DE&I Council

Purpose

The responsibility of the DE&I council is to discuss and solve company-wide DE&I challenges and opportunities which require formal Aceable action. An action could be a new or changed Aceable policy or an investment in tools or resources beyond what’s been budgeted. Additionally, leaders can leverage the DE&I council as a sounding board for DE&I decisions when they’d prefer to get the point of view of the council members prior to making a decision. Lastly, if there are challenges or opportunities Aces bring to light that cannot be solved directly with leaders, the DE&I council chairperson will get the point of view of the council, and then work directly with leaders to land on the best solution for Aceable.


Examples of where the council will weigh in and potentially decide:

  • The distribution of our annual charitable giving as it relates to DE&I based charities

  • Our DE&I P&C goals related to recruiting a more diverse workforce

  • Company processes needing improvement or gaps in our processes which would further support our goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion

  • Our response to student questions disagreeing with the facts or point of view of our course content or marketing materials [only if the soon-to-be-published DE&I north star document doesn’t provide enough help]

  • Review our diversity metrics and engagement score to suggest recommended hotspots to the Aceable VTeam. If we were to externally publish our metrics, that would also be a topic the council would weigh-in on.

  • Advise and potentially take action on feedback received via embrACE or other mediums

  • Advise the CEO on any DE&I related projects or Rocks

  • Discuss feedback that emerges from the new escalation hotline

  • Advise on the questions in our DE&I culture survey and the results


The value of the council is that it represents a diverse group of thoughtful Aces that are expected to provide their unique and authentic perspectives to the opportunity and challenges discussed. As active listeners, we should all be prepared to seek to understand other points of view. It’s important to note that the council is not a democracy where the “majority wins.” Ultimately, as long as Blake or Marissa are leading the council, final decision-making authority lies with them as they are ultimately responsible for the decisions of Aceable as a whole.

Composition, Structure & Cadence


  • Led by the CEO and comprised of a diverse group of Aces representing various functions, levels, backgrounds for one year

  • The executive and the council will stagger the dates they roll off to have continuity with on-boarding the next council members

  • We will begin to bring new council members on in January of 2022

  • New council members: As people leave the committee, we will ask Aces to apply via a form linked in the weekly kick-off. The council leader will check with applicants’ managers to confirm they are high-performing and additional responsibility won’t detract from their job performance. The council will then evaluate the eligible new council members by prioritizing underrepresented groups. If more than one strong candidate remains, the council will have a blind vote. Anyone not selected will be given priority for the next available seat. This process will run quarterly as needed and not with every departure from the council.

  • The council Includes the embrACE leaders from the Employee Resource Group (ERG)

  • Cadence: The Council will meet quarterly and on an ad-hoc basis when needed. In the instances where an Aceable decision is rapidly needed, the council leader will do their best to obtain the group’s thoughts while also weighing that against the need for a quick answer.

  • Size: We will aim to have a council of ten members in order to be nimble enough to meet and provide input quickly if necessary.

Current DE&I Council Members

[ Updated as of 02/04/22 ]

Blake Garrett

(he/him)

Chief Executive Officer

Nancy Spencer

(she/her)

Chief Finance Officer

Eric Wood

(he/him)

Chief Technology Officer

Lindsey Kucharski

(she/her)

VP of People & Culture

Caroline Simpson

(she/her)

Executive Assistant

Jasmin Melancon

(she/her)

P&C Coordinator

Sabah Ali

(she/her)

Product Designer

Macaela Mihalko

(she/her)

CX Social Care Manager


Lesley Yates

(they/them)

Software Quality Analyst

Natalie Sharpe

(she/her)

Engineering Supervisor

Siedah Rhodes

(she/her)

Senior Program Manager

Montana Steele

(they/them)

CX Enterprise Tooling Program Manager

How is the DE&I Council different from embrACE?

Frequently Asked Questions


Why do we need a DE&I Council?

To ensure that Company Leaders have one unified, enduring voice in making material DE&I decisions for Aceable. Each council member will bring their own unique lens.

What is the expected level of commitment for DE&I Council members?

The DE&I Council is an annual commitment with planned monthly meetings and ad-hoc meetings when the need arises. There is an expectation that initiatives will be worked on between monthly meetings as feedback arises.

Does the Diversity Council oversee the embrACE employee resource group?

No. The DE&I Council is the formal voice and advisor to the CEO for Company Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion decisions, major initiatives, and policies. They are, however, responsible for approving the embrACE budget. embrACE members are responsible for selecting leadership, quarterly task group commitments, and execution of the Knowledge & Communication and Events & Speakers workstreams.

Will DE&I Council members also be part of embrACE?

It’s up to each council member but there’s a high likelihood that they will be.