Hello there, my name is Michaela Ayers (she/her), and, just like you, I hold many identities: daughter, designer, facilitator, and sweet potato pie enthusiast. 

I launched Nourish in 2016 after the presidential election revealed to me how difficult it was to engage in conversation across our differences, especially when it comes to race.

Beginning as a series of casual dinner parties, I invited guests to an intimate gathering to talk about their lived experiences with racism and other types of exclusion. It was an opportunity to discuss what we are often told to never talk about. I saw the personal transformation that comes from breaking bread and building community while discussing hard truths with vulnerability and honesty. 

At Nourish, the work we do is as personal as it is professional, which is why I’d like to begin with a letter from me to you. 

These experiences helped me recognize the need for a more creative and relational approach to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and beyond.

The market is saturated with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that lack imagination and maintain the status quo. Often relegated to the function of HR, DEI programs are historically under-resourced and seen as a necessity for corporate compliance instead of a key enabler for employee engagement and growth. Across all industries, the most high-performing teams are also the most demographically and cognitively diverse.

With a background as a corporate trainer that coached business leaders and HR professionals on developing equitable strategies for compensation, I understand the challenges my internal partners face in cultivating an inclusive and human-centered workplace. Fueled by my passion for people, the dinner parties quickly evolved into a series of DEI programs and creative engagements that Nourish proudly provides today. 

Through this conscious company, I design and deliver psychologically safe spaces for strategic DEI conversations where people can enhance their interpersonal communication skills, deepen relationships, and develop equitable practices.

I am here to create a culture of belonging with you, to bring the power of gathering people around a dinner table into professional environments that feed the body, mind, and spirit. Nourish is constantly evolving, exploring different ways of thinking, speaking, and listening in order to advance the collective conversation about DEI work.

Consider this my invitation to a table we share. Let us feed ourselves with conversations where we make meaning and where new understanding becomes possible. This path is lifelong, and we don’t have to do it alone.

This is where our story begins. We will continue to write it with you, our community. May we embrace our similarities and differences like complementary spices in a delicious dish. May we welcome the heat, depth, and complexity that come with our humanity. May we nourish ourselves and our communities.

In order to create a more just and inclusive reality, we must build a new way of being.

We believe there is a lot of power in simply having a conversation. We harness the power of dialogue to foster human connection, social learning, and significant cultural change.

Conversation

With practice, persistence, and patience, every human being has the capacity to be creative. Leveraging a diversity of thought and experiences helps us tap into that creative power and solve our most challenging problems.

Creativity

The work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism starts within. Through focused inquiry, we help our clients nourish their emotional intelligence and become more self-aware.

Awareness

We believe that humans learn best by doing. Action learning allows us to engage with our learners in an interactive way that clarifies concepts and shapes behavior change. 

Practice

Overall, there has been a palpable joy and pride in belonging to a group where there is regular space for these conversations and practices

Malek Chalabi, Amazon

I've noticed a great shift in people being more vocal and communicative, bringing more of their personal stories and lives to share with their colleagues at work, more willingness to be fully seen, and an increased demand for DEI-related learning and programs.

I really loved having this conversation and it felt very concrete and relevant. I was so excited to see so many people interested and participating [in what] truly felt like honest conversations with my coworkers.

Workshop Attendee, Amazon Design Devices Group

Working at a mostly white firm, I didn't realize how important it was for me to share my experience as a human and worker.

Coaching Client, Marketing Agency

 It is rare to be vulnerable in a workspace. In fact, it's often avoided with intention. Having our leadership value vulnerability and bring a guide like Nourish into our community was a true treat for the soul and mind.

The workshop inspired me to not be too passive on racism or inequality. Be aware of moments to make change or impact through everyday interactions

Workshop Attendee, Amazon Design Devices Group

Our Impact