Rita Shimmin Associate
Rita brings to Aplomb Consulting more than 25 years of experience in management and consulting in the non-profit and corporate sectors. Her diverse background in executive management, education, HIV/AIDS programming, coalition-building, organizational development, improvisational theater, and health services gives her the ability to motivate and lead people and organizations to achieve their highest performance standards.
Taking a leadership role in management, Rita co-directed the Bay Area Black Women’s Health Project, a non-profit organization that assists Black women in establishing self-help groups for personal wellness.She has also served as the Interim Executive Director for Lyon-Martin Women’s Health Services. Additionally, as their first HIV Services Director, Rita brought national recognition to the organization’s HIV program that offers comprehensive services for HIV infected and affected women, with a focus on lesbian and bisexual women.
Rita breaks down the barriers that isolate people from one another in a variety of ways. She’s presented HIV/AIDS education performance and discussion programs for the Oakland and San Francisco Unified School Districts, facilitated team-building and stress-management workshops for national corporations, and developed culturally sensitive alcohol problem prevention programs for the State of California.
If you are looking for Rita after business hours, she can often be found writing. She is currently working on Racism, Diversity, and Risk of the Self a book that explores how social training and individual core issues dove tail to create personal identities. If she’s not writing, then Rita is probably spending time with her former love, the theater — either performing, directing, or scriptwriting.