Consultants in the Dance of Difference Group have been providing consulting services to corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations for over 30 years in both the United States and abroad. We specialize in building awareness and skills that facilitate high levels of productivity and full engagement of a workforce that is diverse by gender, race and sexual orientation.  Our team of consultants is available for executive coaching, workshops, speaking engagements, as well as conversations with managers about issues of diversity.

We are a diverse team by race, gender, sexual orientation, age and national origin, reflecting the diversity of client systems in which we have worked.

We also provide guidance on the use of Shirley’s book, The Dance of Difference: The New Frontier of Sexual Orientation as a resource in your organization for building awareness and skills in regard to issues of sexual orientation in the workplace.

Our consulting practice is based on mutual respect, ethical conduct, authenticity, and collaborative work relationships with our clients. We celebrate our technical competence in the field of organizational behavior. We also support the learning of our clients by sharing the challenges we ourselves have encountered in our personal diversity journeys.

Shirley Fletcher, President of Dance of Difference Consulting

For over 30 years, Shirley Anderson Fletcher has consulted to leaders and organizations in the private and public sectors in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Clients like Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Shell Oil Company, Wachovia Bank and the Organization of American States (O.A.S) have benefited from Shirley's expertise.

She is an Applied Behavioral Scientist with a Masters Degree from Johns Hopkins University, a graduate Diploma in Education from Oxford University, and an Honors Degree in History from London University/University College of the West Indies.

Michael Burkart, Ed.D.

Michael Burkart has been consulting to managers and organizations since 1978.   He has been a consultant with Elsie Y. Cross Associates, Inc. (EYCA) since 1990.  EYCA is one of the oldest diversity-consulting firms in the country. He has worked with the following clients on diversity projects: Ford, Shell Oil, Cigna, Ortho Biotech, Kroger Foods, First Union Bank, Wachovia Bank, and the National Park Service. 

In addition to consulting, Dr. Burkart held a teaching position at Antioch New England Graduate School for seven years.  He spent two of those years as Acting Chair of the Department of Organization & Management. Michael has a doctorate in Behavioral Studies from Boston University and he is a past member of National Training Laboratories.

Douglas Fletcher, M.S.O.D.

Douglas Fletcher is a Business and Organization Development practitioner with a focus on diversity and inclusion. He has assisted corporate, non-profit, and legal clients throughout the U.S. over the past 20 years and is recognized as an expert in the field. The Founder and Principal of Alchemy Leadership, LLC an Organization Development & Training firm, Douglas Fletcher focuses on partnering with his clients to determine their needs, create a plan of action, and produce measurable improvements.

He graduated from American University with a Master of Science in Organizational Development, is certified in Organization & Systems Development from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and is also a member of the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.

Mark G. Kaplan, President, MGK Consulting LLC

Mark Kaplan is the President of MGK Consulting LLC, a New Hampshire-based organization development and training firm. He has been consulting since 1986 and has advised numerous organizations in the areas of management development, executive coaching and development, team building and group dynamics, organizational assessment, and diversity management, assessment and strategy development.

His most extensive area of work is in advising organizations on creating more diverse, inclusive cultures.  He is a pioneer in helping organizations integrate sexual orientation into their D&I initiatives and his work has been published in 2 books and several magazines and newspapers.  He has worked on 5 continents with numerous industries (Financial Service, Insurance, Consulting, Accounting, Energy, Healthcare) as well as with not-for-profit and government organizations.

Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington

Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington serves as the President and Founder of the Washington Consulting Group, a Multicultural Organizational Development Firm out of Baltimore, MD.  He is also a senior consultant with The Equity Consulting Group of California, and Elsie Y. Cross and Associates out of Philadelphia.  Dr. Washington has served as an educator and administrator in higher education for over 26 years. He’s served as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs; an Instructor in Sociology, American Studies and Education, and an Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).  Rev. Washington is a founding faculty member of the Social Justice Training Institute.

A native Philadelphian, Dr. Washington earned his B.S. degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Music from Slippery Rock State College, and a double Masters' of Science degrees from Indiana University/Bloomington in Higher Education Administration and Counseling, with a concentration in Human Sexuality. He holds a Ph.D. is in College Student Development, with a concentration in Multicultural Education from the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Washington also holds a Masters of Divinity from Howard University School of Divinity with a concentration on Pastoral Care and Christian Social Ethics.

Kathy Obear, Ed. D.

Kathy Obear, Ed. D., Alliance for Change, has over 20 years experience as an organization development consultant specializing in managing diversity, team and organizational effectiveness, conflict resolution, and change management. She works with corporations, universities, and human service organizations to redesign work practices and team dynamics to reflect the organization’s core values of inclusion and empowerment. Her clients have included Toyota, Verizon, American Friends Service Committee, Wachovia Bank, University of Colorado, Fleet Financial Group, and MassMutual Insurance.

Kathy is a founding faculty member of The Social Justice Training Institute, a five-day intensive professional development program for diversity practitioners focusing on dynamics of race and racism. She has a deep passion for helping diversity and OD practitioners to manage themselves more effectively when they are triggered so they can navigate difficult dialogues with greater competence.

Clenard C. Henderson

Mr. Henderson has been an executive and management consultant for more than 40 years. He began his career at the Procter & Gamble Company, where he held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in product development, human resources and operations. After nearly 25 years, Chip left P&G to devote himself full-time to The Henderson Company, which he established in 1970. The Henderson Company has provided consulting and training services to a wide range of clients in the US, Mexico, Canada, Trinidad and Jamaica. Areas of specialization include leadership development, executive coaching, strategic planning, culture change and team building. Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon Endo-surgery, Shell Oil, Wachovia Bank, University of Pennsylvania Sloan School, University of Michigan, Cincinnati Health Department, Maytag Corporation, Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the University of the West Indies have utilized his services. Chip is an alumnus of the University of Cincinnati, where he earned a B.S. in Psychology and Biological Sciences. He has also done extensive graduate work in Social Psychology and Community Planning.

Lynda B. Detterman, Ph.D.

I am convinced people want to bring their best to their work and I know organizations excel over time only if their members can do so. 

Leadership Development is a key component of my work. Executive Coaching provides developmental leaps for leaders that are investing in their understanding of their identities as agents of change in the “Dance of Difference.”

Innovation and Inclusion are priorities I pursue in partnerships with clients. Changing cultures to be enduringly inclusive and to ameliorate the impact of the societal forces of “isms” (racism, ageism, heterosexism and others) has been the most challenging and rewarding work I do with clients and colleagues. This inclusion leads to innovation.

Life long learning keeps me energized. I recently completed a certification in Feldenkrais Mind Body Movement.I hold a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior built on the foundation of my BS and MA in Education.

Toni Dunton-Butler

Toni Dunton-Butler, president of A Silver Thread, Inc., believes it is important for leaders in organizations to understand that what is chosen in this moment will impact what happens in the next moment, day, year, lifetime. If you explore the origin of your choices and understand what you now want to experience, you are then poised to consciously create your desired future.

During the last 25 years as consultant and coach, her clients have included fortune 100 companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations and individuals who are on their life journey. Her work has taken her to Mexico, Denmark, Canada as well as almost every state on the east coast of the United States. At present she resides in Columbia, MD.

Consulting Services

Copyright 2011 Shirley Fletcher & Assoc. Inc. All rights reserved.