ABOUT US
Arcstratta is a 100% woman of color owned consulting firm grounded in equity, intersectional, cross-cultural, and multidisciplinary frameworks.
Arcstratta has expertise in research, evaluation, technical assistance, and management centering the perspective of underserved populations.
We are committed to strengthening social, health, and economic interventions to build thriving communities.
Arcstratta’s founders have decades of social justice, health promotion, and community and economic development experience and believe in the power of data that are informed by diverse perspectives and sectors to facilitate innovative solutions.
Arcstratta is committed to maintaining a workplace that values and supports underestimated and underrepresented communities.
LEADERSHIP BIOS
Marjorie Nemes-Galarza, MSc, Co-Founder & Managing Partner,
is an accomplished leader with 20 years of community and economic development experience. She has dedicated her career as a consultant, researcher, and non-profit executive to addressing social, health, and economic inequities. Ms. Nemes-Galarza co-founded Arcstratta to create a corporate environment that is supportive of women and diverse professionals, and provides distinguished and culturally responsive services to strengthen social, health, and community development interventions.
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Prior to founding Arcstratta Ms. Nemes-Galarza most recently served as the Interim Executive Director & CEO of a minority-focused Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Department of Agriculture with program areas focused on equitable economic development, resilient communities, racial/ethnic wealth building and preservation, and advocacy.
She represented the organization in broad-based community collaboratives, advocated for the organization and its target communities, and oversaw its administration and programmatic impact. She also served as its Chief of Strategy & Development responsible for securing and monitoring over 60 private and public/federal contracts annually with individual contract values reaching $15M. She oversaw the design and implementation of the organization’s development, communications, and evaluation efforts. During her decade-long tenure she produced 600 proposals/applications, and the organization grew from $3.5M to $30M in assets; quadrupled from 20 to 80 positions; and increased from two to five locations.
Previously Ms. Nemes-Galarza served as a consultant to public and private entities designing innovative social programming and community change initiatives. She led and supported research, evaluation, and technical assistance efforts focused on correcting social inequities. Ms. Nemes is practiced at accessing diverse communities and designing culturally competent data collection instruments, processes, and analyses. As a consultant she engaged in both domestic and international projects related to public health/health disparities, racial/ethnic and gender equity, cross-cultural and linguistic competency, immigrant and refugee integration, youth and family services, community development, collaborative initiatives, systems and policy change, and inclusive grantmaking. Her social and economic justice perspective is grounded in her experience as a female racial/ethnic minority and her father’s experience as a refugee, war, and genocide survivor.
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Ms. Nemes-Galarza has an M.Sc. in Cross-Cultural Psychology from Brunel University in London, England and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park.
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Ms. Nemes-Galarza can be reached at: mnemes@arcstratta.com
LaKeesha N. Woods, PhD, Co-Founder & Principal,
has 20 years of experience in providing research, evaluation, leadership, and intervention support in community development, mental health and substance abuse, health and social equity, cross-cultural and linguistic competency (CLC), and violence prevention. She is a licensed psychologist who has provided clinical and consultation services to children, youth, and adults in a variety of community-based settings. Her areas of expertise include youth and family development; culturally responsive comprehensive support systems and preventive interventions for youth, families, and adults who are underserved or in transition; juvenile and criminal justice; and the translation of research into effective practice.
Dr. Woods provides strategic and operational leadership to advance organizational policies, practices, and growth as well as directs and manages federally-, nonprofit-, and foundation-
funded prevention, research, evaluation, and capacity building projects that are local to international in scope. The services for these initiatives involve methodological and technical design; performance measurement; mixed method primary and secondary data collection and analysis; community engagement; and dissemination and application of findings in multiple formats for diverse stakeholders. Dr. Woods’ research and evaluation studies, programmatic services, and publications have focused on systems of care for underserved communities; behavioral and physical health among youth and families; and cultural influences on academic achievement and risk behavior of youth of color.
Dr. Woods serves on the director, trustee, and advisory boards of nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, employment, developmental, policy, and social support resources to children, youth, underemployed individuals, survivors of violence, and individuals involved in the justice system locally, nationally, and internationally. She also has developed and delivered workshops to service providers on CLC to address disparities in healthcare, justice, and educational systems; program development; evaluation to inform program implementation and improvement; and evidence-informed treatment approaches.
Dr. Woods obtained a B.S. in psychology from Howard University and a M.A. in psychology and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. She completed predoctoral and postdoctoral clinical and research fellowships at Yale University.
Dr. Woods can be reached at: lwoods@arcstratta.com