Sunayana Dumala grew up in a humble middle-class family in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, and was the first person from her entire family to come to the United States pursuing her dream of being independent and learning through her experiences. She married her husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, in 2012 after a six-year courtship. Life was good as Dumala worked as a database developer/data integration engineer while her husband pursued a successful career as an aviation systems engineer with Garmin. They bought a home in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, Kansas, and were looking to start a family.
Sarika Bhakta is the President of Nikeya Diversity Consulting. She comes from a multicultural immigrant background, having been born in Gujarat, India, and raised in the American Midwest. Adjusting to the American culture was extremely challenging for Sarika. This inspired her life’s legacy to empower people to live and lead authentically by leveraging their unique diversities through her firm. She has over 20 years of experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors empowering diverse talent and population groups to maximize their leadership potential while increasing their cultural competency and global perspective. She co-authored “Power Up, Super Women,” an anthology book on women’s empowerment, and is the host of the Diversity Straight Up podcast. She serves as a board member for The Zach Johnson Foundation (PGA Golfer), regional United Way, Forever Welcome Foundation, and Iowa Asian Alliance (AsianFest). Her name Sarika means hummingbird in Hindi (one of the official languages of India), and her astrological sign is a Taurus. Hence her mantra in life is “Hear you roar, see you soar!”
Christy is mom to two brown, beautiful, bilingual, bicultural children who are her biggest joy. She is the Community Advocacy & Impact Officer at Revolución Educativa, an advocacy organization working to improve the educational outcomes of Latinx students locally and nationally. She’s the former Director of Advocacy for the MO Charter Public School Association and previously led the Cultural Identity brands & teams at Hallmark Cards as Bilingual Editorial Director and consumer advocate. As a DEI champion there, she spearheaded efforts to elevate the impact of employee resource groups in corporate and business settings. Christy owns a language access firm and serves on the National Parents Union’s Family Advocacy Council, the Education Committee for Welcoming KC, the Board of Forever Welcome, and volunteers as the Latino Parent Liaison at Crossroads Charter Schools.
