Featured Voices
Read more about the speakers featured in our lessons. We gratefully appreciate them for taking the time to sit down with us and share their stories.
Dr. Lisa Lowery (she/her/hers)
Dr. Lisa Lowery, a Grand Rapids native, received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology with Honors from Michigan State University. Dr. Lowery received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. She completed a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency program at Spectrum Health-Butterworth Michigan State University/Grand Rapids. Dr. Lowery completed a subspecialty fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. While at the Johns Hopkins, she obtained a Master of Public Health in the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences with a Certificate of Concentration in Maternal and Child Health.
Dr. Lowery is the Section Chief of Adolescent Medicine and an Associate Program Director for the Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program. She is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. In April 2020, she started at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine as the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Cultural Initiatives.
She serves on the Urban League of West Michigan Board of Directors, the Cherry Health Foundation Board, Wedgewood Christian Services Board of Directors, and the Grand Rapids LGBTQ Health Consortium Board of Directors.
Dilli Gautam (he/him/his)
Dilli Gautam works as the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Bethany Christian Services, a refugee resettlement agency in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition, he is the president of the Bhutanese Community of Michigan, a refugee-run non-profit organization in Michigan. Dilli is passionate about building the capacity of refugee-focused organizations by recruiting and polishing their talent to better equip and connect them to not only achieve their personal success and the upliftment of the community they belong to and serve.
Erica Soto (she/they)
Erica Soto is a mother, bilingual educator, community leader, performance artist, and President of BL²END. Erica earned their Bachelors Degree in Psychology in 2017 and has an extensive background in Pre-K to 12th grade education, programming and development for over 10 years. They have served the Grand Rapids community for over 15 years. They are an active & engaged leader who believes in the value of working together for the equity and advancement of all BIPOC members, of all abilities, in our community.
Riaka Shackelford (she/her/hers)
Riaka is the Senior HR Business Partner Advisor at Beaumont Health/Spectrum Health. In her role, she is responsible for leading system-wide and client group specific projects and initiatives that address strategic and operational goals. She partners with leaders to provide strategic HR counsel and will support leaders related to people development, performance, analytics, and change management. Her work is primarily focused in the post-acute and sub-acute areas of patient care. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the University of Phoenix, she holds a Bachelor degree in Communications and a Master degree in Business Administration. She is passionate about leadership development and mentorship to women and people of color. In addition, she serves on several Inclusion Resource Groups within Beaumont Health/Spectrum Health – African Americans for Resources & Engagement, Women Impacting Spectrum Health, and Healthy Pride, in an effort to create a more inclusive work environment that all can thrive in.
GS Suri (he/him/his)
GS Suri is the Founder of Lake Michigan Painting, a direct to consumer residential painting company of 30, fully minority-owned and operated in West Michigan. Prior, Mr. Suri worked in tech startups & started his career in Citigroup’s Public Sector Investment Banking Division in New York focused on Affordable Housing transactions. Mr. Suri attended the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts with Degrees in Finance and International Studies and graduated with Honors.