Our Team

  • Almost a decade ago Patricia sought to define the next chapter of her career. A place where she could channel her 20+ years’ of experience building diverse leaders, teams, and organizations across sectors. Leaning into her entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative approach, Patricia set out to build an organization focused on a future of work where everyone gets an opportunity to unleash their superpowers, break barriers, and drive success. From that, INCLUDE was born. Patricia has served as INCLUDE’s CEO since its inception. 

    Patricia is also a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (SPP) where she teaches and directs an innovation and social impact leadership program for 1st year students. For three years, she also served as the school’s Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Officer and Task Force Chair where her work led to tripling the number of faculty of color and increasing women faculty from 10% to 30% during her tenure. 

    Throughout her career, Patricia led as a public servant, most notably serving in the Obama Administration as a Senior Advisor for the Department of Labor (DOL) in the area of disability employment policy. She also led department-wide diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) out of the Office of the Secretary for the over 16,000 DOL employees. As a career public servant, she led strategic engagement for the federal agency of AmeriCorps. More recently, Patricia served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team as a racial equity and DEIA advisor, developing agency DEIA policy plans and drafting of future racial equity and DEIA-related Presidential Executive Orders. Patricia began her career in the nonprofit sector, where she developed and led as a nonprofit executive for a decade, ultimately serving as a Program Director for one of the largest-longest standing AmeriCorps programs in California, which is still in operation today.

    Patricia holds a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College and a master’s degree in organization development from the School of Public Affairs at American University where she was the recipient of the Hal Kellner Award for Social Justice. Patricia has served on nonprofit boards including Damien Ministries, a nonprofit faith-based organization that seeks to improve health and wellness for marginalized D.C. communities. Patricia identifies as a queer white woman and a single mother, raising her 10-year-old daughter in the Washington, D.C. area.

PATRICIA BORY

  • As Chief of Staff, Maiya is responsible for supervising operations and managing both internal and external relations. Her approach to working with any organization is grounded in empathy and the belief that belonging is the foundation of any successful workplace. 

    Before her time at INCLUDE, she was a research assistant at the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she studied the virology of deformed wing virus in honeybees using hands-on beekeeping techniques and confocal microscopy. She was the second author on Susceptible and infectious states for both vector and host in a dynamic pathogen–vector–host system.

    Additionally, she was a research assistant at the Do Good Institute, where she helped match students in partnerships with nonprofits, and developed student entrepreneurship programs so they could pursue their own passions within the realm of social good.

    Maiya began her professional career as a Teaching Assistant for University of Maryland College Park's School of Public Policy, while managing a full course load and in top leadership positions in various school-affiliated organizations.

    Maiya is a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park. She majored in Environmental Science and Policy with a minor in Spanish Language, graduating with top honors.

MAIYA KRICHTON

  • Danielle Bowditch is a trusted advisor to industry-proven executive founders and C-suite leaders. 

    Starting out in Washington, D.C., alongside major federal agencies like TSA and national non-profits like the Girl Scouts of America, coupled with her expertise in the media and entertainment landscape in Los Angeles, she's built a 15-year career supercharging executive visions into reality through design, culture, and firm dynamics. 

    Known for her discretion, empathy, and quick trust-building with high-profile clients, she can uncover and illuminate the uncomfortable dynamics holding back productivity, profitability, and ideal work cultures.  She's mediated boards' competing allegiances,  architected performance excellence at the highest levels, negotiated co-founder conflicts and misgivings, advised third and fourth-career executives on leading upcoming generations, and facilitated spaces for leaders to find the critical drivers of their businesses. 

    With a bias toward healthy, profitable firms and anchored in her M.S. in Organization Development, Danielle comes alongside leaders to find and unleash their organizations' latent potential. She is a CHIEF Guide, Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, and holds an M.S. in Organizational Development from American University.

DANIELLE BOWDITCH

LATIFA LYLES

  • Latifa Lyles has more than 20 years of social justice movement experience working on issues of economic justice and equity for women, U.S. labor policy, and combating gender-based violence. Most recently, she serves as Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Women in Construction at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Previously, she was Special Assistant to the President for Gender Policy in the White House Gender Policy Council where she led work on gender equity in the workplace, women’s economic security, and racial equity and justice for women of color. Latifa works on a range of domestic policy issues, including access to good jobs and job training; gender discrimination and harassment on the job, and increased job supports and safety net programs for working families.

    In 2009, she joined the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) where she was appointed Director by President Obama. In her year seven years at DOL, she led initiatives on workplace equity, including addressing occupational segregation; served on the White House Task Force on Equal Pay, managed multi-sector national convenings on working families’ issues; represented DOL on the White House Council on Women and Girls; established the Department of Labor’s first grant program for to states and municipalities to study paid leave policies; and led the establishment of the DOL VETS Women Veteran Program.

    Latifa has served in multiple non-profit executive leadership roles in policy advocacy, fundraising and communications. She was Vice President for Advocacy and Survivor Initiatives at TIME’S UP, Vice President for External Affairs for the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and Vice President for Membership at the National Organization for Women.

MONIFA PORTER

  • As the SVP and Head of Shift AI at Mach49, Monifa leads a team of experts in creating and launching new ventures for Global 1000 companies using AI-powered tools and methodologies. She has over 25 years of experience in venture building, product strategy, and technology innovation, working with engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, and customers across various industries and markets.

    Monifa's passion is to help organizations transform their ideas into successful businesses, by applying agile, lean, and human-centered approaches to product development and market fit. She also shares her insights and knowledge as a guest lecturer at Stanford GSB, where she earned her MBA. She is always eager to learn new skills, explore new domains, and collaborate with diverse and talented teams.

SHIRA MILLER

  • For over 15 years Shira has served as an organizational leader and strategist focusing on tackling major public challenges, especially those related to democracy and climate change.

    She has served in various leadership roles in government, electoral campaigns, and with advocacy and civic organizations. During her time in the White House, she developed and implemented policies under President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to build a safer, healthier, and more resilient nation. She has held executive leadership positions at the Analyst Institute, When We All Vote, and Civic Nation, and co-founded Project Girls for Girls, a global initiative to grow the pipeline of women in public leadership.

    As Chief Program & Strategy Officer at Civic Nation, she oversees the development and execution of social impact campaigns that educate and mobilize around the biggest challenges of our time -- strengthening democracy; fostering civic engagement; and fighting for gender equity, racial justice, economic mobility, and more.

    Shira earned a MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Wesleyan University.