Why Provoc?

At Provoc, we envision a world where every progressive organization achieves its mission.

A minority-owned, certified B Corporation since 2008, Provoc meets comprehensive, transparent social and environmental standards in an effort to use the power of business as a force for good. We root our work in an ever-deepening equity lens, collaborating with clients and partners who believe in social, economic, and racial justice.

Our Values

We view all our work through the lens of equity, including our core values: vulnerability, relationship, and actualization.

Successful collaborations require vulnerability, so we leave our ego at the door. We believe that impact happens in strong, transparent relationships, so we intentionally build partnerships with your team in pursuit of collective growth.  And all our work should drive toward actualization — for your team members, for your organizational goals, and for the people and causes you serve. In pursuit of actualization, we set measurable outcome goals at the onset of work and evaluate our progress as we go.

“Our workshops with Provoc were pivotal and catalytic.”
“Stellar customer service, impeccable work and responsive to feedback. Without Provoc’s work we wouldn’t have been able to launch a GOTV campaign for the 2018 election cycle.”
“We didn’t know exactly what we wanted, but you listened to everything we said and gave us exactly what we needed.”
“They were able to synthesize our vision into actionable and measurable components.”
  • Jose Ferreira Chief Technology Officer (Former), Travel Leaders Group
“We have gotten countless compliments on the appearance of the Registry website. Our registration numbers continue to grow and the Registry’s Salesforce implementation is working like a champ behind the scenes!!”
“Bringing together teams with different, but complementary, skill sets and areas of expertise, has allowed us to create a program that is highly effective at helping to fulfill our ambitious goal of accelerating recruitment and enrollment into Alzheimer’s prevention trials.”
”Provoc was masterful at bringing academics, scientists, leadership, and staff together to streamline and name an extremely complicated pan-Institutional new brand at the Smithsonian: Smithsonian Global.”

Our Experts

Provoc brings together a diverse constellation of experts, guided by our core team.

Bettina

Bettina Sferrino

Interim Chief Strategy Officer

    PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

    Bettina’s purpose is to share her passion, skills, creativity and time to fight for justice. For 10 years, Bettina supported and led nonprofit communications teams, leveraging stories and connections to change hearts and minds for affordable housing, LGBTQIA+ equality, reproductive justice, and public land advocacy. Bettina intimately knows the challenges many nonprofit communications teams face — her broad understanding of internal operations and dynamics, experience collaborating with fund development and programs teams, and expertise in community building, brand strategy, and messaging all inform her approach to communications that are not only inclusive and accessible, but also build equity.

    According to social media, Bettina is “super stylish,” a “cookie sorceress” and “generally awesome.” She lives in Oakland, California, with a cat named Lady Bird.

    Bonnie Coberly

    Strategist

      Bonnie Coberly is a communications professional,  facilitator and strategist with 15+ years of experience supporting business and nonprofits to grow  their organizations. She has mastered the ability to sincerely listen, gather important insights and then turn those insights into strategies and content that inspire engagement and create results.

      Carter Stowell

      Data Scientist, Strategist

        PRONOUNS: he/him/his

        As a data science consultant and lead strategist at Provoc, Carter Stowell brings twenty years of experience to successfully managing distributed project teams. With a passion for data-driven strategy and predictive analytics, Carter can synthesize complex information into actionable insights and solutions. He creatively applies tools and methodologies that improve decision-making and drive effective and equitable communications strategies. He is fluent in data analytics and visualization, and grounded in best practices for user experience design and agile project management.

        Carter holds an M.S. in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University, and a B.S.E. from Duke University. Prior certifications include Project Management Professional by PMI, and ScrumMaster by Scrum Alliance. Before bringing his talents to Provoc, Carter had built his foundations in high-traffic web work at Wired Digital, where he provided production and project management for Wired.com and Hotbot.com.

        Cesar Rodriguez

        Visual Designer

          Cesar is a visual designer and licensed architect with a history of working on a wide breadth of project types throughout his career. His educational foundation includes a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona as well as a Master in Design for Emergent Futures from ELISAVA, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering. While home is both San Francisco and Arizona, Cesar currently resides in Barcelona, Spain, where in his free time he works on experimental food-design projects and enjoys hosting events at his collaborative design studio space.

          Cory Osborn

          Senior Designer

            PRONOUNS: he/him/his

            Cory has worked as a design strategist for Provoc for more nearly 20 years, and as a commercial illustrator and designer for over 30 years. His education includes traditional and digital art studies at the University of California Santa Barbara and graphic design at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. A resident of Washington, DC from 2002 until 2010, Cory now lives in Amsterdam, NL. Living in Europe gives him valuable perspective and insight on global social change and citizen engagement movements.

            Eric Shu-Pao Wang

            Associate Director of Business Development

              Eric joined Provoc in August 2023 with more than 18 years of experience in business development, proposal management, and small business ownership. He brings a diverse set of skills and knowledge in process improvement, strategic leadership, creative problem-solving, cultural competency, and data organization. He takes immense pride in helping growing organizations succeed through their expansion using scalable continuous improvement strategies. 

              Eric’s neighbors would describe him as “that gym rat who fosters  dogs.” In his free time, he enjoys eating his way around the world, teaching young minds to think critically about food and human migration as an adjunct at Drexel University, creative writing, compulsive spreadsheet making, culinary curation for cultural events, and mentoring young professionals. Although, spending his childhood in Taiwan and Japan, Eric considers himself a DC-native, and he currently resides in West Philadelphia.

              Keisha Igbazua

              Interim Chief Operating Officer

                PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                Keisha is an Operations Professional with over 15 years of experience in non-profit management, administration, finance, and project management. She is also a proud wife, mother of 4 black sons, Reiki Master, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, and Black Maternal Health Advocate. As Director of Resource Operations, she supports Provoc through the three pillars of our well-being – vision, operations, and finance – all rooted in racial equity. She works with the business development, project management, and executive leadership teams to innovate solutions that ensure Provoc walks the talk of “purpose, people, planet” rooted in equity while being a for-profit, service-for-hire company.

                Kela Lester

                Creative Strategist, Copywriter

                  For brands, Kela is the person who gathers everyone around the bonfire to make s’mores and spark conversations. Creative and strategic, Kela is the welcomed bridge between the big picture and its moving parts. Kela focuses on the stories of people and brands who are building a better world. Come as you are if you dare to leave feeling more connected to yourself and others.

                  Mara Hughes

                  Copywriter, Research Strategist

                    PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                    Mara has built a career communicating complex ideas in service to the public good. A former high school English teacher, she spent several years working as a sociologist of education and contingent faculty organizer before transitioning to communications, where her specializations in research and writing have made her an asset on projects with heavy data and regulatory components. After lengthy stints in public healthcare and nonprofit journalism, Mara freelances as a strategist with a special interest in projects that draw on her subject matter expertise and let her delve deeply into new opportunities to learn.Mara is from Philly and for Philly. She’s still looking for a workplace with the energy, innovation, and unerring ethics of a classroom of tenth graders.

                    Miesha Robinson

                    Miesha Robinson

                    Project Manager

                      Miesha is a Project Management and Marketing Strategist who helps early stage to enterprise level organizations develop, plan, and implement solutions to complex projects. Miesha has a combined fifteen years’ experience in leadership roles in corporate America and leading community projects for non-profits and social impact initiatives. Her branding and marketing ideations connect communities to brands through authenticity and brand experiences.

                      Mimo

                      Mimo Haile

                      Project Manager

                        PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                        Maereg “Mimo” Haile has ten years of experience managing various projects such as violence and homelessness prevention in the Bay Area and HIV research & prevention in Africa  for a start-up, government, and large tech company in the social impact and public health sector. She received a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis and a Masters in Public Health from the University of San Francisco. She is the co-founder of Coco Coalition, a nonprofit that focuses on providing safe space for Black Womxn by curating services geared towards mental, emotional, and holistic health. She is an advisor for Her Place is In, an org that uses art as a form of activism and a board member for Sol Sisters, a nonprofit that focuses on bringing mental health awareness to the community. She has a passion for finding alternative ways to solve problems, building strategic partnerships, and overcoming challenges with limited resources. Her creative outlet includes taking various dance classes, drawing, playing video games, watching anime, and spending time with her dog, Spice, and her life partner, Dario!

                        Neha Sharma

                        Strategist

                          Neha is committed to tapping into collective insight and foresight, primarily through strategy, partnerships, and product creation. She has experience building diverse and equitable clean energy economies, energy efficiency and intelligence in the built environment, facilitation for group alignment, and bridge building between disparate networks & nodes.

                          Raj Aggarwal

                          President

                            PRONOUNS: he/him/his

                            Raj founded Provoc in 1999 and serves as President and Lead Strategist. Over twenty years of experience as a communications and technology strategist, he has worked with more than 400 nonprofits and socially responsible businesses on a variety of projects including internal and external branding, marketing and customer engagement. Raj keeps Provoc rooted in empathy-driven work by forging partnerships with values-aligned, visionary leaders and has led workshops and talks at dozens of national conferences. He serves on the boards of Think Local First, DC and Ben’s Chili Bowl Foundation, and recently shared his personal story on NPR.

                            Sierra Moses

                            Project Manager

                              PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                              Sierra Moses is a certified Project Management Professional with experience managing complex communications, marketing, and branding projects. Sierra has led a variety of web, digital, and content marketing programs across multiple industries and has a proven track record of delivering highly specialized web and print content marketing campaigns, projects, and programs.

                               

                              Tamika McCormack

                              Project Manager

                                PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                                Tamika McCormack is a dynamic Project Manager with over 12 years of experience across multiple industries. Her project experience ranges from global strategic initiative implementation, all the way to on-site operational process improvement.  Tamika pays close attention to detail and is passionate about structure and organization, yet agile enough to get ahead of risks and mitigate issues when they arise.

                                With a B.B.A. from Howard University and an M.S. from Full Sail University, Tamika has taken her education and matched it with her natural creativity to become a thought-provoking leader that is committed to innovative and strategic thinking, to provide the most efficient solutions to her clients and partners.

                                Tiffany Maqubela

                                Tiffany Maqubela

                                Executive Assistant

                                  PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

                                  Tiffany has a professional background in organizational administration, rooted in the field of education. In supporting senior leadership and aiding team members across various departments, Tiffany specializes in providing the necessary continuity that allows organizations to run smoothly and efficiently. For the last few years, Tiffany has had the honor of being a stay-at-mom to her three young daughters, while also being a 200-hour certified yoga instructor, with additional certifications in restorative yoga and prenatal yoga. Tiffany teaches both virtually and in studios in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. As she truly has a passion for ensuring that personal wellness and self-care is something available to everyone, Tiffany leads many of her classes in marginalized communities that lack access to the practice of yoga. Tiffany holds a B.A. in History and a M.Ed. in Educational Administration and Policy from Howard University. She currently resides with her family in Maryland.

                                  Will Coyle

                                  CEO

                                    PRONOUNS: he/him/his

                                    As Provoc’s CEO, Will takes great pride in the company’s mission and collaborative values. He enjoys providing sound company structure while also delivering beautiful design solutions for Provoc’s clients. With twenty years of creative strategy experience, Will has an especially strong background in brand development. His work balances functionality, intuitive content delivery, and visually compelling aesthetics.