Dr. Rashaad Abdur-Rahman
Equity Diversity + Inclusion-Racial Healing
Rashaad Abdur-Rahman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and serves as Mayor Greg Fischer’s Director of the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods. Rashaad has worked in the field of child and family mental health services since 2004 in various roles as a direct care counselor, case manager, therapist, consultant, trainer, supervisor, etc.
In addition to these professional roles, Rashaad spends time volunteering with the Race Community and Child Welfare Advisory Board, sits on the board of Interfaith Path’s to Peace, has been an adjunct professor at Spalding University, and guest lecturer at Berea College, Western Governors University, and the University of Kentucky.
Rashaad believes deeply in the power of community and that in order to foster a safe, healthy, and transformative society; we must work tirelessly to secure racial, economic, and social justice.
MELISSA BROCK
Leadership Coaching + Culture + Team Communication
Melissa is a creative and progressive consultant with experience from Fortune 100 companies to startups. She is passionate about team growth, innovation, and high-impact collaborations. Her niche is supporting new leaders and mid-level managers in leadership transition or experiencing burnout. She helps her clients navigate relationships with peers, direct reports, and their managers as they make strategic decisions.
She applies a positive psychology approach to promote authentic leadership and courageous decision-making.
Brian Buford
Diversity + Inclusion and Professional Development
Brian Buford is the Director of Employee Development and Success at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. With 30 years of service to the university, Brian has dedicated his career to building a campus community where all students, faculty, and staff feel welcome, safe, and included.
Key achievements under his leadership include opening a staffed LGBT Center in 2007, the first of its kind in Kentucky; earning a five-star rating on the Campus Pride index; launching the Bayard Rustin-themed housing community, the first of its kind in the south; opening a satellite LGBT Center on the Health Sciences Center campus; and being named the most LGBT-welcoming campus in the country by LGBT Outfitters.
In his last assignment as Assistant Provost for Diversity, Brian guided university departments in creating diversity plans and reviewing progress toward meeting goals for inclusion; delivered diversity training; served as chair of the Bias Incident Response Team; and advised the administration on campus climate issues and concerns.
Dr. Shannon Cambron
Organizational Strategist, Facilitator and Trainer
Dr. Shannon Cambron's work is grounded in creating spaces of inclusion, liberation, and equity. She facilitates conversations and strategic directions for organizations to do the necessary work of dismantling systems rooted in oppression and assisting in creating an organizational culture and climate based on authentic connections, inclusion, and equity.
She brings her experience and passion to help organizations realize their full potential and achieve their next level of success. She designs and facilitates individualized training, program evaluation, qualitative research, vision development, and strategic planning.
Shanon is the former Chair of the School of Social Work at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. With her leadership, the department saw unprecedented growth, including the launch of the region's first hybrid Doctor of Social Work Program, one of only five programs in the nation to feature the decolonization of both practice and education.
Mike Fulkerson
Organizational + Business Development
Mike has held executive roles in Business Development, Category Management, and Operations at companies ranging from startups to century-old brands. He has launched numerous food and beverage products from the ideation stage to nationwide retail distribution. From first-hand experience, Mike acknowledges the many variables at play within an organization or an industry, and he’s learned how to avoid pitfalls and roadblocks that can affect business or organization success.
Mike is genuinely passionate about the collaborative and inclusive nature of entrepreneurship and the crucial role that non-profits play in building community. He is keenly aware of the need to develop revenue streams and sustainability.
His why is to transcend political, economic, and cultural boundaries to add genuine value to businesses, organizations, and communities.
Marcus Goodwin
Human Resources, Professional Development + Trainer
Marcus is a certified professional in HR, Training, and Organization Development with over a decade of combined experience in the field, specializing in training program evaluation, organizational needs assessments, and Learning Management System design and administration.
He currently serves as the Foundation Director for the Kentucky SHRM State Council, Governance Chair for the Hand In Hand Ministries Board of Directors, and is an active volunteer in the community.
Marcus takes an enthusiastic approach to learning the “why” behind an organization's current practices and taking a collaborative approach to help organizational leaders redesign their training programs. Marcus graduated from the University of Louisville with a Master’s in Human Resources & Organizational Development and a Bachelor’s in Sociology & Criminal Justice Administration.
MARY GRISSOM
VISION + STRATEGY + PlANNING
Mary’s passion for thriving leaders, teams, and communities fuels all aspects of her work. Throughout her career, she has honed the skills and expertise needed to bring that passion to life as a guiding force. She is a deeply skilled community relations professional with 20 years of experience designing and managing campaigns, raising and stewarding resources, developing strategic partnerships and advocacy initiatives, and leading diverse teams. Her many gifts include her ability to influence individuals, teams, organizations, and communities to invest time, talent, and funds to build and support equitable and strategic initiatives that create sustainable systems change
Kiera HALL
Creative Consultant, Web Design and Management
Kiera Hall is an advocate, activist, and creative with expertise in design, marketing, and communications. Kiera brings a creative and strategic lens to projects and can provide specialized communications support to those working in community organizing and activism, as well as violence prevention.
SARAH HALL
Virtual Assistant
Sara Hall is the founder of Sara Hall Virtual. She is an online business manager supporting Catapult Now LLC as our virtual assistant. She efficiently organizes and streamlines the back-end operations, enabling business owners to focus on their core passions. The majority of Sara Hall's Virtual clients are female business owners such as Marta Miranda-Straub, Founder and President of Catapult Now LLC. We could not manage our scope of work efficiently. effectively and in a timely manner without her support. If you would like to explore fit with your company, please contact Sara at sara@sarahallvirtual.com.
Melissa Johnson LCSW
Project Management + Training
Melissa is the founder of Gateway Therapy. As a psychotherapist, she has worked with individuals through clinical interventions related to multiple forms of trauma, life transitions, grief and loss, and addiction recovery.
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Her organizational experience includes fundraising and supervising grant writing, communications, and government relations. She has partnered with Catapult Now LLC since 2018 to develop long-term strategic plans, project management, establish capital campaign efforts, and cultivate organizational growth and stability.
Since 2015, Melissa has taught a Conflict Management course to multiple organizations, which develops basic communication knowledge into assertiveness and conflict resolution skills to help strengthen organizations from the inside out. She has lectured at the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Caitlin McGuigan
IT + Virtual Management
Caitlin McGuigan holds a Master's degree in Public Administration with a specialization in Nonprofit Management from the University of Louisville. She currently serves as the Manager of Strategic Projects and Board Relations at the Muhammad Ali Center, where she oversees the engagement of the strategic plan with staff projects and maintains strong relationships with board members, aligning her work with the organization's mission of promoting social justice, leadership, and cultural inspiration.
In addition to her role at the Muhammad Ali Center, Caitlin provides crucial IT support, including Zoom management, for Catapult Now LLC. In this capacity, she takes charge of managing all aspects of technology, including but not limited to facilitating Zoom calls and creating seamless breakout room experiences.
Having found her professional niche in Louisville, Caitlin is excited to continue her nonprofit career, dedicated to making a positive impact in her community. She is a steadfast supporter of the nonprofit sector, hoping to bring her expertise and enthusiasm to drive meaningful change
Kimberly Myers Tucker
Human Resource Management
Kimberly Myers Tucker has over 25 years of human resource management experience and is known for taking an assertive, transparent, and honest approach to solving organizational problems and challenges. She accomplishes this using a holistic methodology that includes strategic planning, organizational and change management, policy and procedure formulation, training and professional development, team building, and performance assessment design.
Derek Selznick
Strategic Planning + Board Development
Derek has nearly 20 years of experience working with 501 (c) 3, 4, and 6 non-profits in various roles. Derek’s professional journey led him to specialize in advocacy on the local, state, and federal levels, leading fundraising campaigns, developing long-term strategic visions for organizations, and leading programs/organizations from the start-up phase to long-range stability. He has had the privilege of serving as a member of the Kentucky Commission on Women’s Health Policy Counsel, lectured at multiple universities, law programs, and medical schools, and lobbied in both Frankfort and Washington, D.C.
Professionally, Derek’s greatest joy comes from turning so-called drab public policy into praxis that improves the lives it impacts and translating the important work non-profits do into fundraising. His first mentor once told him, “You can be doing the greatest work in the world, but if there is no margin, there is no mission.” In Derek’s free time, he loves being a husband and
dad, cooking, rock climbing, learning from other people’s stories, and raising money for programs that serve people on their journey from addiction to recovery.
Sherlene Shanklin
Communications + PR
Sherlene Shanklin is a communications and public relations specialist. Her expertise is in media, training, television production, producing, marketing, branding, and consulting. Sherlene is passionate about helping individuals and corporations put their ideas to paper.
As an expert, she strategically designs a plan of action from your PR plan, and marketing strategy, adding social media marketing into your daily routine to prepare the organization’s public information officers, who will go through exercises on handling everything from a news conference, handling media interviews to crisis management.
Sherlene has 30-plus years in the television industry. With her dual Master of Arts in Management and Human Resource Development, she prepares future leaders as an adjunct professor in Human Resources, Management & Business Law, and Ethics.
Deon Stokes
Public Relations, Communications + Marketing
Deon Stokes offers more than a decade of Public Relations and Marketing experience. She can be characterized as a visionary, strategist, and tactician who is driven by results. As a business consultant for nonprofits and small businesses, Deon is gifted with the vision, determination, and skills needed to increase revenue, brand exposure and improve community relations. She possesses a consistent record of delivering extraordinary results in growth, revenue, operational performance, and profitability. She understands the market trends and market vulnerability. Deon is a mentor and talented professional who thrives on the company culture.
Mayra A. Torres-Ruiz
Social Research + Training
Mayra A. Torres-Ruiz, commonly known as Alex Torres, is a 28-year-old Latina woman born and raised in a small town in central Mexico. She migrated to the United States at age 15 and inevitably encountered life-altering challenges that shaped the person she is today. As a Latina woman, Alex understands the impact that prejudice, discrimination, and oppression have on the immigrant and refugee communities.
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Alex graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor's degree in Social Work. She obtained a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Louisville Alex's professional experience includes: providing therapeutic services to victims of war and torture, as well as crisis intervention services, art therapy with children, counseling refugees, and educating expectant parents in child development, safety, and parental resiliency.
The Team
Who We Are