CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER
Bay Area, California and Spain

Mel's purpose to co-design a world where we all feel safe, seen and supported.

As a teenager, Mel co-ran a nonprofit called the Seattle Young People’s Project, helping manage a $100K+ operating budget and inspiring young people to take civic action in their communities. She went on to become the Chief Operating Officer of Learnerbly, a VC-backed workplace startup in London, where she helped raise $1.8 million of funding in their first year, retained 100% of flagship clients and grew a team with 40% people of color and 40% women. Over the course of her career, Mel co-founded the digital learning arm of the creative consultancy Wolff Olins, where they were a lead strategist working on clients that include BT, Skype, and Smithsonian in New York City and London. One of their favorite projects was co-creating the original strategic vision for the higher education provider FutureLearn and their first course, which has reached 100,000+ people.

Outside of work, Mel can be found teaching yoga for the queer community, surfing mellow waves and writing a book on trauma, grief and resilience. They are completing a Masters in Clinical Psychology & Expressive Arts Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and hold a Masters in Cultural Studies from the University of Edinburgh.

PRINCIPAL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & FACILITATOR
Los Angeles, California

Bree is committed to cultivating workplaces where everyone feels empowered to show up as their authentic selves.

Bree is the founder of Integrative Consulting & Psych Services, a consulting and psychotherapy practice based in California. Her practice is rooted in her lived experience as a Black Queer Woman, along with her nearly 20 years of experience in the field of mental health and academia.

Bree holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology from DePaul University. Most recently, Bree provided mental health technical assistance, program development, and consultation at Stanford University. Prior to that, she served as an assistant professor and training director at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Today, Bree partners with organizations to foster inclusivity and wellbeing on an individual and organizational level.

COACH & FACILITATOR
Madeira, Portugal

Suzan is the founder of Design with Dr. Za, an inclusive platform that supports wellbeing at the levels of mind, body, spirit, and place. As an integrative coach, yoga teacher, and clinical and design psychologist, Suzan is passionate about co-creating safe spaces that allow folks to embody their most authentic selves. Suzan additionally serves as a Board member and grant writer for Immigration Psychology Partnerships (IPP), a non-profit organization based in California that provides affordable psychological evaluations for asylum and other immigration-related cases, as well as specialized training for mental health professionals providing these important assessments.

As a child of immigrants, Suzan holds deep compassion for underserved and vulnerable communities. Through writing, coaching, teaching, and consulting, she hopes to contribute to our individual and collective awakening for the greater good.

Suzan holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Stanford University and earned her doctorate and master’s in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University.

To find balance, Suzan enjoys hiking, yoga/meditation, dancing, creating and listening to music, volunteering at local animal shelters, writing poetry, and curling up with a good book.

COACH & FACILITATOR
London, United Kingdom

Katharine is a qualified coach specialising in leadership, change and resilience. She partners with leaders and changemakers to reconnect with their purpose, lead through uncertainty and drive impact — all without burning out. Grounded in a values-driven approach, she helps clients navigate change while staying authentic to themselves.

With a career spanning digital strategy, innovation and public engagement, Katharine has held leadership roles in fast-growing startups, managed multi-million-pound budgets, and survived the demanding world of politics. She is experienced in leading teams through both growth and transformation.

Past roles include Account Director at agency Blue State Digital, Digital Director at the UK Labour Party, and senior leadership positions at international not-for-profit More in Common and the Mayor of London’s office. As a consultant, she has led innovation programmes for a wide range of organizations including Our Future Health, Safe in Sport and Greenpeace.

As a mother to two boys, aged 4 and 11, Katharine understands the complexities of balancing leadership with family life. She frequently works with parents who are re-calibrating their boundaries between work, family life, and self-care—an ongoing journey for herself as well. 

Katharine holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford.

FACILITATOR
Oakland, California

Sol Garcia Jones (they he/she) is a passionate and grounded facilitator with a specialty in creating learning spaces around identity, inter-and intrapersonal healing, and social justice. She is currently the National Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Surge Institute, a leadership development accelerator for BIPOC education leaders. 

Sol has spent 10 years working in various educational settings – both in direct service with students and in supporting education administration teams. Prior to his work at Surge, he led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and employee sustainability efforts at KIPP Northern California.

He thinks of himself as a lifelong learner, with research focused on how Black and brown sci-fi and fantasy literature offers radical lessons for dreaming justice movement work. They are currently a Changemaker Author fellow, taking their research into a new space by writing their own fantasy novels. Outside of work and writing, you can find her enjoying snuggles with her cat, reading fantasy and sci fi books, playing board games with her sibling and enjoying time in nature with friends and loved ones.

ADVISOR
Seattle, Washington

A seasoned veteran from technology to financial services, Dorothy has worked as a trusted advisor to leaders in growth companies and Fortune 100 corporations.  She is also the founder of Coaches of Color, a network of 700+ ICF trained coaches who identify as people of color. Dorothy also works with individuals  and organizations to build their foundation of a values-based culture and to build a leadership capability that attracts best in class talent.

Dorothy is a fierce advocate for equitable access to progressive and experiential education that develops humans to transform society.  She has served as a past board member of the Wonderland Developmental Center, currently serves as a trustee for the Seattle Girls School, and on the alumni advisory for the Yale School of Management.

She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPPM/MBA from the Yale School of Management.

When not supporting her clients or co-creators or volunteering, Dorothy can be found either watching or playing her favorite sports, trying to become fluent in French or in the clay studio getting muddy.

CO-FOUNDER & ADVISOR
Redwoods

Fairground was founded in honor of our CEO’s father Tito Pamplona Andrada who died on December 4, 2020, following a tragic car accident in November.

Tito Pamplona Andrada was born on January 26, 1948 to Vicente and Rizalina Andrada in Iloilo, Philippines where he spent his childhood on their family farm. He graduated from Mindanao State University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering. He joined the National Irrigation Administration and worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in the 1980s in Kano State, Nigeria where he met his wife Mely Caparas Andrada of the Ministry of Education. They immigrated to the States in the fall of 1986. He worked various odd jobs before being employed at an aerospace company.

Tito was a devoted husband and father, supporting his daughters in the pursuit of their dreams. He was a masterful chess player and volunteered as a chess coordinator at Leschi Elementary School. He taught his daughters Joy and Mel how to play chess at early age and would sign them up for chess tournaments almost weekly with their childhood friends.

His daughters won tournaments and trophies, triumphing over little white boys who’d arrive at the board boastfully saying, “Oh a girl, I can beat her.” Mel's Dad gave them that gift, he taught them how to win, but also how to lose -- and how to rise above failure, loss and overcome sexism, racism and xenophobia. The patience and practice that it takes to be good at something, to transform oppression into empowerment. They only ever saw their dad in one tournament, winning second place, only second to the highest rated player, a Grand Master.