Our Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI) Qualified Administrator (QA) Team
Akiko Maeker, Ph.D. is an executive coach, trainer, and consultant, who has a gift in bringing out the best in her clients and translating it into their leadership and management performance. One of her major areas of expertise is the tactful and effective application of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) in leadership development of individuals and teams, as well as in enhancing organizations’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategies. She is valued by her clients for taking an asset-based approach (rather than a deficit-based approach) in facilitating engaging learning processes that aim to maximize human potential and create positive change in workplace climate and operation.
Akiko works with a wide range of individuals and organizations in corporate, educational, governmental, and non-profit sectors. Clients benefit from Akiko’s rare mix of high emotional intelligence, interpersonal empathy, communication skills, intellectual and science-based knowledge, and wealth of lived experience working with variety of clients. Akiko is a Managing Partner and Co-Owner at Interculturalist, LLC. She is also an Instructor of the IDI Qualifying Seminar that certifies IDI administrators. In addition, Akiko is an International Coach Federation trained coach and an Emotional Intelligence and Diversity Institute certified trainer. Akiko holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership Policy and Development from the University of Minnesota with her doctoral research investigating the intersection of intercultural competence and professional coaching. Born and raised in Japan, she now lives in Minnesota, USA.
Amy Moreno-Sherwood, M.Ed. is located in the Denver/Boulder, Colorado area, and is a strategist, consultant, coach, and developer who engages individuals and groups in centering intercultural competence, equity, and inclusion. Amy has over 20 years of experience working within higher education and is currently the Director of the Broadening Opportunities through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center for the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Amy is not only a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory but also a member of the IDI faculty, certifying others to administer the IDI. Amy completed the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA)(2019), and obtained a Leadership and Management graduate certificate from CU Boulder’s Engineering Management Program in 2021. Amy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, and a graduate degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a Social Justice emphasis from Iowa State University located in Ames, Iowa. From Spring to early Fall, you can find Amy hiking and camping around Colorado, Utah and beyond. Throughout the year, Amy enjoys pursuing other travel opportunities and adventures with loved ones.
Blaire Tinker, EdD, has over 14 years of experience in intercultural coaching, training, and consulting to empower individuals and teams to have more effective and successful interactions. Dr. Tinker has been an IDI Qualified Administrator since 2018 and has been an IDI Qualifying Seminar Moderator with IDI, LLC, since 2020. Her expertise extends across various sectors, including corporate, education, and non-profit.
Dr. Tinker holds a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership with a focus on Equity Leadership from Oakland University and a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Iowa State University. She leverages her academic background to explore the intersection of intercultural competence and professional coaching. Originally from Chicago, she now resides in Michigan, USA. , where her passion for fostering inclusivity and advancing intercultural understanding now extends to faculty, staff, and learners at Michigan Medicine (MM). With a specialization in the application of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and Intercultural Development Continuum as a framework for personal and professional development, she plays a vital role in enhancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives of MM.
Dr. Mylon Kirksy has over 20 years of professional experience in higher education working in several student affairs areas, such as: residence life; Greek life; and housing services. Mylon received his Bachelors of Science in Political Science and Public Relations from Illinois State University in Normal, IL. He received his Masters of Communication and Information Studies in Organizational Communication from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. His Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership and Administration was received from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.
In 2013, Dr. Kirksy established Sidebar Education Consulting Group, LLC (aka Sidebar) with two colleagues and in 2016, he became the sole founder, owner, and chief operations officer of the company. In addition to being a business owner and entrepreneur, Dr. Kirksy serves as the Senior Director of Residence Life for the University of Texas at Austin and is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Program in Higher Education and Leadership. He also teaches a Foundations of Intercultural Competency course in the College of Liberal Arts. Dr. Kirksy’s areas of expertise are in: organizational leadership, development and change management; student and staff learning and development; research, assessment, and evaluation; communications; and intercultural competency development. Dr. Kirksy first began working with the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) that assesses individuals’ intercultural competency in 2002. He was licensed as a qualified administrator (QA) of the IDI in 2012. In 2017 he was asked to join the faculty at IDI, LLC as a Qualifying Seminar Facilitator – one who trains and certifies other QAs.
Paul Maeker is a managing partner, consultant, and curriculum design specialist at Interculturalist LLC. He is one of the most tenured Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory worldwide and an Emotional Intelligence and Diversity Institute certified trainer. He has worked with clients from across a range of sectors including education, business, non-profits, and government, facilitating capacity-building to increase intentionality in learning and development around equity and inclusion. Paul brings a strong combination of creative talent and solid analytical intelligence in his work with clients. Clients also appreciate his fun-loving sense of humor.
Previous work has included teaching intercultural leadership and global communication at the university level. Paul’s life experience allows him to speak with genuineness. He spent much of his formative years as the only white boy in a predominately black neighborhood and in schools. In later years, he traveled extensively as well as lived and worked in China and Japan. For his undergraduate education, Paul triple-majored in Political Science, International Relations, and Theology. His MA degree from the University of Minnesota is in Educational Policy and Administration, with a focus in International and Intercultural Education. Originally from Texas, USA, he currently lives in Minnesota, USA.
Tara Harvey, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Intercultural Educator of True North Intercultural, LLC. Combining an extensive background in higher education and international exchange with a deep understanding of intercultural teaching and learning, Tara works with universities and educators to develop both their own intercultural competence and their capacity to facilitate students’ intercultural learning. Prior to starting True North Intercultural in 2016, Tara taught EFL courses in Spain, worked as an international student advisor at Texas A&M, taught intercultural courses at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey, and was the inaugural Academic Director of Intercultural Learning for CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange).
She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Development Education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; a Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; a Masters in International Relations from the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Spain; and a Bachelors in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. In addition to being a Qualified Administrator (QA) of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) since 2008, Tara is an IDI Qualifying Seminar Instructor, Senior Facilitator of the Personal Leadership methodology, and was a faculty member at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC). She lives in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area with her Spanish spouse and two kids.
Terrence Harewood, Ph.D. is an instructor for the IDI Qualifying Seminar and an IDI Qualified Administrator since 2006. He is an Associate Professor of Multicultural Education and Social Foundations at the University of Indianapolis, where he teaches undergraduate, master’s level, and principal preparation candidates. His primary work involves the preparation of interculturally competent pre-service teachers and school leaders.
Terrence has used the IDI to benchmark and measure the intercultural development growth for all students registered in his courses over the past several years. He has also used the IDI in conducting extensive research in his classes and in assessing the impact of short-term study abroad courses. His research examines the link between teachers’ intercultural competence and the rates by which they refer minority students for discipline. In a recently conducted study, he examined the relationship between participants who were exposed to information about the Intercultural Development Continuum (IDC) and their subsequent IDI scores. Harewood, a native of Barbados, West Indies, has also conducted extensive professional development using the IDI Guided Development framework to many educational institutions and districts, ranging from K-12, higher education, and Charter Schools. Terrence was the recipient of the 2018 IDI Intercultural Competence Award.