CHRIS HAIGH COLLABORATOR
Chris founded True Change Associates in 2015 after 20 years of working with academic institutions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations focusing on diversity and inclusion, equity and social justice, leadership development, and team building. TCA’s mission is to work in community with people and organizations to move through personal growth to creating lasting institutional and systemic change around equity and inclusion. In addition to TCA, Chris is a part time faculty member at Merrimack College in the Higher Education Graduate program. Chris also serves as a Co-Lead Facilitator for the LeaderShape Institute, a national organization committed to creating “a just, caring, and thriving world where all lead with integrity and a healthy disregard for the impossible”, and as a Facilitator for Outward Bound Professional, the division of OB that focuses on transformative leadership development with corporate clients using experiential education in the outdoors.
Prior to TCA, Chris’ experience includes professional roles at The University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Brown University, Rhode Island College, SpeakOut Boston (the nation’s oldest LGBTQ speakers bureau), City Year, Exploration Schools, and most recently Wentworth Institute of Technology as their first Director of Diversity Programs. While at Wentworth Chris led their assessment initiatives related to being an inclusive campus and worked with the President and her Advisory Council on creating Wentworth’s first strategic initiative on diversity and inclusion. Additionally, Chris has presented at national conferences such as the Racial Justice Institute at Creating Change and The White Privilege Conference, as well as regional conferences for American College Personnel Administrators (ACPA) and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).
Chris is a skilled relationship builder, strategic planner, and team energizer, and loves helping people and organizations be their best selves while contributing to a socially just world. Chris is a Rhode Island native but calls Boston home, where Chris lives with their wife Vanessa.
Education
- BA – American Studies, Colby College
- M.Ed. – Social Justice Education, University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Certifications & Further Training
- Intercultural Development Inventory – Certified Administrator and Coach
- Low and high ropes certified
Inspiration
Deep intentional dialogues, leaning into our learning edges. Re-centering in nature
ALSO MEET
MARY VARGAS
Mary is an organization effectiveness expert with an unwavering belief that by building on strength, teams/ leaders/ organizations can overcome thorny issues, imagine and create vibrant futures, deal with tough situations, and be stronger for the process.
KATHRYN SNYDER
Katie is passionate about building effective teams and helping individuals become purposeful, high-functioning leaders. For more than 20 years, she has worked with boards, leadership, and staff to develop strategic plans, to assess programs and to implement initiatives.
GAYLE GORMAN
Gayle has more than two decades of experience serving as an internal and external consultant, coach and teacher. She has also held senior management positions with strategic planning, operations, and communications duties in the financial services sector.
JANICE JACOBS
Janice holds a PhD in Psychoeducational Processes with a focus in organization development. She has been a professor and student of leadership for thirty years. Her career reflects her purpose: the holistic development of employees and the organizations they serve.