Consulting Leads

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Strategist │ Leadership Consultant

Anees Hasnain (She/They) is a DEI Leader at I Follow the Leader LLC, a leadership consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). I Follow the Leader was launched in 2016 to heighten awareness and readiness of DEI initiatives within companies. Anees and the team partner with organizations to move them along the diversity continuum, improve their overall culture, and increase profitability, creativity, and innovation.  

Anees’s childhood existed at the intersection of Eid and Christmas, biryani and beef stew - her racial/ethnic, queer, disabled, and spiritual identities being both visible and invisible. As an ongoing learner of restorative and transformative justice, her steadfast hope that liberation is possible is rooted in rage, radical love, and expansive imagination. She is driven by an understanding that her very existence is the result of the joy, resistance, and right relationships of elders before her.  

Anees holds a Master of Arts in Education, with a focus on Organizational Leadership and Learning, from George Washington University. She earned her B.A. in Sociology, with minors in Education, LGBT Studies, and Political Science, from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her knowledge of social systems, structures, and how groups of people can more healthily collaborate with and learn alongside each other inform her approach to collaborating with organizations.  

Anees lives on occupied Lenape land, and partners with organizers and activists to uplift and amplify consent and trauma-informed approaches to community safety. Otherwise, you can find her marveling at street art, soaking up nature’s rich shades of green, and creating misshapen pottery as personal practices of healing through embodied movement. Fun fact? She was an alternate on the USA taekwondo team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Strategist │ Equity Practitioner │ Leadership Consultant

Dr. Jasmine C. Marks is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leader at I Follow the Leader LLC, a leadership consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). I Follow the Leader was launched in 2016 to heighten awareness and readiness of DEI initiatives within companies. Dr. Jasmine Marks and the team partner with organizations to move them along the diversity continuum, improve their overall culture, and increase profitability, creativity, and innovation. 

Dr. Jasmine Marks is an equity and justice practitioner with expertise in aiding organizations and institutions in anti-racist/anti-oppressive transformation. Highlights of her work include prioritizing the support and empowerment of minoritized stakeholders, transforming organizational culture, and cultivating inclusive education, policies, and practices. 

Dr. Marks holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Studies with a concentration in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University. She earned her Masters in Teaching & Learning and a Bachelors in Vocal Performance. 

Dr. Marks is based in Columbus, Ohio and works professionally as an Equity Practitioner in the non-profit sector. In her spare time, Dr. Marks enjoys reading, singing, and travelling. 

 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Strategist │ Cultural Anthropologist │ Leadership Consultant

 Kim Allen is a senior leader at I Follow the Leader LLC, a leadership consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). I Follow the Leader was launched in 2016 to heighten awareness and readiness of DEI initiatives within companies. Kim and the team partner with organizations to move them along the diversity continuum, improve their overall culture, and increase profitability, creativity, and innovation. 

Kim is an executive-level community engagement professional with over 25 years of experience creating, building, and leading organizations aimed at the development of just and equitable communities and workplaces. She has significant skills and accomplishments in non-profit organizations, higher education teaching and administration venues, campaigns for public office, and with government officials in advocacy roles.  

Kim holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an anthropologist, Kim is keenly interested in what makes us human and how cultural practices like cooking and eating, schooling, childrearing and other cultural practices vary among human societies. Her research has focused on racial identity formation and environmental activism. Her current research interests address anti-racist identity and action. 

Kim will soon earn certification as a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP)® from The Institute for Diversity Certification (IDC)®, a subsidiary of the Society for Diversity and the leading professional association for diversity and inclusion.

Kim is based in Durham, North Carolina and is the matriarch in a family that’s committed to racial and social equity and justice for all. In nearby Chapel Hill are her son Allen, a civil rights attorney, daughter-in-law Sarah, a public health researcher who focuses on racial disparities in healthcare and three adorable grandchildren who are of mixed lineage. . A present and available neighbor, Kim enjoys maintaining her Little Free Library and operating The Listening Booth, a traveling kiosk she created that invites young and old to come sit and share good news, sad thoughts or bright ideas with a compassionate listener..