Kerrien Suarez

Kerrien is director of Equity in the Center (EiC), a new initiative launched through ProInspire and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. Equity in the Center addresses a gap in philanthropic and nonprofit organizations’ current diversity, equity and inclusion practice: The absence of sector-validated organizational development and change management best practices to shift mindsets, tactics and systems that drive racial and ethnic diversity at all levels.

With over 19 years of management and consulting experience, Kerrien has supported executive and leadership teams in bold decision making to solve strategic and operational challenges. As an independent consultant, she managed strategic and implementation planning projects for ProInspire, UNCF, National Black Child Development Institute, National Center for Children in Poverty and Martha’s Table.

Her focus on diversity, equity and inclusion developed through support of emerging leaders in education reform, early childhood education policy and social enterprise. Through Surge Institute, Camelback Ventures, EdFuel and National Black Child Development Institute, she supports emerging and established leaders of color working to define school and community-based solutions that drive educational equity for Black and brown children nationwide. 

As an executive coach, Kerrien supports senior leaders and social entrepreneurs in clarifying a vision for measurable social impact, and building the leadership and management capacity to achieve it. In addition to her support of leaders in education reform, she previously coached grantees of the Annie E. Casey, Wells Fargo and Robert Wood Johnson foundations on issues ranging from organizational capacity and sustainability to place-based collective impact.

Kerrien’s experience in education and youth development has focused on taking innovative school and community-based program models to scale regionally and nationally. While at EdisonLearning, she supported implementation of a $15M national charter management pilot, and her work at Communities In Schools focused on securing national accreditation for the affiliate taking its drop-out prevention and student support services model to scale in DC.  

Kerrien’s career in management consulting began at AT Kearney and The Advisory Board.  Most recently, while at Community Wealth Partners, she led engagements to refine programs and scale impact for national nonprofits, including The First Tee and AARP ExperienceCorps. She is a graduate of Harvard College and London School of Economics.