About

Many companies and organizations shy away from working on diversity, equity, and inclusion because they fear that they will get a presentation that is long on lofty ideals but short on actionable steps.

Worse, they fear that whoever they bring in will heap on blame and shame and paralyze their team.

The truth is, attention to diversity and inclusion improves employee engagement and productivity–and can help prevent your organization from getting the wrong kind of social media attention. You cannot afford to ignore it.

Whether you are looking for a proven guide to facilitate sector-wide improvements in equity, as discussed here, or you are looking to equip your team with the skills and behaviors to be more inclusive, Change Works Consulting can help.

Our Team

Chuck has decades of experience bringing people together across differences in the nonprofit, government, and religious sectors. He served for sixteen years as the Director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice in Ann Arbor, MI and for six years on Ann Arbor City Council. Chuck has successfully led campaigns to expand public transit, increase affordable housing funding, and improve police accountability.

In his time in government and the nonprofit sector, Chuck has seen too many elaborate plans sit on shelves and too many intentions go nowhere. He brings together insights from behavior, organizational, and social change fields to help people and organizations move from good intentions to meaningful action and ultimately to sustainable results.

As lead curriculum designer for the 2019-2020 Champions for Change Allies Academy, Chuck brings a particular commitment to helping other white people advance in their equity journeys. Many people avoid diversity, equity, and inclusion work because they fear getting judged or shamed for not being “woke” enough, not using the right words, etc. Chuck creates learning environments that support and challenge people to bring their actions more in line with these intentions.

Chuck’s Awards

• Center for Progressive Leadership Michigan Fellow, 2007 inaugural class
• Michigan’s Outstanding Young Religious Leader, Michigan Jaycees, 2011
• Rev. Thomas H. Smith Race Relations Award, Awarded by Pastor Jerry Hatter of Brown Chapel AME Church  at 2013 Brotherhood Banquet, Ypsilanti, MI
• Light of Unity Award for Racial and Cultural Equity, 2017, awarded by Baha’i Community of Ann Arbor
• Rev. Thomas H. Smith Leadership Award, 2019, Awarded by Pastor Jerry Hatter of Brown Chapel AME Church, Ypsilanti, MI

“I cannot count the number of times I was able to call Chuck for guidance. Every time, I could count on a listening ear, but was met too with advice from a place of deep personal wisdom.”

Zach Ackerman, Ann Arbor City Council

Faye Askew-King has spent a lifetime as a social worker helping children and families thrive. She spent twenty years of her career at SOS Community Services in Ypsilanti, MI where she started as a Crisis Services Manager and worked her way up to be the Executive Director. At SOS Community Services, Faye started the organization’s diversity program by building a foundation of shared values, working with staff to develop a behavioral framework to support those values, and creating an evaluation process to track progress.

Faye is currently “failing at retirement” by continuing to teach social work students at Eastern Michigan University and volunteer as Chair of African American Services Council, Turner Geriatrics UM; member of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee; member of African American Endowment Fund Committee at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, and as convenor for Ann Arbor School Parents Intent on Racial Equity (AASPIRE).

A facilitator at heart, Faye has a gift for creating group processes that both cultivate safety for everyone to participate and challenge participants to grow.

Faye is the recipient of the Lisa Putman Award for excellence in child welfare by the Michigan chapter of the National Association for Social Workers.

Marv Fox Jr. conducts Unconscious Bias presentations that focus on reducing implicit bias through “Radical Curiosity.” Unconscious Bias is telling someone else’s story before they tell you their story. Developing assumptions and prejudice about others and telling their story without conscious awareness of where those beliefs come from may lead to unproductive behavior. Radical Curiosity encourages people to be curious in the presence of discomfort and inconvenience. Beliefs, opinions, and actions may collide, but by employing Radical Curiosity instead of judgment, people unlock their ability to understanding, helpful, and empathic.

Marv has a Bachelor of Psychology and a Master of Student Personnel in Administration in Higher Education. Marv has worked in programming for the Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan and currently presents on unconscious bias in grade school and higher education settings.

Nuola is a decolonizing writer, activist, and mama, with more than a decade of experience in early childhood education.

Born of Nigerian and Bahamian heritage, Nuola is dedicated to cultivating freedom through her words and her work. Raised in a tradition of intellectual rigor and social critique, Nuola’s greatest passion is to connect and create with the nature within us and around us.

Nabila is an Educator/ Educational Leader, a Program Management Professional, Holistic Transformation Coach, Community Organizer, Social Justice Advocate, and Writer. Her creative consulting and community building has successfully launched and enhanced an array of programs with significant social impact ramifications that specifically addresses the needs of underserved and marginalized communities. She has consulted and collaborated with a variety of state agencies, colleges and universities, nonprofits, and civil liberties organizations such as the California State Capitol Mental Health Oversight & Accountability Commission, University of California Davis, Africa Tradeshow Foundation, Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, and the Council on American Islamic Relations. Her current programming emphasis is rooted in anti-racism education, diversity training, distance learning and instructional design, social impact storytelling, holistic wellness, transformation coaching, and developing leaders of color in the nonprofit sector. For her commitment to leadership, social justice, and community development, she was selected as Nonprofit Enterprise at Work’s Champions of Change Leaders of Color Fellowship.