The Darkest Horse™ represents people like us!
The Darkest Horse represents people who have been marginalized and/or underestimated based on their intersectional identities -- women, racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, veterans, people with disabilities, neurodiverse, formerly incarcerated, immigrants, first-generation students, just to name a few -- who have resiliently turned their adversities into their competitive advantage and are on their way to winning the race!
Our Co-Founders
We were brought together by our shared interests and passion to challenge the status quo, and we find our strength in the differences between us and how we see the world. We proudly celebrate our difference and encourage our clients + partners to do the same!
Chanté Martinez Thurmond, MA, BSN, RYT-200
She / Ella
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DEI Talent Strategist + Futurist
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Organizational Leadership & Development Consultant
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Emerging Tech & Digital Health Innovation Executive Search x5 years
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BSN with Community Health, Reproductive Justice, Somatic Healing and Holistic Health & Wellbeing Expertise
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Black-Latinx, Neuroemergent, mother of twins
Rada Yovovich, MBA
She / Her
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Coach, Facilitator, Trainer
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Trained Meta-Coach in Goleman Emotional Intelligence Certification
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Built and led teams in healthcare services, tech, and consulting companies
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Founded and led diversity initiatives and resource groups as employee
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MBA from Wharton
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Queer, hearing-impaired, cis female
Our Team
yasmin marrero
she / her
- Experienced coach, facilitator, and workshop curator that centers embodied leadership and culturally-aware empowerment
- Background in behavioral neuroscience, organizational change, somatics and empathic facilitation
- 10+ years working in Learning & Development
- NYC-born and raised Afro-caribeña, Bilingual (Spanish/English)
Maya Toussaint
She / Her
- Experienced Facilitator, Keynote Speaker and content tour guide in DEI and employee engagement
- 15+ years working in HR + Recruitment strategy
- Diversity focused Communications and Employer Branding Specialist
- Queer, Bilingual (French/English), Canadian born of Caribbean parents
Erycka Montoya
She / Ella
- Community Manager
- Civic Engagement Leader + Activist
- Bi-lingual Facilitator
- Curly NYC native, Queens Enthusiast, Will dance (salsa badly) for food
- First Generation Colombian-American, Neurodivergent, Single mama of 2
Sorenny "Roni" Washington
She / Her
- Project Manager at work (20+years) and in life
- Created the Asian American Student Association while in college
- Built and led teams in DEI business, Benefits consulting, Sterile Processing department and worked in various industries
- Activist and philanthropist at my core
- 1.5 refugee from Cambodia, only one to graduate college from family, single mother of 3 adult children
- Sunrise chaser, plant mama, community builder
Zaiden Sowle
She / Her
- Producer, Content Creator, Activist, Facilitator
- Undergraduate Student Women’s Studies + Sociology Dual-Degree
- LGBQIA+ Advocate
- SciFi Futurist
- Differently Abled, Lesbian, Trans*
Nicole Tay
She / They
- Blockchain Technology Educator + Healthcare Marketing Expert
- MPH in Social Epidemiology from Columbia
- As an employee, worked with executive teams across multiple companies to develop DEIA strategies and education
- Queer, Asian-American, Neurodiverse, Indie Filmmaker
Our Approach
We work from the inside out to go beyond where traditional DEIA consultants do by focusing on internal culture and ways of working AND helping you infuse inclusion principles into what you create -- your products, services and offerings
How we do it:
Emotional
Intelligence
Self-awareness, emotional regulation, and the ability to understand others are critical skills for internalizing inclusive norms, and for inspiring transformative leadership.
Trauma
Informed
Trauma can range from an interpersonal to a sociopolitical experience. Oppression (and specifically racism) is an example of both. In order to engage people from a wide range of identities, we must understand how trauma affects challenging topics like identity and systems of inequity.
Innovation
Forward
We partner with organizations that seek to go beyond the status quo to envision and actualize possibilities for the world we seek to create.