Meet Our Facilitators

Marie Christmon

We count on this visionary to define strategic priorities, allocate resources responsibly, and ensure every decision reinforces long-term value creation.

Michelle Verduzco

Michelle Verduzco is a retired educator.  She worked for Purdue and Indiana Universities for 30 years, working in and directing numerous departments.  Michelle also taught public speaking, interpersonal/organizational development, organizational behavior and leadership. 

 Michelle coordinated a study abroad program in Mexico for 8 years, fell in love with Mexico, and began living in Oaxaca for half of the year in the fall of 2010.  Since then, she has hosted numerous groups to Oaxaca, primarily during Dia de Los Muertos. 

 All total, Michelle has brought over 500 guests to Mexico to experience Mexico/Oaxaca’s rich history, culture, language, food, and art. 

 Michelle keeps a casita in Oaxaca year-round and travels there as often as time permits, usually about 10 weeks a year.  Most of the year, Michelle lives on the north shore of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois with her daughter, Melissa and grandson, Alejandro.

Jackie Reason

Jacqueline Reason (she/her) is an Afro-Caribbean writer born in St. Thomas US Virgin Islands and raised in the Bronx before it became the Boogie Down. Reason is a poet, playwright, Black feminist, and lifelong educator committed to helping others explore stories of identity and intersectionality.

 Jacqueline raised three daughters in Northwest Indiana while earning her GED, BA in literature, and MA in Communications and Creative Arts. She is the winner of the Grubstreet Writing Black Joy contest for her essay, House Parties. Reason is a Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) Fellow in memoir whose work focuses on survival and resilience. She has co-hosted a monthly poetry workshop and storytelling series in Brooklyn, New York.

Reason's poetry is available online and she is published in the Bronx Memoir Project Volume II and III. Excerpts of her original play, Under the Bridge have been performed at off-Broadway theaters. She is currently finishing Always: a Battle with My Blood. A play about sickle cell disease, and its effects on loved ones and families. The one act play is set to run in Honey Vic Production's off-Broadway festival later this year. Her greatest love remains , spending time with family, traveling, and being an influencer in the lives of her eight grandchildren.