Aiko Bethea is a leader, builder and connector who has successfully navigated leadership roles in government, philanthropic, nonprofit and private sectors. In each sector, she created inaugural roles to meet growing organizational needs. After leading a legal team at the city of Atlanta under the leadership of Stacey Abrams, Aiko served as director of compliance for the city of Atlanta and deputy director of a compliance department at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Most recently, she was the head of diversity and inclusion for the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center. The founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting, Aiko guides leaders and organizations to remove barriers to inclusion. She serves as an executive coach to leaders and teams of Fortune 100 companies and global nonprofit organizations. Because of her work, she has been recognized by Forbes as one of the top seven anti-racism educators for companies and by Culture Amp as a DEI influencer to follow. Aiko is also a senior equity consultant for the Brené Brown Education and Research Group where she oversees development and implementation of DEI and belonging strategy. Aiko’s writing on leadership and belonging has been published in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and The New York Times bestselling anthology, You Are Your Best Thing. Aiko holds a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College. On most days, Aiko enjoys spending time with her two sons.