OurOffice Team
Arsames Qajar is the CTO and Co-founder at OurOffice. He started as a Philosophy major at Cornell University, and ended up finding his passion in software engineering and architecture. Arsames has been a serial entrepreneur with a focus on startups that help connect people to their purpose. He is also a professor of database structures at USC, an instructor at Women Who Code, and is writing his first book, “Hands On NoSQL: A practical guide to design and implementation.”
break
Arsames Qajar
Co-Founder & CTO
break
Beth Sehgal is an advisor to OurOffice. She has over 20 years experience at A.T. Kearney, culminating in her current role as the firm’s Global Director of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). Under her strategic and energetic leadership, A.T. Kearney has won many awards for the firm’s extensive global D&I programs and activities. Beth is also a sought-after executive coach and an active community leader. She has an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.
break
Beth Sehgal
break
Caroline Vaquette is an international HR executive with extensive experience in Europe and Asia, and an OurOffice partner. Caroline is passionate about D&I and was the D&I Director at Henkel, a global german corporation, where she was responsible for D&I strategy and multiculturalism across 13 locations in Asia. She has implemented innovative HR programs by leveraging technology to engage and retain talent. Caroline earned her Masters in Business and Management in France.
break
Caroline Vaquette
break
Caryn Effron is a commercial real estate executive and an investor in OurOffice. She is the co-founder of Declare, and sits at the intersection of a number of communities that are committed to changing the status quo around gender parity. Caryn is passionate about education and sits on the board of Code Nation. As an active angel, Caryn invests in seed-stage start-ups as well as early-stage funds.
break
break
Caryn Effron
Dana Noweder is a D&I Advisor with OurOffice. During her extensive experience in startup environments, Dana has helped create inclusive cultures where employees feel empowered with a sense of connection and belonging in the workplace, while elevating the organization’s employer brand. She also brings a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in talent acquisition, leadership development, change and crisis management, and organizational planning. Dana graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago, and now lives in Phoenix, AZ.
Dana Noweder
Ed Hasan is founder of Kaizen Human Capital, an OurOffice partner firm, with focus on evidence-based organizational development, leadership coaching, and human resource consulting. Ed received his Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership from USC, and is currently an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University’s Master’s in HR program. He serves as a subject matter expert and instructor for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is a frequent speaker on leadership, diversity, and change management.
Ed Hasan
break
Guy Lipa is an advisor to OurOffice. He has deep executive experience in local government, including the City of LA and the LADWP, as well as in legislative affairs. Guy leverages his expertise to advise technology companies, with a focus on bridging the gap between the public and private sectors to tackle pressing issues of the day, and still finds time to actively engage in local leadership roles. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California.
break
Guy Lipa
break
Hope Taitz is CEO of ELY Capital and an investor in and advisor to OurOffice. After a successful career in investment banking and asset management, Hope founded her own money management firm, Catalyst Partners. Today, through ELY, she is an investor and advisor, helping innovative enterprises grow. Hope sits on several public company boards and is also a strong advocate of women on boards and STEM education.
break
break
Hope Taitz
break
Joe Bosch is an advisor to OurOffice. He has broad leadership experience as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at companies like Direct TV, Centex Homes, Tenet Healthcare Pizza Hut, and Pepsi Cola. Joe is also a Fellow at the National Academy of Human Resources, and sits on the board of Pizza Hut of Ft. Wayne, and the advisory boards of MD Insider and Allegis Partners. Joe served in the US Army and has a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
break
Joe Bosch
Lorena Prieto is a SHRM-certified HR leader and an advisor to OurOffice. Lorena has broad hands-on experience across all facets of HR management in the United States and internationally. She is currently a solutions engineer at Oracle, and has also been an HR practitioner, providing strategic and day-to-day direction to HR departments. She is passionate about embracing diversity, and enhancing the employee experience through inclusion across the organization.
break
Lorena Prieto
break
Mahdi Sakhavi is a Product Engineer and the Chief Behavioral Architect at OurOffice. An engineer by training, Mahdi has been a serial entrepreneur for the last 15 years. After his last exit, he decided to help other startups by mentoring and authoring several startup books. He has returned to the startup life and his passion for designing strategies to change behaviors, at OurOffice. Mahdi is also a Certified Product Manager, Lean Startup Coach, and SCRUM Master.
break
Mahdi Sakhavi
break
Marie Roker-Jones is a D&I Manager with OurOffice. Marie has over 10 years of experience in workforce development. In the last 5 years, she has focused on diversity and inclusion hiring and retention through her work with the military community, helping Veterans and military spouses transition to civilian careers. Marie has also worked with college students and career development at Lehman College and the City College in New York.
break
Marie Roker-Jones
Rachele Downs is the founder of Downs Diversity Initiatives, an OurOffice partner consultancy. She specializes in strategy, program design and facilitation, focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in leadership, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Rachele was previously VP of Entrepreneurial Strategies at Inforum, the largest women’s professional development organization in the midwest, where she led the inGAGE™ initiative to position Michigan as the Midwest hub for high-growth women entrepreneurs.
Rachele Downs
break
Ross Burningham provides legal and business counsel to OurOffice, and is a partner at Gunderson Dettmer. His focus is on representing emerging growth technology companies and the venture capital funds that finance them. Ross’ Expertise extends across a broad range of major transactions, including private placements, public offerings, mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, strategic collaborations and commercial transactions.
break
Ross Burningham
Sandy Harvey is the Founder of Exodus Consulting Group, an OurOffice partner consultancy. A skilled strategist with over 25 years of human resources and organizational development, leadership, and diversity and inclusion experience, Sandy incorporates metrics and analytics with technology and people for solutions that work. As an executive coach, Sandy has facilitated leadership and diversity and inclusion initiatives for multinational organizations. She is also a pastoral coach with a graduate degree from the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
Sandy Harvey
Shaara Roman is founder of the Silverene Group, an OurOffice partner firm. She specializes in culture and management consulting. Shaara is passionate about advising companies on creating successful strategies on organization culture, values alignment, eliminating toxic stressors in the workplace and fostering engaged and productive teams. Shaara has held executive leadership positions at CGI, Fannie Mae, NRECA and Visa. She holds an MBA in International Business from Georgetown University and serves on two non-profit boards.
Shaara Roman
Shameeka Tipnis is a Certified Professional of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) and a research associate at OurOffice. She has an MBA in Human Resources, with broad experience in various HR roles, including Talent Management, Diversity & Inclusion, Organization Development, Employee Engagement, and Learning & Development, across IT Services and Hospitality sectors. Shameeka believes in the power of HR and diversity and inclusion as strategic business differentiators.
Shameeka Tipnis
Sonya Sepahban is the CEO and Co-founder at OurOffice. She started as an astronaut wannabe and NASA engineer and quickly rose to CTO and business leadership roles with significant P/L, managing large global teams. Sonya’s system engineering background and first-hand experience with the challenges in improving D&I in her own teams led her to join hands with others who share her passion to start OurOffice, the first integrated technology platform for managing Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Sonya Sepahban
Co-Founder & CEO
Ready to Improve Diversity and Inclusion?
Customers
Want to measure, benchmark, and improve Diversity and Inclusion?
Partners
Do you offer expertise, products or services focused on D&I?
Candidates
Want to have impact on improving Diversity and Inclusion?
Contact Us