NATANIA MALIN GAZEK

(she/they)

FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL

I’m human.

As a white, Jewish, queer woman with invisible disabilities, I have an orientation to justice work that is informed by both my privilege and my marginalization. I’m California-born with a New York soul -- I meditate by doing jigsaw puzzles and am teaching myself to play ukulele. I’m a life-long learner and show up every day with my strengths and weaknesses in tow.

I'm a pragmatist.

I have a B.A. in Sociology from Vassar College and an M.B.A. in Organizational Behavior from the Yale School of Management. My institutional learning has taught me that there is valuable work to be done within our preexisting structures to set the foundation for long-term systemic shifts. Change will not happen overnight, but we can learn to live our values and challenge normalized inequities.

I'm dedicated.

I am committed to progressive systemic change, and my activism practice is core to how I live my life. I volunteer and show up with organizations like Avodah, the Movement for Black Lives, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and Swing Left. I’m hands-on, from crafting a sign to organizing in resistance.

I'm determined.

For more than a decade, I’ve pushed to make workspaces safer, fairer, and more fulfilling, but I also know when I’m out of my lane. I model vulnerability and show there is strength in asking for help. When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the truth is that I don’t know how to not do this work.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Here are the values we hold ourselves accountable to practicing in our work – with each other and with our clients.

Interconnection

We center those most directly marginalized by systemic oppression; because all oppression is interconnected, all liberation is interconnected.

As DEI practitioners, our work deals with countless forms of systemic oppression (think racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, classism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, xenophobia, and more). Across our society, those with more marginalized identities experience a greater proportion of discomfort and harm in our workplaces on a regular basis than those with fewer marginalized identities. Therefore, one of the goals of our work is to redistribute discomfort so that all employees – not just those who feel the need most urgently – share responsibility for engaging in DEI work as appropriate for their position.
- Audre Lorde
- Kimberlé Crenshaw

How interconnection impacts our work

Curiosity

We cultivate curiosity as an asset.

We believe that change happens through curiosity and productive discomfort, not judgment. This means we challenge ideas, not people, and embrace our inherently human imperfections and mistakes as learning opportunities. We don’t expect any single person to know everything, and we appreciate the value people bring to a conversation by asking questions when we don’t understand. We meet each person at their starting point (never judging them for where that starting point is) and help them get to the next step on their unique journey. Rather than judging anyone for how long their journey is taking, we celebrate each other for giving ourselves the opportunity to learn so that our behavior can be more aligned with our values.
- The concept of Beginner’s Mind (shoshin) in Zen Buddhism and Japanese martial arts
- Layla F. Saad

How curiosity impacts our work

Joy and Rest

We prioritize joy and rest as critical acts of resistance.

We make progress by working at a human pace and celebrating wins of all sizes. We’re not interested in participating in the glorification of busyness. Instead, we intentionally create schedules and timelines that allow for the breathing room we know we all need. We recognize that doing this runs counter to the dominant culture (especially as it is influenced by white supremacy culture), and this only increases our commitment to modeling an alternative way.
- adrienne maree brown
- Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry
- Daniel Lim’s Qualities of Regenerative and Liberatory Culture

How joy and rest impact our work

Action

We ground ourselves in knowing “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”

There is no shortage of problems in our workplaces and the world! When we get overwhelmed or feel frozen by the enormity of systemic oppression, we come back to this quote, which reminds us that none of us can solve everything, but that doesn’t excuse us from our responsibility to make change where we can. We believe that when each of us plays our unique part, our collective work will amount to great societal shifts.
The quote that this value is based on (You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it) comes from the Jewish text (Pirkei Avot (2:21).

How action impacts our work

OUR TEAM

DAWN SNYDER

(she/her)

BUSINESS MANAGER & PROGRAM ASSOCIATE

Dawn is our Business Manager and Program Associate who helps manage the day-to-day operations and assists with client projects. She has extensive experience in working in higher education, business operations, and project management.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING

Natania is a great resource for any organization that is looking to navigate social issues and their impact on the workplace.

Somehow, Natania manages to touch very hard topics in a very respectful and interesting way, which not only creates space for learning and understanding but also brings awareness to things most people at work don’t bring up.

C. V., Leadership Coaching Client

I worked with Natania to create an equitable hiring structure for my first hire. She helped me plan every step of the process.

The result was finding an amazing candidate in a way that was aligned with my values. And now not only do I have the tools to use this hiring process again in the future, but I also have the knowledge to create a more equitable workplace for my growing team.

Katie James, Founder, Storyroot