founding partners
tricia homer
jackie pearce garrett
tricia homer
Tricia Homer, co-founder and Chief Learning Officer, is an instructor, and leadership and executive communication coach. She uses her multifaceted background in the performing arts, corporate marketing, and community building to enhance the executive presence and communication skills of individuals and teams. She is adjunct faculty at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, where she teaches business communication in the M.S., MBA, and Executive MBA programs.
As marketing manager for Diamonds International and Little Switzerland/Jewels (NXP Corporation), the Caribbean’s leading luxury retailers, Tricia managed media and marketing campaigns, coached staff and managers, and served as company community liaison.
Tricia is the former chair of the College Park Community Foundation Board of Directors and served on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education and the University of Maryland President’s Commission on Ethnic and Minority Issues. She has also served on the City of College Park Cable Television Commission and as co-chair of the City of College Park Education Advisory Board.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and holds a Master of Arts in Education (Instructional Systems Development) from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She was recognized in 2016 by the Prince George's County’s Social Innovation Fund as a Top Forty Under 40 changemaker.
jackie pearce garrett
Jackie Pearce Garrett, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, is passionate about helping organizations and their leaders build infrastructure that creates sustainable organizational commitments to anti-racism and inclusion. With more than 15 years of experience designing and delivering training, leading diversity and inclusion initiatives, managing teams, and fostering effective communication practices within organizations, Jackie applies an asset-based approach to cultivating strong teams and solid processes with all of her clients.
Jackie’s experience began with creating learning and organizational development programs for a national nonprofit capacity-building program, helping hundreds of nonprofit organizations deliver services more efficiently and effectively. Jackie’s clients have said she is the “top two of hundreds” of consultants, and that she brings passion, skill, creativity, and courage to all of her engagements.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MBA from The George Washington University. Jackie is currently adjunct faculty at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, teaching Business Communication to masters students. She has served her community via the College Park Community Foundation board of directors and as president of her local civic organization. In 2017, Jackie was named one of Prince George’s County’s Forty Under 40 for public service.
our team
Our greatest strength is our team! We have an exceptional bench of multigenerational and multicultural experts that partner with us in our work. Here are a few of the stars in our constellation:
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Anna Wheatley, Ph.D.
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Ben Beltran
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Carlton Green, Ph.D.
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Eric Grims
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Jacqueline Mac
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Jarrett Carter, Ed.D.
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Louisa Nkrumah
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Neha Singhal
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Stephanie J. Cork, Ph.D.
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Thia Homer
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Trevonne Homer
our story
Jackie and Tricia met and became founding board members of the College Park Community Foundation (CPCF) where they worked to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations serving the College Park community.
2012
Tricia served as president of CPCF with Jackie as Vice-president. Tricia was instrumental in forging relationships between longtime College Park residents and University of Maryland students, faculty and staff. She spearheaded the College Park 5K Series, which brought together UMD’s Office of Community Engagement, Campus Recreation Services, and CPCF for a series of 5K races in the spring 2015.
2014-16
After several years of providing pro-bono capacity building consulting to College Park nonprofits, Jackie and Tricia formed HGVenture.
Notable clients include CAVA, the City of Rockville, Dallas Summer Musicals, The Center for Law and Social Policy, Catholic Relief Services, US Institute of Peace, the Robert H. School of Business at the University of Maryland and American University School of Communication.
2015
Tricia is recognized as a Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund "40 Under 40 Changemaker" as a result of her public service.
2016
Tricia and Jackie co-facilitated the University of Maryland’s Words of Engagement Intergroup Dialogue Program, which engaged students in a collaboratively structured form of group conversation on the range of complex and controversial topics including race, gender, social class, religion, and sexual orientation among many others.
2016
Jackie served as CPCF co-president. Jackie spearheaded the development of the Community Foundation grant-making process and oversaw the largest grant distribution of over $15,000 during her tenure as co-president.
2017-18
Jackie is recognized as a Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund "40 Under 40 Changemaker" as a result of her public service.
2017
Jackie and Tricia presented their work at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, Leadershape, the Maryland Nonprofits Annual Conference, the National Arts Marketing Project, and the Association for Business Communicators.
Notable clients included the Center for Law and Social Policy, Comcast Global, CAVA, the US Institute for Peace, Montgomery College, American University's School of Communication, T. Howard Foundation and CET Academic Programs.
2016-20
The killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery brought systemic racism and widespread police brutality into focus nationally and beyond. Many organizations began (and continue) to allocate significant organizational resources to assess their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices. Tricia and Jackie onboarded several new consultants to manage this surge in demand. Anna Scarbriel joined the team as an Associate Consultant.
