SHEILA RALSTON Ms. Ralston is a principal owner and founder of the Massachusetts-based Collaborative Strategies, Inc. (CSI). She brings more than twenty-five years of management and organizational development experience to the CSI team. Ms. Ralston is particularly adept at facilitating diversity and change management initiatives for task forces, committees, boards of directors and strategic planning teams. Before the creation of CSI, Ms. Ralston held many high-level management and human resource positions in the public and private sectors. In 1982, she was named director of personnel and affirmative action for the Massachusetts Parole Board. She was also the manager of affirmative action for the Department of Environmental Protection in 1984, where she implemented a minority recruitment program and a mentoring network for women and people of color. As the director of human resources for the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in 1985, she managed the personnel activities of 1,600 employees. She also directed the Resource Center for Female Offenders for the Justice Resource Institute and Quincy's Multi-Service Center of Survival, Inc. In recent years, she was the diversity consultant for The Gillette Company's "Excellence Through Diversity" initiative overseeing the Company's sexual harassment and diversity management programs. She has advised the Boston and Andover Police Departments in the areas of diversity and sexual harassment prevention. Ms. Ralston received a M.Ed. from Antioch University (now Cambridge College), and an undergraduate degree from Middlesex Community College. She has completed executive programs at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University, and the Florence Heller Graduate School of Brandeis University. Sheila's professional associations are Human Resource Council, Women in World Trade, and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce's Women's Business Association.

PAUL S. BRACY, M.Ed. Paul Bracy is the owner and president of Collaborative Strategies (CS). His particular areas of expertise include personnel management; professional and personal development; managing diversity; team building; sexual harassment prevention; interpersonal communication; executive coaching, diversity audits. Over the last thirty-five years, Paul has consulted and trained in a wide variety of organizations, both for profit and not-for–profit institutions to leverage diversity, develop high performing teams, and create inclusive respectful work environments. Some examples of Paul’s work include: A Boston community health center, with a very diverse workforce was concerned about supervision of a diverse workforce, employee performance and teamwork. Paul conducted a diversity audit, which also sought information about managerial practices and organizational policies and procedures. As a result of the audit, Paul developed and conducted customer service training for all employees and supervisory training for the management team. A noted Boston investment firm was concerned about the low numbers of professionals of color in the firm, as well as retention, and upward mobility of these employees. Paul conducted a diversity audit, which included interviewing the firm’s top executives. As a result of the audit, Paul developed and conducted several 1½-day diversity seminars for the firm’s approximately 700 management and professional employees, focusing on organizational performance and leadership. A large college in Massachusetts has contracted with Paul to develop and deliver all its sexual harassment training. A major employer in Boston has contracted with Paul since 1996, to develop and deliver all of its sexual harassment training to current and new employees. During a twenty-one year career in the United States Air Force, he was selected as one of the first members to attend the Race Relations Institute for the Department of Defense. After graduation, he spearheaded a human relations program in Okinawa, Japan with a focus on gender and racial bias. Paul, who holds a master of education degree from Cambridge College, has served on many non-profit boards including: Veteran's Benefit Clearinghouse, Youth Build Boston, and the Boston Chapter "Children of War." He was also a founder and first president of Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts, Inc. and former Chair of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity Committee.