Contact: [email protected]

Brandyn Keating, YOUnify CEO, has a 20 year history of scaling relationship-based community building for social change as a political professional, trainer, coach, facilitator and social entrepreneur. She has trained organizations and individuals across the US on having transformative values-based conversations across differences [that lead to action!] as well as on leadership, social change and organization-building. A civic engagement innovator, Brandyn has overseen over two dozen randomized controlled experiments conducted with social scientists, including first-of-their-kind studies on the most effective ways to reduce polarization and change voter behavior. Keating served in leadership roles on both of President Obama’s campaigns, national nonprofits, the SuperPAC NextGen Climate and on countless issue and electoral campaigns. She also served as Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, on the Public Safety Working Group of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s 2006 transition team and on the Drug Policy Task Force of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Pedro Silva, YOUnify Director of Engagement, brings a wealth of cross-sector experience. A veteran of the United States Air Force, who served as both a Satellite Communications Technician and a Mandarin Chinese Language/Intelligence Analyst, he has cultivated the capacity to think missionally and practically--strategically and tactically--on a wide variety of concerns. In his post military career, Pedro worked as a corporate recruiter for 8 years serving dozens of for profit, not for profit, and B Corporations in the areas of technology, biotech, and more. In 2009, he entered Andover Newton Theological Seminary and for 10 years served as a pastor in the socially active, United Church of Christ.  In this role, Pedro built on his passion for civic engagement. For 3 years he served as the State Representative for the Boulder Caucus of Together Colorado, an organization of the Faith In Action Network, where he worked on a variety of issues at the local to state levels from affordable housing, gun violence, and voting to living wage legislation and the Family Leave Act. He also served on several committees with the local NAACP chapter and worked with the Boulder Community Foundation as an advisor in the wake of the tragic shooting in Boulder. In addition to these efforts, Pedro hosted numerous in person and online conversations on race in Boulder County, has been an advocate for the homeless community, and has made a mark on the bridging movement through his volunteer work with Living Room Conversations and now as a Director of Engagement with YOUnify.

Mark Gerzon, Senior Advisor, is one of the key architects of the field of global leadership and an experienced facilitator in high-conflict zones. He has advised a wide variety of organizations including the US Congress, multinational corporations, and UNDP. Mark is the author of numerous books, including Leading Through Conflict, The Reunited States of America and Global Citizens. He is currently dividing his time between international leadership workshops and building a transpartisan movement in the USA.

Rob Stein, Senior Advisor, is founder of the Democracy Alliance and co-founder of the Committee on States. An attorney by training, Rob has founded and run several non-profit organizations, was senior strategist to the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was Chief of Staff of the Washington Office of the Clinton-Gore Transition, served as Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Commerce, and was a private equity investor working with dozens of early-stage companies. Rob’s original, comprehensive research about the funding, management and overall infrastructure of the conservative movement over the last three decades, and his recruitment of leading progressive strategists, activists and donors, resulted in the formation of the Democracy Alliance.

John Steiner, Senior Advisor, works to help build, catalyze and serve the cross-partisan bridging movement as a co-founder and board member of the Bridge Alliance, as a board
member of BridgeUSA, and as co-founder and senior strategist to YOUnify. From 2004-2009, he helped organize Reuniting America, as it brought together conservative, moderate, liberal and progressive leaders of national organizations to engage in constructive dialogues and to prove that leaders with highly divergent views could and were actually eager to work together to find common ground solutions. He was a founding board member of Search for Common Ground, a co-founder of the National Commons, a predecessor organization to the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution on whose leadership council he serves. He was one of founders of the Social Venture Network, and the Threshold Foundation.

John Kesler, Board Chair, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and divides his time in four general ways. He practices and shares integral polarity practice, a practice developed by John, grounded in mindfulness which works with polarities throughout the spectrum of one’s being and the breadth of one’s life, relationships and organizations. He is a social activist who leads a non-profit called the Salt Lake/Global Civil Network which does integrally informed social and political transformation work locally and networks globally.  John is a practicing commercial transactional attorney, and he spends lot of time with his wife, Colleen (Freddie), his two children and their families. John does consulting, teaching and writing primarily in the first two areas mentioned in ways that are deeply interpenetrating.

Michelle Oldroyd, Board Member, is the Director of Professional Education for the Utah State Bar. She previously served as Director of the Utah Commission on Civic and Character Education, with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Ms. Oldroyd is a well-established lawyer who received her Juris Doctorate at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, and teaches there also as an adjunct professor. As well, Ms. Oldroyd served as Staff Attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Utah, where she mediated complex litigation matters and managed press relations and security issues for high profile trials.
Honored for her efforts and work philosophy, Ms. Oldroyd was named UCCR Peacekeeper for mediation in Utah, earned the Scott M. Matheson Award from the Utah Bar for her contributions to law-related education, was named on the list of Utah’s Legal Elite, and was chosen as one of 12 Distinguished Government Professionals in America for her public service. Ms. Oldroyd was further named one of the Elite Women Professionals for the United States and was named a Distinguished Humanitarian, for her ability to combine community service with her professional endeavors. A feature article in the national business publication, Pro-Files Magazine, is forthcoming on Ms. Oldroyd’s efforts in law and education.

John Gable, Board Member, is Co-founder and CEO of AllSides. Throughout John's career, he has been a builder of tools, teams and companies that empower people and improve the world. John has over 25 years of technology entrepreneurship, management and executive experience, leading product, marketing and consumer teams and divisions. He served on the original teams for Microsoft Office, Mozilla at Netscape (browser is now known as Firefox), and ZoneAlarm at Check Point Software. He co-founded Kavi Corp (web-based collaboration, sold to Higher Logic) and previously was a professional political campaigner and executive director in the 1980s working for the Republican National Committee as well as for candidates for US President, US Senate, US Congress, Governor and local campaigns. His experience spans consumer technology products, marketing, press, community collaboration and high tech management.

John Pudner, Senior Advisor, is the founder and CEO of Take Back Our Republic, a non-profit educating the public on conservative solutions for political reform. He managed political campaigns for almost three decades, including jump-starting the campaign of Dave Brat, who would ultimately unseat US majority leader Eric Cantor in the 2014 primary, and helping defeat a 32-year incumbent state senator in Alabama’s general election that same year. Pudner won three out of four races in which he was involved, focusing on outsmarting rather than outspending. His political work stretched throughout his career as founder of Concentric Direct LLC, director of external affairs for ALFA, and vice president of national grassroots affairs for McGuire Woods Consulting.

Karen Hale, Board Member, has dedicated her life to public service. She served in a variety of senior roles in the Salt Lake County Mayor's Office. She has served on Intermountain Health Care's Primary Children's Medical Center Board of Trustees since 2008 and was named the chair in 2010. During her two terms in the Utah State Senate (1998-2006), Hale was a member of the Transportation and Public Safety Committee, the Education Committee, and the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee. She is a co-founder of the Coalition for Quality of Public Education and has been a strong advocate for arts education in the public schools and tobacco prevention programs. Hale is a University of Utah graduate.