Meet the Team
The 828 team is made up a diverse group of specialists to meet the needs of every organization we work with.
Lawrence is considered a modern-day cultural savant. Known by many for his knack of decoding cultural behaviors that either support or undermine values and performance, Lawrence has grown a reputation for getting to the heart of the matter by identifying specific behaviors that are directly impacting business outcomes. Over the last 15 years, Lawrence was able to hone these skills through his current consulting practice, Eight-Twenty-Eight, LLC., focusing on Leadership and Inclusion in the greater Pierce County area, his prior role as Executive Director of Advancing Leadership, as well as his numerous partnerships and consultative work with various non-profits within the community.
His talents, temperament and tenure as a leadership trainer, performance coach and equity and inclusion practitioner provides a unique combination of results, relationship and emotional quotient enhancement. Lawrence takes pride in his ability to assess, design and shift culture for maximum impact. A colleague and friend said it best about Lawrence, āHe knows how to āchange the weatherā in any environment heās in.ā
Operations Team
Having originally studied and worked in the traditionally male dominated fields of science and math, Cate brought that lived experience to her DEI work becoming an anti-racist math educator. In the classroom she strives to center equity, diversity, and relevance, and seeks to decolonize education. Her activism
Jordan amplifies the truths of those whose voices are silenced and whose well-being is disregarded; he is known as a “truth-teller”. He believes that everyone has inherent dignity and worth and deserves every opportunity to thrive. His work is centered on breaking the barriers of marginalization in every facet and category of life through education and community building with a ālove firstā framework. This passion first revealed itself in his work with students. Jordan has spent over a decade mentoring, teaching, partnering with, and advocating for students and their families. He has worked with various schools, community organizations and religious institutions through public speaking, training and producing mentors, equipping the students with life skills and connecting them and their families to resources to aid in their goals and well-being. In his current position in education via a nonprofit, Jordan provides multiple tiers of support and enrichment for the school, students, and families including Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) groups, meeting basic needs, scholastic guidance, restorative justice supports, and mentorship aimed to ensure equity and inclusion. He enjoys reading, creating music, cooking with his two children, and eating Southern and Korean cuisine. Through the experiences of being a bi-racial man and a military brat, he has learned how to be versatile amidst cultures of varying degrees of diversity. This has provided an inroad, in many cases, for Jordan to bypass walls of insecurity, apprehension, and at times hostility to create opportunities for substantial and sustainable change in persons, cultures, or organizations. Jordan has taken to heart the words of James Baldwin when he said, āNot everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed without being faced.ā. He understands the difficulty and fear a person, family or organization might face as they inwardly reflect and earnestly address their own role in either cultivating or hindering justice, equity, and the well-being of those oppressed and marginalized. Yet he believes this work to be invaluable and he desires to face it alongside you.
Chenoa is a PhD student in University of California: San Diegoās Transforming Education in a Diverse Society program. Their undergraduate degree is in US history with an emphasis on Indigenous history. Before starting the PhD program Chenoa was a secondary public school teacher. As part of their work in the Franklin Pierce district they served on the equity and leadership teams and helped start a Gender and Sexualities Alliance and a Native and Indigenous Community Club. In their capacity as a teacher-leader they have led trainings on implicit biases, Indigenous curriculum, anti-racism, and schoolsā responsibilities to their LGBTQ+ students. They are currently working on initiatives related to climate change, anti-hate messaging, and land acknowledgements. Their teaching experiences as well as being a member of the Kumeyaay and LGBTQ community have informed their work and fueled their passion to assist others in their anti-racist and decolonial efforts.
