About Us and Our Expertise

Aleksandra Bookman (she/her/ella) is a Consultant with Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group. She is steadfast in her belief that companies can find greater success through empathy and understanding.

Aleksandra comes to the DEI space by way of a robust career in Advertising Tech, where she worked as a Sales Executive. While assisting industry-agnostic Fortune 500 companies with their full-funnel digital campaigns, she remained true to her passion for connecting, empowering, and amplifying those around her.

Throughout her career, she pitched and launched DEI and CSR programs, including building a framework to prioritize Mental Wellness at a 700-person company, as well as a social responsibility program that supported non-profits in the tech space.

Aleksandra volunteers at the New York Women’s Foundation and is a founding member of the Emerging Leaders Network. Since 2019, she has held a leadership position within the Network, whose aim is to inspire interest in the Foundation’s work of advancing women’s causes for the next generation of philanthropists.

Aleksandra received her Bachelor’s degree in History from NYU. She recently completed her DEI certification from eCornell. She is fluent in Spanish, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, conversational in French, and a published author.

Gwendolyn McCoy (she/her/hers) is a Lead Consultant at Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group. She stands at the forefront of entrepreneurship and diversity and inclusion. She is an HR professional and diversity and inclusion practitioner with expertise in strategy, compliance, program and event design/management, training and development, and branding and communications.

Gwendolyn joined John Hancock/Manulife as the US Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2020. During her tenure she built a multiyear strategy with an emphasis on people, culture, business and community. She collaborated across the enterprise to increase representation of different dimensions of diversity, worked with employee resource groups focused on belonging and infusing DEI principles in the company’s business and community initiatives.

Prior to that, she partnered with domestic and international firms as a Senior Consultant with Diversity@Workplace, a consultancy focused on learning solutions, strategy, and process redesign to improve talent acquisition, retention, and engagement.

Before joining D@W, Gwendolyn built and managed enterprise-wide programs at Massachusetts’ largest health insurance carrier. Her signature program, Women@Blue, focused on career development and girl empowerment and has been recognized, along with other D&I programs, as Boston Business Journal’s Best Diversity Initiatives in 2014.

Gwendolyn sits on panels, delivers learning solutions and facilitates conversations for organizations looking to advance DEI in their firms. She also harnesses passion, expertise, and resources in the community as a member of the Board of The Greater Boston YMCA, the Cornerstone Collaborative, and Encuentro Diaspora Afro (EDA), a non-profit that empowers the Afro-Latino community with an emphasis on middle and high school students. Gwendolyn received the 2015 President’s Award from the Boston Branch of the NAACP for chairing the Branch’s Centennial Celebration.

Gwendolyn is the Founder and Principal of MS Creative Group.  Floral design, event design, small business development, and communications are some of the many services offered. Make Scents Floral Design was featured in the United States Postal Service ad campaign Small Business Solutions.

Gwendolyn holds an MBA from Bentley with concentrations in marketing and entrepreneurship.  She holds a graduate certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University and a designation as a Certified Diversity and Inclusion practitioner through the National Diversity Council. She is a graduate of the Fellows Program of The Partnership Inc.

Marshall Joun (they/he/she) is the Online Content Manager at Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group. Their passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion stemmed from their experience as a professional actor and performer in the Greater Boston area and beyond. They are dedicated to shaping a more colorful, truthful landscape in the entertainment industry and pushing for new stories that bring voices to the table that are otherwise underrepresented.

Marshall has worked with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Student Diversity and Inclusion Committee at Penn State University’s School of Theatre. They advocate for representation and equity in their work in theatre, film, and television through working closely with BIPOC-driven companies such as The Poor Theater Collective, and even hosted an original talk “It’s More Than a Moment: a Conversation on Active Allyship”. They are currently an actor, writer, and performer based in New York City. Marshall also has social media/marketing experience with various organizations, including J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company.

Marshall received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Penn State University.

Sara Blackerby (she/her/hers) is the Senior Operations Manager at Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group. She is a passionate communicator, relationship builder, and cross-functional collaborator. She is also a firm believer that no process is perfect and brings her operations expertise to bear in finding areas of opportunity for improvement and increased efficiency.

Sara has nearly two decades of health insurance experience with roles in customer service, call center management, marketing, sales, and project management. Throughout all of her roles, Sara has been an active participant in supporting the team and organizational culture.

Her passion for diversity, equity,  and inclusion crystallized during her tenure at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.  After years of working with multiple BCBSMA community partners, she joined the Women@Blue employee resource group’s leadership team as the Community Lead. This opportunity allowed her to support the company’s overall diversity, equity, and inclusion work more directly through the development of community events, and coordination of volunteer opportunities with an emphasis on women and working parents.

Stella Okeke-Common (she/her/hers) is a Senior Consultant with Diversity@Workplace who believes that wellness is always at the foundation of building diverse and inclusive environments where everybody is seen and heard.

She has over 16 years of transformative leadership experience working with diverse youth and professionals across the globe, skilled in the areas of strategic planning, facilitated discussions, cultural competence and capital, learning and development, identity-conscious mentorship, project management, conflict resolution, large-scale problem solving, and crisis management.

Stella’s philosophies include strategically planning through a critical lens in all areas of business. Incorporating inclusive data metrics and strong interpersonal skills to cross-functionally collaborate with others for optimum results. Research, Collaborate, Plan, Execute, Assess, Enhance, REST. Repeat.

She is very passionate about wellness in the workplace. After ‘All Things 2020’, she believes that we have an opportunity to reimagine what work and the workplace look like so let’s take this opportunity to do so through the lens of equity, inclusion, and wellness. Let’s Reset! She’s also passionate about seeing growth in people and their environment, building a career on seeing others not just survive, but thrive will always be the goal!

Stella is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Leadership at Concordia University- River Forest.

Su Joun (she/her/hers) is the Principal of Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group LLC which works with organizations to diversify their workforce and create inclusive, equitable work environments through consultation and training.

She was the Vice President of Talent, Diversity, and Inclusion at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) where she led the enterprise diversity and inclusion, talent acquisition and recruiting, performance management and leadership development, and associate engagement teams.  In addition to expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and talent management, she has held leadership roles in IT & operations, marketing, sales, and call centers in various organizations and industries.

She has taught Global Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, and CareerLaunch at Suffolk University and has presented to various audiences such as the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, CFO Roundtable, UMASS Center for Collaborative Leadership, NEHRA, HubWeek, General Assembly, Skillsoft Conference, and the Boston Bar Association.

Su is passionate and driven about creating equity and access to education and career opportunities.

Zainub R. Ruane (she/her/hers) is a Lead Consultant with Diversity@Workplace Consulting Group which works with organizations to diversify their workforce and create inclusive, equitable work environments through consultation and training.

Zainub has worked with and for global organizations such as Boston Scientific, Olympus America, and Chubb Corporation. The majority of her experience is in the medical device industry where she marketed surgical devices and systems. Zainub has played an active part in supporting the team and organizational culture throughout all of her roles.

Zainub has facilitated and taught classes in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, MAAPS, and Skillshare. She received her Master’s in Business Administration from Babson College and her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Anthropology from Rutgers University. Most recently, Zainub completed a certificate in DEI communications from the Public Relations Society of America.