Bio – Board

Nicole Go, Advisor

Nicole Go

Nicole Go is a DEIA Content and Production Program Manager for Amazon Studios. In her role, Nicole consults on Amazon’s film and TV productions from development through launch to ensure that the content is authentic and inclusive of people from historically excluded communities across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability status, both in front of and behind the camera. Since originating her role, Nicole has optimized mechanisms to increase accountability against Amazon Studio’s Inclusion Policy and Playbook and worked with external partners such as RespectAbility to promote hiring people with disabilities. She also developed and implemented Amazon Studios’ On Set Wellness Professional Program to increase psychological safety on set. [continue reading…]

Nathan Varni, Advisor

Nathan Varni

Nathan Varni is Executive Director, Current Programming, ABC Entertainment Group. In this position, Mr. Varni oversees all creative and day-to-day management on ABC’s primetime series, Will Trent, Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, The Conners and General Hospital. In past seasons, Mr. Varni served as the covering executive on Alaska Daily, The Company You Keep, Rebel, The Baker and the Beauty, How to Get Away with Murder, Grand Hotel, Once Upon A Time, Scandal, Cristela, The Middle, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, the revival of Roseanne and also serves as the network/studio executive on ABC’s long-running daytime drama series, General Hospital, currently celebrating 60 years on-air, where he has oversaw 3000+ episodes of the series, including multiple Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding daytime drama series. Mr. Varni joined ABC in November, 2006 as an assistant in comedy current programming and also spent time working as a coordinator in comedy development and current programming working on a vast number of both comedy and drama series including According to Jim, Samantha Who?, Better off Ted, Cougar Town, Castle, V, 666 Park Avenue and three seasons co-covering Happy Endings. [continue reading…]

Aisha Becker-Burrowes, Advisor

Aisha Becker-Burrowes

Aisha Becker-Burrowes (She/Her) is a social impact strategist, consultant and communications professional working at the intersections of media, communications and social change, with a particular emphasis on racial equity and gender justice. She co-founded and leads brand strategy and impact at FEMINIST (@feminist), the largest women-owned social-first digital platform dedicated to women, girls, and gender-expansive people with a global audience of over 6M+. [continue reading…]

Karyn Harvey, Advisor

Karyn Harvey

Karyn Harvey has worked as a clinician in the field of intellectual disabilities for over 35 years. She has her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland. She has written three books: Positive Identity Development, Trauma –Informed Behavioral Interventions and Trauma and Healing. She currently does individual and group therapy with people with intellectual disabilities. In addition, she regularly conducts trainings on trauma-informed support for people with IDD, trauma-informed leadership, and trauma-informed behavioral interventions for both state and individual organizations throughout the US and Canada.

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Toby G. Wong, Advisor

Toby G. Wong

Toby Wong is an accomplished global consumer marketer and sports executive who broke gender and race barriers over 25 years in Fortune 100 corporations, sports and new businesses. She is a global citizen of Chinese descent with dual American and Canadian citizenship and has resided abroad (Asia, Europe and North America). She is a late-deafened leader with passion around sports and creating inclusion, equal opportunity, and equal pay for young women and individuals with disabilities. Toby is open to Board Director and Advisor roles that will capitalize on her strengths in change management, new revenue streams, innovation, brand strategy, disability inclusion, and sports. [continue reading…]

Rhonda M. Abbott, Advisor

Rhonda M. Abbott, PT, FTPTA, FACHE,

Rhonda M. Abbott, PT, FTPTA, FACHE, is the Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network. Since 2001, Abbott has held integral roles within TIRR Memorial Hermann, starting her career as a staff therapist in the spinal cord injury and specialty rehabilitation program and earning successive promotions to director of therapy services and director of clinical programs, vice president of operations and chief operating officer.

Abbott oversees TIRR Memorial Hermann’s continued excellence in rehabilitative care, research, advocacy and education across the Memorial Hermann Health System. Under her leadership, she has led clinical care redesign initiatives, translational research efforts, quality care improvements, expansion of therapy education programs and efficiency improvements. During her tenure, the Campus continues to demonstrate national recognition as a leader in rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report as well as being designated a national rehabilitation innovation center as a result of legislation just passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 2023. She has oversight for strategic planning, ensuring successful transitions of care throughout the post-acute rehabilitation continuum, achieving operational program and campus growth, along with serving as a voice for advocacy at a national level. She also led TIRR expansion efforts and clinical practice leveling across our System, helped secure CARF accreditation at five Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network locations, provided therapy direction both at TIRR Memorial Hermann and for the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, and expanded the rehabilitation education program. Abbott has a passion for neurorehabilitation and teaching and is actively committed to learning, which led to her enthusiasm for therapy leadership. [continue reading…]

Faye Tate, Advisor

Faye Tate

Faye Tate is the Vice President for Diversity and inclusion at CoBank. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U. S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities.

Ms. Tate is well-known in the field of diversity and inclusion, having a proven track record in successfully developing and implementing strategic diversity and inclusion plans for multiple organizations. [continue reading…]

Tom Newman, Advisor

Tom Newman

Tom Newman is founder and partner at KNA, a boutique advisory firm. KNA specializes in digital transformation in the media and technology sector. He has over 20 years of experience launching, investing and operating digital media companies. He founded and was CEO of Interactive One, the leading urban millennial digital media company. Prior to that, he was SVP of mergers and acquisitions for Time Warner, head of corporate strategy for AOL Media, and prior to that a banker at Goldman Sachs. Tom is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Tom serves on the board of Asphalt Green and New Alternatives for Children. He lives in New York City with his wife and two boys. He is was born with phocomelia, a congenital disability of the legs and spine, and uses a wheelchair to navigate the potholes of New York.

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Malhar Shah, Advisor

Malhar Shah

Born and raised in Downey, California, Malhar Shah is the child of Indian immigrants from Mumbai, India. His own struggles with mental health disabilities inspired his passion for education law and policy. Malhar graduated from University of California, Riverside and Harvard Law School Cum Laude.

Malhar currently works as the education attorney at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, California. His advocacy and litigation work focus on reforming State-level special education monitoring mechanisms to ensure school districts throughout California provide quality services to disabled students.

Meet our Board and Advisors