Our Coaches and Collaborators
MARIE DEVEAUX, Founder and CEO
Marie is the founder of High Tides, as well as a coach and small business consultant. She is an experienced and highly skilled training developer and facilitator, having assumed these roles for numerous organizations, leading trainings for groups of leaders as small as 6 to over 1500 people at a time and has lent her expertise both in the U.S. as well as abroad. Her passion for seeing emerging leaders grow and expand led to her founding of High Tides in 2016.
KERRY-ANN TOTTEN, Leadership Coach
Kerry-Ann has a Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Albany, and Masters of Arts in Teaching from Howard University. Being in the education field for almost two decades has helped Kerry-Ann become a client-focused leader with a strong dedication to women, while providing a safe, reflective, motivating and empowering environment for transformation.
BETTY CHAN, Authenticity Coach and Brave Spaces Facilitator
Betty is an Asian American coach focused on rediscovering self-trust and guiding others to create fulfilling lives as leaders, entrepreneurs, and whole humans. Betty’s coaching is a powerful combination of reflection and action. She holds brave spaces for her clients to show up authentically as they learn to let go of limiting expectations, identify intuitive talents, and confidently decide who they will become. Betty’s work as a coach and facilitator reflects her commitment to co-create common ground and serve as a bridge to others.
SHARON PORTER, Leadership Coach and Consultant
FREDERICA PETERSON, Certified Executive Coach and Learning Strategist
Frederica is a Professional Speaker, Certified Executive Coach, Learning Strategist and Award Winning Program Designer. She has been dedicated to results-focused performance excellence for over 20 years. Described by her clients as passionate, charismatic, intuitive and outcome focused, Frederica’s elite client list includes some of the top organizations in the country.
CASSANDRA LAM, Trauma-informed Facilitator
Cassandra Lam (she/her) is a Vietnamese American trauma-informed facilitator, somatic healing practitioner, leadership embodiment coach, and community builder based in unceded Lenape territory (Brooklyn, NY). As a neurodivergent and empathic daughter of refugees, Cassandra’s passion lies in creating spaces of safety, healing, and empowerment for historically marginalized communities. Her teachings are informed by 10 years of personal practice in the healing arts, training in mindfulness, politicized somatics, and trauma, and a commitment to healing justice principles.
LYNCY YANG, Trauma-Informed Leadership Coach, Facilitator, and DEI Consultant
Lyncy is a trauma-informed, inclusive leadership coach, DEI consultant, and trainer-facilitator with a rich tapestry of experiences. With a background that weaves together her Hmong- and Asian-American identity, Lyncy has journeyed through diverse paths, encompassing roles as a high school educator, professional development specialist, and nonprofit senior leader, where she continuously integrated DEI and social justice into her work and leadership. Lyncy’s passion lies in leveraging intercultural intelligence to foster equitable and inclusive leadership, teams, and systems. Lyncy is committed to putting people first and creating a more inclusive world.
SHARON DRAPEAU, Personal Development Coach
Sharon Drapeau is fiercely committed to guiding female entrepreneurs and creatives towards their potential. Her coaching ethos centers on settling emotional debts, fostering goal-setting and accountability, and unveiling the inner creative, resourceful, and whole woman in each of her clients. Since 2014, Sharon has been creating communities where you can defeat your inner saboteurs, connect within Safe spaces, and truly realize your self-worth. Beyond coaching, this New York transplant is a romance novel enthusiast, avid MCU fan, and an unapologetic geek with her Disney-loving family. Dive into her insights and let Sharon challenge every doubt your saboteurs placed in your path.
SALVATORE J MANZI, Communications Consultant
Salvatore Manzi is a professional speaker, facilitator and communications coach. He has worked with and led programs for the World Economic Forum, LinkedIn, Facebook, Dropbox, Gap and Genentech. His areas of expertise include leadership, team development, cultural communications, and diversity and inclusion. As a diversity and inclusion facilitator, he helps organizations such as the United Nations and SXSW to navigate difficult topics and create truly inclusive environments.
AKUA NYAME-MENSAH, Leadership and Culture Advisor
Akua Nyame-Mensah is a certified executive and leadership coach, recognized facilitator, speaker, and host of the Open Door Conversations Podcast. With a mission to guide entrepreneurial-minded leaders, Akua draws from her experience as a former startup executive, having launched an online platform for the first African-based technology unicorn, now listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Currently serving as a leadership and culture advisor, her passion lies in helping leaders strategically align their focus, guiding them from being taskmasters to making informed, intentional decisions about where to direct their time and energy.
MICHELLE MARKWART DEVEAUX, Performance Coach, Strategist, and Personal Development Specialist
DR. FANIKE-KIARA YOUNG, Master Healer & Transformational Trauma Specialist
Master Healer Fanike-Kiara Olugbala Young is a Doctor of Behavioral Health, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Transformational Trauma Specialist, Master Reiki Practitioner, author, healer, consultant, coach, wife, mother, sister, and friend that strives to make a positive impact on the lives of others. She specializes in healing trauma by focusing on mind, body, and spiritual healing.