Nicole Sanchez, Founder

Nicole Sanchez is a 30-year practitioner interested in the ways that people can collaborate across racial + ethnic difference without re-inflicting and reliving historical harm.

As Founder & CEO of Vaya, Nicole has transformed workplace cultures, from start-ups to multinational organizations. She has served as a lecturer on workplace diversity at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and consults and speaks globally, with firms and organizations that understand they are in the midst of massive culture changes. She previously served as VP of Social Impact at GitHub and the Associate Director for Ethics in Society at Stanford University. In 2015, Nicole was named a 'Game Changer' by Spelman College. She earned her BA from Stanford University and MBA from UC Berkeley .

Debra Gill, Senior Consultant

Debra Gill is a proud native of the San Francisco Bay Area with more than 30 years of human resources experience, 25 in the public sector. Before consulting, she served as the Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations in the City of Pleasanton from 2015-2022. During her tenure with the City, Debra was responsible for all human resources and labor relations functions including contract negotiations, strategic planning, employee engagement, organizational development, workers’ compensation, recruitment and retention, classification and compensation, COVID-19 response and diversity, equity and inclusion. Before her role as Director of Human Resources in Pleasanton, she served the city as Human Resources Manager from 2011-2015. Since her career at the City of Pleasanton she has served as Interim HR Director for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Interim Director of People and Culture for the Contra Costa Water District. Beyond her extensive job responsibilities, Debra has served several professional organizations in the public sector, including the League of California Cities and the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, for which she was a Board Member for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. She is also a longtime member of the California Public Employers Labor Relations Association (CALPELRA), serving on the Board of Directors for several years, and as CALPELRA’s 2022 Board President. Debra also currently teaches Managing Human Capital for San Francisco State University’s MPA program.

Debra received her B.A. in Liberal Studies with a minor in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay. She also holds an MPA from the same institution.

Our Track Record

We’ve had the pleasure of working with hundreds of organizations. Here are some of our past clients: