As a visionary leader with executive-level management skills and a passion for directing company efforts and operations using a growth-minded orientation, Ms. Butler is often referred to as "The Solutionist." Ms. Butler has over 25 years of operation and administration expertise and specializes in working with organizations that endeavor to provide essential and life enhancing services and resources to groups and communities. As Director of Operations at Thrive, she utilizes her excellent leadership and teamwork skills to ensure that company objectives are completed with the ultimate goal of providing the best possible value to our clients. Her greatest personal passion is to make a practical and tangible differences in the lives of people everywhere.

Gretchen Fletcher is an experienced Executive Assistant, specializing in coordination and event planning. In her current role as a Senior Executive Assistant, she began to see the need for admin support for professionals in various industries. As such, Gretchen founded Upper Echelon Consulting Group. Their mission is to provide high quality administrative support organizations of all sizes, from small startups to large corporations and individuals. They strive to consistently deliver and maintain detail-oriented support, coupled with familial rapport and top-notch professionalism. Gretchen is also passionate about health and wellness. She enjoys working out daily and meal prepping to provide balance and nutrition for her face paced lifestyle. In addition, Gretchen has found humbleness and grace within her spirituality. She leads a bible study once a week with like minds and has found great joy in embracing that leadership role.

Laiyana Kabir graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a Bachelor's in Biology, a minor in Psychology, and an Honors Certificate. Ms. Kabir has nearly four years of experience working on research team focused on improving the health and wellbeing of individuals from marginalized groups. In the future, she hopes to become a doctor, specializing in Psychiatry or Primary Care. When Ms. Kabir isn't working, she enjoys reading, participating in community service, spending time with family and friends, and eating!

Christian Ali "Andy" Sardañas is a creative at heart and a Virtual Assistant with expertise in photo and video editing, as well as social media marketing. Prior to joining the Thrive Institute, he worked as a call center agent for three years, handling inbound customer service, lead generation, business to business partnerships, relationship building and sales, as well as email and chat support, among other endeavors. He also enjoys designing websites and landing pages and has experience with photography and videography.

Andy is a pious man who enjoys performing music and teaching children. He can play the guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, saxophone, trumpet, and accordion, among other instruments. In addition, he teaches Bible stories and music to children at his local church because he feels that all of his abilities are gifts from God, and that he owes it to the next generation to share them.

Dr. Thorpe holds joint appointments in Medicine and in Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is an Associate Professor of Health, Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He serves as the Director of the Program for Research on Men's Health at the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Thorpe’s research focuses on racial and socioeconomic health disparities, particularly among U.S. men. In addition to his leadership in academia, Dr. Thorpe has been at the forefront of developing and leading professional development, mentoring, and coaching initiatives for underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities in academia.

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