Our Story

Tara Jaye Frank is a workplace culture strategist and inclusive leadership expert who has advised and educated thousands of Fortune 500 executives across multiple industries and large member organizations. Before founding The Waymakers Change Group, Tara spent twenty-one years at Hallmark, where she served in multiple executive roles, including Vice-President Creative Writing and Editorial, Vice-President Business Innovation, Vice-President Multicultural Strategy, and Corporate Culture Advisor to the President. Her recent book, The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence (GOLD Medal in Leadership, Axiom Business Book Awards 2022), is an invitation to all people with power and position to open doors, remove barriers, and facilitate opportunity for those who have been historically denied.

Kimberly Y. Preston, Client Success Manager, is a servant leader, brand builder, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) champion. She spent twenty-one years in corporate America as an award-winning account executive and marketing professional, and has led and influenced interdisciplinary teams to develop multi-million-dollar strategies and programs. Kimberly uses her gift for nurturing relationships and her passion for performance to turn ideas into action and ensure meaningful impact for our customers and their teams.

Kaylin Cruz is responsible for systems enablement and client relationship support. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in social work from Florida Atlantic University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work from Florida State University. Kaylin is a passionate advocate for the empowerment and well-being of vulnerable populations.    

Teresa Barnhill, award-winning global equity strategist, is an experienced senior leader in marketing & advertising, technology, healthcare, and non-profits. She has successfully led product development, multicultural marketing, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for organizations such as Hallmark Cards, Inc., DXC Technology, ECU Health, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, global advertising giant VMLY&R, and America’s Navy. Teresa blends her vast experience with a passion for leadership, distinguished communication skills, and an ability to genuinely relate across differences to the important work of The Waymakers Change Group. 

Fay Balk is an innovative human resources executive with a proven track record in leading, developing, and executing strategic alignment, organizational transformation, culture change, executive/leadership/team development, and talent management and development.

Before becoming a consultant, Fay worked at Hallmark for more than twenty-seven years where she held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently serving as vice president in charge of the Organization Effectiveness and Development Center of Excellence. In this role, she enhanced org-wide capability and business process alignment to ensure sustainability and marketplace competitiveness and consulted with the CEO and President to architect, design, and implement new corporate structures, including the definition of Hallmark-wide cultural expectations that transcended businesses and became the baseline for Hallmark’s employment brand. Prior to leaving Hallmark, she reimagined and implemented integrated HR, Communications and Technology experiences across the employment lifecycle.

Ms. Balk holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in industrial & labor Relations from Cornell University. She has been a decade+ board member of Jewish Family Services of Kansas City and is a past President of the board. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City.

Anu Mandapati is an award-winning global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), culture, and leadership development executive. She works at the intersection of leadership, relationships, well-being, and inclusion to coach executives and teams to navigate change, work across differences, amplify their impact, and shape a better future. Her leadership tips, tools, and strategies have been featured in various publications, including Forbes, Fortune, HR Daily Advisor, Inc., Money, and Yahoo.  

Nicole Smith is a Coaching Institute certified executive coach who has served in multiple leadership roles, including Chief Marketing Officer, where she was responsible for driving revenue and captivating audiences. She’s coached tech, sports, entertainment, non-profits, and government leaders, drawing from her rich twenty-five-year background in entertainment and sports marketing. NASCAR, MLB, and the WNBA benefited from her marketing expertise before she launched her coaching practice in 2017. Nicole holds degrees from UCLA (BA) and the University of Michigan (MBA). 

Melissa McKenzie spent more than twenty-five years in corporate spaces leading large, functionally diverse teams in the development of business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) products and services. Her gift for building trust and collaboration, along with her communications expertise, has made her a sought-after partner in the culture and leadership development space. Melissa is also the founder of WE GO International, a global nonprofit focused on cultivating leadership competencies and cultural interconnectedness. 

John Frank has spent twenty-five years guiding Fortune 50-1000 and Global 100 clients through transformational change, helping reinvent how they serve customers, partners, and employees. As a C-Suite executive, he provides strategic planning and execution, change management innovation, and both emotional and logistical intelligence to accelerate top-line revenue growth and bottom-line profitability. John’s industry experience includes high-tech/manufacturing, consumer business/retail, financial services, energy, public sector, biotech, healthcare, hospitality, aerospace and defense and telecom. He provides guidance on business strategy, operational excellence, and consulting best practices to The Waymakers Change Group. 

With a background in psychometrics, measurement, and evaluation, Aminah consults on the development and use of surveys and assessments as well as the evaluation of accountability systems. She provides a thoughtful and informed perspective on equitable methods for data collection, data interpretation, and data use. Aminah’s experience spans school districts, DEI consulting companies, evaluation firms, and policy institutes. Aminah earned her Ph.D. in Educational Studies and Measurement from Emory University, her M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia, and her B.S. in Mathematics from Spelman College.   

Erica Keith has deep creative experience in product and brand development, including consumer insight, trends research, graphic design, art direction, and creative strategy. She has leveraged her broad creative skill set in multiple industries ranging from consumer products to nonprofit to education, and most recently led diversity, equity, and inclusion for the worldwide leader in fundraising enablement. Erica is responsible for the continued evolution and visual integrity of The Waymakers brand.  

Kasim Morrow, a Fine Arts major at Columbia College of Art in Chicago, supports creative writing, design development, and social media needs for The Waymakers Change Group.