BIREN "RATNESH” A. NAGDA, PhD, MSW, MA is Founder and Principal of IDEALeadership LLC,and consults with educational institutions and community organizations. Ratnesh's life calling is to bridge social divides and build alliances across differences to promote personal, social and community healing. Ratneshis of Indian descent, born and raised in Kenya, East Africa, before coming to the United States. The experiences of growing up in a diverse-yet-divided society marked by the dynamics of colonization that separated Africans, Indians and Europeans have influenced his education, professional pursuits, and practice commitments. Ratnesh is a co-developer of the intergroup dialogue model geared toward transforming intergroup conflicts into greater understanding and collaborations for equity and justice. His work focuses on developing intergroup dialogue programs as well as equity-centered reflective practice, community healing, and social change leadership development programs nationally and internationally.