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Our Why


Our Why
We believe that within our multiple and intersecting identities, our core identity is that of being human.
We believe that women are gatekeepers of culture and agents for sustainable change.
We believe that developing multicultural living practices provide us with the experiences and competencies necessary to turn us and them into WE.
Our Mission

Our Mission
Getting to We is a non-profit organization that uses the transformative nature of the arts to help people understand their shared, core identity as humans and relate to each other without fear.
Learn MoreOur Vision
Our Vision
Ultimately, we want a world where minds are open and human interaction is about making ourselves and each other better friends, families, neighbors, co-workers, and citizens – better humans.
In Getting to We’s Vision,
- We progress from apathy and insensitivity to understanding and inclusivity, and a nation where social discourse about DEIB and identity is productive and solutions oriented.
- We embrace empathy and shared responsibility for our fellow humans.
- We have public spaces where all feel physically and emotionally safe.
- We experience healthy workplaces where diversity is valued, honest ideas are welcome, and we expand knowledge and understanding of each other to serve the mission and business objectives of the organization.
- We have educational institutions where environments foster an inclusive experience for all learners.
- We have a society where all feel empowered to contribute to the greater good.

Our Values
Our Values
Connection
Building networks of meaningful relationships across differences
Curiosity
Moving from certainty to new ways of knowing
Caring
Being fully and wonderfully better humans for each other
Empathy
Understanding each other’s feelings without projecting our own onto others
Our Promise

Our Promise
We don’t promise a perfect humanity.
What we do promise are competency-building experiences, DEIB Edutainment™, research backed resources, and online tools that create a pathway toward a healthier society and organizations that are responsive to a changing job market.
We know how to turn discomfort into learning and how to turn tension into meaningful relationships. We’ve delivered on that kind of effective learning and change process with proven success.
Team Three Column
Getting To We Team

Deborah L. Plummer
Founder/Executive Director

Deborah L. Plummer
Founder/Executive Director
Deborah L. Plummer, PhD is Founder/Executive Director of Getting to We, Inc., a non-profit that develops and promotes charitable initiatives and educational projects that turn us and them into we, especially in high conflict, emotionally charged social issues such as racism, sexism, and heterosexism. As a psychologist, university professor, and author, she speaks on topics central to racial equity, inclusion, and mutual respect. An international leader in the field of diversity and inclusion, she brings her deeply humanist and Gestalt-trained skills to workshop participants and readers to examine themselves as social beings in relation to our programmed fear of “otherness.” Her work and writings introduce a relational model for managing differences that support the development of the competencies necessary to live authentically out of one’s core identity as a human being and master the challenges of diversity dynamics.

Jo Salvatore
Finance and Operations

Jo Salvatore
Finance and Operations
Jo aspires to do at least one act of kindness each day
With a professional background in education and grocery retail management, Jo served as a business executive for over 20 years of in procurement and supply chain management for Chevron before utilizing her strong business acumen to manage all operational and financial aspects of Getting To We. As a leader, she most enjoys working with, empowering, and advocating for team members to achieve a mission and meet business objectives.

Leah Hough, PhD
Administrator

Leah Hough, PhD
Administrator
Dr. Leah Hough is a trauma-informed education & educational equity specialist living in Cleveland, OH, teaching graduate courses in Cambridge, MA, and supporting organizations world-wide in their endeavors to cultivate safe and supportive environments. Leah is an avid reader, sourdough baker, full time mom, and wife to a fellow Cleveland educator.

Lori Stevic-Rust
Women's Social Trust Movement

Lori Stevic-Rust
Women's Social Trust Movement
Lori Stevic-Rust, Ph.D. ABPP is a clinical health psychologist, news media consultant, author, and award-winning keynote speaker for women’s empowerment, gender solidarity, bias, and racial equity along with topics related to the health benefits of courage and gratitude. Her strong advocacy for women and seniors, earned her the outstanding leadership award in the field of Adult Abuse, Awareness & Prevention by the Western Reserve Area on Aging. She was honored as a Woman of Achievement from the YWCA and inducted into the KSU Hall of Fame as a distinguished Alumni. She has written six books on topics ranging from depression, heart disease and wellness, a personal memoir on the art of aging with gratitude, and women’s empowerment. Her children’s book focuses on inclusion and the importance of being an upstander.

Colleen Jackson
Director/Acting Coach

Colleen Jackson
Director/Acting Coach
Colleen is a Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer, professional actor, and educator for the city of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Prior to coming to Shaker, she was at The Cleveland Play House where she was the Director of Community Partnerships and Programming. During her time at CPH, Colleen was part of the team to develop and implement the CARE program (Compassionate Arts Remaking Education). CARE uses theatre education to teach Social Emotional competencies and to increase English Language Arts scores in the K-12 student population. She is still actively involved in the ongoing expansion of the program which is now being taught in schools nationally.
Colleen is a Certified Trauma Professional and she holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She centers her IDEA and Trauma Informed work around helping communities, organizations and educational institutions.
Colleen is an active member of Actor’s Equity and continues to work as both an actress and director. She lived in New York City for ten years and has worked on stage there, toured nationally and performed in regional theaters across the country. Her work in the theatre and commitment to youth development make dismantling oppressive systems within the field of theatre, institutions of learning and residential communities a top career priority. Colleen holds an MFA in acting from Kent State University.

Erica Merritt
DEIB Scholarship & Strategy

Erica Merritt
DEIB Scholarship & Strategy
As Founder & President, Erica Merritt (she/her/hers) is the vibrant compass of Equius Consulting Group. She leads Equius and creates the conditions for her team and clients to thrive. She expertly balances a blend of challenge and support with her clients and team. Erica pushes clients to have the tough conversations that are essential to reaching their desired outcome, bringing in all perspectives, believing we are better together and that the sum of us creates something magnificent.
Her passion for co-creating a world in which all humans flourish is rivaled only by her love of all thing science fiction. One of Erica’s favorite quotes is from the poet Lucille Clifton, “we can’t create what we cannot imagine.” She believes unwaveringly that imagination is one of our most powerful tools for transforming ourselves, organizations, and even the world.
A Gestalt-trained leader, Erica Merritt has extensive experience leveraging organizational development practices to drive change, designing, and facilitating leadership programs and applying an equity lens to create workplaces and communities that work for everyone. By skillfully creating brave spaces to explore challenging topics and have difficult conversations, Erica helps groups build trusting relationships and achieve powerful breakthroughs. As a sought-after consultant, speaker, and coach, she builds the capacity of leaders to grow personally, develop professionally and transform organizations.
Erica holds a Bachelor of the Arts Degree in Public Relations from Ursuline College and a Master of the Arts Degree in Psychology with a certification in Diversity Management (NTL) from Cleveland State University. She also holds coaching certifications from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and the Center for Credentialing Education. Before launching Equius Group, Erica served in leadership roles in the non-profit and higher education sectors.
As an active Board member for the Cleveland international Film Festival and the Women of Color Foundation, she’s a driving force for change. As a cornerstone of her impact, she co-founded of Black Women Werk a sanctuary and social network for Black Women in Northeast Ohio that provides small grants for entrepreneurs and hosts “10 Dope Black Women You Should Know.”

Jeannine Gaskin
DEIB Edutainment

Jeannine Gaskin
DEIB Edutainment
directing a world premiere play at Cleveland Public Theatre called “not for profit (or the equity, diversity, and inclusion play) by Francisca Da Silveira. Other directing credits include “Hype Man-A Break Beat play by Idris Goodwin, “Stonewallin” by Kari Barclay “Trouble in Mind” by Alice Childress, the Cleveland premiere of “The Light” by Loy A. Webb, “Insurrection: Holding History” by Robert O’Hara, “Trade Flowers for Salt” by India Nicole Burton, “Devised Blues: Uncut & Funky” at Baldwin Wallace University and co-directed “Until the Flood” by Dael Orlandersmith with Craig Joseph.

Jon Frew
Research & Thought Leadership

Jon Frew
Research & Thought Leadership
Jon Frew, PhD, ABPP (American Board of Professional Psychology) is co-director of and a senior trainer for Gestalt Therapy Training Center NW in Portland, Oregon. He maintains a private practice offering supervision, clinical consultation, organizational consulting and therapy services. He is Professor Emeritus having retired from full time teaching at Pacific University in 2017. He is an Associate Editor of the Gestalt Review and has over 40 years of experience training Gestalt therapists in the US and internationally. He is the author of Contemporary Psychotherapies for a Diverse World and was the co-editor with Deborah Plummer of a special issue of the Gestalt Review dedicated to A Gestalt Perspective on Diversity and Inclusion.
Jon was born and raised in Erie, Pa and completed his PhD at Kent State University. He received extensive training at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland from 1977 to 1981before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1982. One of his specializations as an organizational consultant has been to work with non-profit Boards to enhance communication, teamwork and to encourage members to mobilize differences in the service of the organization’s goals and mission.