The Groundwater Institute is a community of leaders determined to build a world where everyone can thrive.

We are a diverse collective of racial equity advocates, grassroots organizers, strategy consultants, and institutional leaders who are committed to shining a light on the root cause of the inequities in our society and driving large-scale transformation to build a more equitable future.

We believe that ending structural racism will require a colossal and collective effort. Our approach is grounded in the principles of movement building and organizing, which emphasize the importance of “building a base” of active and committed leaders as a prerequisite for sustaining change.

We work with the leaders from major institutions across the country in the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors, who intend to bring the full weight of their organizations and influence to bear in the struggle for racial equity. We seek to equip these leaders with the analysis, skills, and community to transform themselves, their organizations, the systems they are a part of, and ultimately the world.

Our Story

The Groundwater Institute has grown from and is indebted to the long history of racial equity advocacy in this country. Our work pays tribute to the countless educators, activists and organizers, known and unknown, who paved the way. Our story is inextricably linked to the legacy of organizing from the abolition movement to the civil rights era, and to the many organizations since then that systematized and structured an approach to identify the root causes of racial inequity and build a movement to tackle it.

Anchored in this legacy, the Racial Equity Institute (REI) has been helping individuals, organizations, and communities grow their understanding and analysis of structural racism and its cultural and historic roots for over 15 years. REI’s training is transformational, and it is also resource and time intensive because movement-building demands such an investment. While pursuing this important and much needed work with individuals and organizations ready for that commitment, REI recognized the potential for transformation if their groundwater approach was shared with a much broader base. This desire to reach even more people with whom this analysis would resonate and to deepen the capacity to drive transformation led to the partnership between REI and Impactive Consulting in 2019.The collaboration between the two organizations culminated in the creation of the Groundwater Institute in 2020.

This history, this legacy, is what makes the Groundwater Institute so unique. We are a meeting ground that integrates the wisdom of seasoned racial equity advocates and organizers with the best practices and tools of strategy consulting. Together, we are working to chart a bold path forward: transform a critical mass of leaders and organizations to drive a tangible change in the groundwater.

The Groundwater Metaphor

What we are building

  • Tools to support leaders and organizations

  • Transformed Organizations that become exemplars for others

  • Groundwater Network builds community among leaders and organizations

Discover our Services

Our Founders

  • Deena Hayes-Greene

    is the founder and Managing Director of the Racial Equity Institute(REI) and brings over 15 years of experience as a community and institutional organizer. Deena is nationally renowned as a trainer and institutional leader in racial equity, chairs the boards of Guilford County Schools and the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, and holds a BA from Guilford College.

  • Ellen Hunter

    has an extensive background in strategy consulting and leadership development. She was previously a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group after which she founded Impactive, a boutique consulting firm that specialized in strategy, learning solutions, and leadership development for organizations working to combat poverty and injustice. Ellen has an MBA from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Brown University.

  • Monica Walker

    is a veteran organizer, artist, trainer, speaker and social activist who has spent the better part of her career addressing issues of race, equity, and inclusion while organizing for social justice on every front. She was previously the Executive Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Guilford County Schools, where she led the district’s efforts to eliminate racially disparate outcomes and all other forms of bias and discrimination.

  • Bayard "Bay" Love

    is dedicated to building successful campaigns, strong organizations, and empowered leaders to deliver racial equity. Bay is a former Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and has been involved with numerous organizing and strategy initiatives nationally and internationally - particularly the South (Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama) and the Northeast of the United States. He holds an MPP from Duke University, an MBA from University of North Carolina and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Our Team

  • Ben Anderson

  • David Collis Foster

  • Ned Dick

  • Jen Goldsmith

  • danielle miles

  • Megan McGowan

  • Stephanie Phillips

  • Dwight Smith

Our Program Leaders

  • Alison Beyea

  • Pete Davis

  • Christian Douglass

  • Kevin Eppler

  • Tim Jellison

  • Monica Kumar

  • Phil Lee

  • Sarah Lentz

  • Nafeesha Mitchell

  • Amy McKeag

  • Shana Cook Mueller

  • Ben Perkins

  • Jorge Zeballos

  • Nikki Turner

  • Craig Andrade