Heather Steranka
- Certified Diversity Professional
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant, Trainer & Facilitator
- Pronouns: she/her/hers
Heather Steranka is Certified Diversity Professional with more than 10 years of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion management and consulting experience in corporate and non-profit sectors. Leveraging diversity-management skills and intercultural communication to build organizational capacity, improve employee engagement, facilitate change, and create equity have been the focus of her career. Breaking down communication barriers and sparking cross-cultural understanding are where she excels.
In her consulting practice, she works as an intercultural, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, trainer, researcher, and facilitator. Her clients have ranged from: groups of at-risk youth, frontline social service providers, military professionals, workers in mining and manufacturing, medical professionals, scientists, engineers, managers, and directors, up to and including C-suite executives. She has led multicultural teams both virtually and face-to-face. She has been fortunate to work successfully with colleagues, customers, employees, and managers from more than 50 countries around the world. She is passionate about cross-cultural communication and has studied several languages.
Heather is a proud Akron native, living in the Merriman Valley with family. She is a long-term member of Plexus – the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce in Northeast Ohio. Since January 2020, she has been a volunteer evaluator for the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Stop the Hate®: Youth Speak Out essay contest. In 2021, she joined the board of the Elimination of Prejudice Foundation. In 2019, she published a children’s book entitled: “Becky Says “Woof!” – a story about a dog named Becky and her dog friends around the world.