly to our work. She brings a great deal of humanity to topics and conversation we have with our students and our campuses."
Rico Blancaflor
Brent Wright
Chief Operating Officer
Family Equality
Marta has a natural talent in facilitation and leading people. The depth of her expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion matters was apparent from day one and her approach was exactly what our team needed to embrace this challenging but critical work. Her subject matter knowledge coupled with her powerfully intuitive sense of both organizational and interpersonal dynamics not only met the needs of her audience but it allowed us to accomplish much more than we had hoped to. We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have engaged Marta as our guide and we look forward to working with her again in the near future.
Brent Wright
Rosemary Ampuero
Marta has introduced our incoming college students to each other in ways that make them instantly connect to their new school. Through her workshop, students are reassured that they are part of a strong community that celebrates differences. Marta's program during Orientation is one of the highest-rated programs year after year. We can't wait to have her back!
Director of Student Development and Activities, Marymount Manhattan College
Rosemary Ampuero
Clients
Colleges, Universities & Educational Institutions
Organizations & Companies
