NMCI Team

Led by the Board of Directors, the National MultiCultural Institute's dedicated core staff is supplemented by a network of diverse, highly-skilled, and experienced associates who are well-versed in NMCI's unique approach and proven training and consulting methods.

JOHN R. KIRKSEY, President

John R. Kirksey is NMCI’s second president, and is responsible for both the visionary and administrative leadership of the organization, overseeing business development and marketing, client and partner relationships, and strategic planning.

He is a leading expert in the area of human resources, diversity, organization culture, and strategic business change processes. He has been cited in professional journals and the national media, including the American Management Association’s Management Review Magazine, Gannett newspapers, and BNA. In addition, he has been featured in interviews on CNN and CNBC.  

Prior to joining the NMCI team, John was the managing principal of The Kirksey Group, which provides consulting services in organization effectiveness, workforce change management, and multicultural inclusion/diversity to Fortune 500 corporations. His professional experience also includes: senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer for AXA Equitable; vice president and chief talent management officer for Marsh & McLennan; partner and practice leader with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he led both the Global Cultural Inclusion and Diversity Consulting Practice and the HR Consulting Practice for the entertainment and media industries. He also co-led the Global Diversity and Inclusion Consulting Practice at Towers Perrin.  

As a consultant, he has advised a broad cross-section of global Fortune 100 and 500 companies as well as several European- and Asian-based corporations. He has been an advisor to corporations in financial services, manufacturing, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, entertainment/media, and education and health services.   

Before his consulting career John was senior vice president and chief services officer for ICMA Retirement Corporation, where the departments of human resources, national accounts, administration, public relations, and corporate communications reported to him. He has also been a human resources executive with Johnson and Johnson, Knight Ridder, and others. 

John serves on several Boards for such organizations as: New York University’s Polytechnic Institute; Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations; National Executive Service Corps; Old Barracks (Revolutionary War) Museum; and A Journey For 911. He is also a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association and member of their Executive Leadership Council.    

John holds a M. A. in Cultural Studies from Governors State University at University Park Illinois and The Advanced Management Diploma from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

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ELIZABETH PATHY SALETT, MSW, Founder

Elizabeth Pathy Salett founded the National MultiCultural Institute in 1983, drawing on her experience working in diverse communities in the United States and internationally. Her goal has been to create a society that is strengthened and empowered by its diversity and to enable people with different perspectives, belief systems, and life experiences to find common ground and common purpose. Liz continues to serve on NMCI's Board of Directors.

Born in Budapest, she grew up in Alexandria, Egypt and came to the United States as a teenager. She was an early participant in the Peace Corps in Venezuela and as Brazil Desk Officer in Washington, DC; she worked in the anti-poverty program in Washington, DC; directed a statewide health care and family planning project in New Jersey; and worked as a clinical social worker and family therapist in Columbia, MD.  

Liz has a B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.A. in International Education from Columbia University, Teachers' College, a Certificate from the University of Paris in Economics and Sociology, and an M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maryland. She has lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

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DIANA HOSSACK, Professional Development Director

Diana Hossack is the professional development director for the National MultiCultural Institute. She oversees the organization’s training portfolio, which includes programming for national diversity conferences, designing curricula for organizational clients, and managing the organization’s online and print resources.

Diana is a beneficiary of NMCI’s training workshops, and now regular leads diversity trainings for such clients as AED, Dance / USA, Junior League of Phoenix, OPERA America, and WMATA, among others.   

Diana has devoted her 20-year professional career to advancing the skills, knowledge, and abilities of individuals and groups dedicated to nonprofit endeavors. Her experience includes coaching individuals, facilitating small group trainings, speaking engagements, leading the programming of industry-wide conferences, and driving numerous human resource initiatives.  

A hallmark of Diana’s career has been creating national initiatives. She is responsible for launching such programs as an artist service network, which continues to provide training to hundreds of performing artists and administrators; she was instrumental in designing an ongoing national re-granting program that offers both consultative and financial services for repertoire, audience, and artist development; and she was responsible for rejuvenating a dormant national arts administration fellowship program.  

Her dedication to diversity began while leading the programming for OPERA America’s 2005 Diverse Voices, an award-winning conference that took an unprecedented look at multiculturalism in the performing arts. Currently she is combining her passions for the arts and multiculturalism by serving as the inaugural diversity web curator for the National Performing Arts Convention. 

Diana has a B.M. in Voice Performance from DePauw University and a M.B.A. from Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

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AUDREY MAY, Director of Finance and Operations

As director of finance and operations, Audrey May is responsible for the financial management of the organization: maintaining financial goals, planning and performing accounting activities, preparing financial statements, and assisting the president in the preparation of the annual budget. Audrey has been with NMCI since 2003.

Her previous experience includes over ten years as a corporate accountant for such organizations as Aspen Systems Corporation. Audrey also was a social worker for several years.  In a continuing effort to combine her social work interests with her accounting skills, she spends her free time providing accounting support to a hospice organization. 

Audrey earned her B.A. from Goucher College, an M.S.W. from University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificate in Accounting from University of Virginia.

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KELLY Reid, MSc, Organizational Development Director

Kelly Reid began at NMCI in 2008 as a program manager, and was recently promoted to organization development director. In her current capacity, she directs all aspects of client organizational development projects as well as leads the organization’s new business development ventures.

Previously Kelly led initiatives that enhanced the capacity of organizations to meet the unique needs of diverse and traditionally underserved communities. She accomplished this while working in the following positions: program officer for the Institute of International Education’s Investing in Women in Development and Emerging Market Development Advisers Program; clinical projects coordinator with Survivors of Torture, International; and research assistant of the Instituto de Estudios de la Mujer, UNA in Costa Rica. 

A frequent guest speaker, Kelly has presented at conferences for the California Tobacco Control Program and the National Alliance to End Homelessness.   

Kelly is an avid community volunteer. She is the founder of the San Diego Social Justice Book Club and the Committee for Social Justice and Public Safety in London. She is a certified volunteer tax preparer, has served as both an ESL program coordinator and instructor, and was an educational advocate for the Sudanese Refugee Network. Currently she is on the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of D.C. and serves on the steering committee for the Racial Diversity Collaborative. 

Kelly holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Kentucky and an M.Sc. in Gender from The London School of Economics and Political Science. She also has certificates in Development Project Management and in Community Assessment from Monterey Institute of International Studies and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, respectively.

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EVELYN P. BOYER, PhD: Senior Associate

Dr. Boyer’s areas of specialty are Change Management, Diversity, and Business Ethics. A strong facilitator, speaker, and researcher, Dr. Boyer’s original curriculum designs, including diagnostic and inventory instruments, interactive activities, lecture materials, and organizational studies have been requested by a number of major U.S. corporations and government agencies. Dr. Boyer’s organizational culture and change consultations and research activities provide creative and innovative solutions for clients.

Evelyn brings to this position over twenty years of experience in all facets of organizational development. As co-founder of an educational and health care firm in 1979, Dr. Boyer served as Executive Vice President and oversaw hundreds of contracts in direct health care services and organizational consulting. Dr. Boyer was EVP of this organization for seventeen years, before starting her own firm in 1996. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Boyer maintains a small psychology practice, and brings a behavioral and systems perspective to her organizational work.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University, a Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology from Howard University. She is the author of the articles "Value Clarification as an Approach to Moral Development," and "Ethics and Diversity: A Correlation Enhanced Through Corporate Communication," which was published in the March 1992 issue of IEEE Transactions.

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