Founder and President

Lesley Curtis is the owner and founder of Sagely. She holds a doctorate from Duke University, where she focused on storytelling and social justice movements. Her clients include people in the fields of education, community development, nonprofit management, cybersecurity, technology, and many more. She also speaks at well-known universities and Fortune 500 companies, such as Google.

Lesley has a unique perspective on DEIB work because she combines her humanities expertise with her study of psychology and meditation. On the Sagely team, she also combines academic experts with mental health professionals for an approach that invites true behavioral and cultural change.

Senior Antiracism Consultant

Cord Whitaker is a scholar and professor of the history of race. He has published on race in numerous scholarly publications and has been cited in such venues as NPR, the New York Times, Slate, and the History Channel. He is an associate professor of English at Wellesley College, the author of Black Metaphors: How Modern Racism Emerged from Medieval Race-Thinking, and Chair of the Presidential Commission on Ethnicity, Race, and Equity at Wellesley.

Cord partners with Sagely to complete assessments, create educational opportunities, and guide clients in learning designed for behavior change. In addition to two decades of experience in the classroom, he also brings knowledge gained from his work in university administration. Cord has a special passion for helping leaders of color bring their full experience to their work in a way that benefits all.

Senior Consultant

Burgandy Holiday serves as an Antiracism and Gender Equity Consultant for Sagely. She holds degrees in social work and psychology and has helped multiple organizations promote social, cultural, and organizational change. Burgandy engages clients through community building and gentle activism, focusing on race and identity-based healing and reconciliation.

Her approach prioritizes the emotional and relational experience of engagement and connection, helping clients build diverse and inclusive cultures in which all people thrive. She has a particular talent for conflict resolution, relying on her expertise in trauma transformation to initiate healing both for communities and individuals. In addition to her role as a consultant, she is a practicing therapist in Philadelphia, PA.

Culture Builder and Consultant

Dan is a facilitator, storyteller, and leadership coach with a background in HR and over a decade of experience leading transformational learning programs. He is passionate about harnessing the power of stories to help people disrupt limiting beliefs, thrive through change, and build community across lines of difference.

Dan is also the founder of Wholehearted Masculine, a community-based social enterprise committed to building gender equity, courageous leadership, and shared power for positive culture change. He has led story workshops and story coaching programs with a variety of clients, including Roche, Google, Lockheed Martin, and Baptist Health. Like Lesley, he specializes in working with white allies, particularly white men, to help them participate actively, confidently, and effectively in work for racial justice.