ABOUT US

Stefani Vargas (she/her,ella) is a Peruvian American speaker, consultant, trainer, student affairs educator, community organizer, & social scientist with 15+ yrs of experience in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion work. 

Her work is rooted in community care, decolonization, & organizational development. Stefani holds degrees in sociology and photography, and a master's degree in student affairs, all from Northern Michigan University. She is a widely requested speaker, consultant, & trainer for organizations throughout the country on a variety of topics ranging from inclusive policy design, to talent attraction initiatives, to climate survey work. 

Stefani’s current research focuses on the experiences of rural marginalized business founders, the intersections of technology & identity development, & institutional betrayal. She is an expert in creating thriving organizational cultures and building policies that allow all to thrive.

Before starting Stone Hearth Consulting she worked for over a decade in higher education. Her work included work on dozens of of inclusive policy updates, creating training curriculum for students, faculty, and staff, and serving on various advisory councils with an eye on equity, Stefani spent three years as the head of the Student Equity & Engagement Center at Northern Michigan University where she chaired The President's Committee on Diversity and served as the Chair of the UNITED Conference, and created the first institutional initiative focusing on student athletes. Her work in higher education is used as the model for diversity services at institutions across the Midwest and beyond. 

Stefani is a first-generation American who was born & raised in Detroit however, she has called the UP home since 2010. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends, paddle boarding with her dog Millie, & crafting.

Stone Hearth Consulting was first created in 2020 when our founder Stefani was at her day job fielding emails from organizations asking for her assistance in navigating DEI related challenges. She realized that there was a lack of resources for rural organizations in their efforts to create equitable and inclusive environments and so, in what little free time she had, she worked with as many as possible. Stefani realized that in order to share her knowledge of community building, policy design, and inclusive best practices she would need to leave higher education and dedicate herself full time to her clients. Now, Stone Hearth Consulting serves clients ranging from large corporations headquartered in major cities to small rural serving non-profits building from the ground up.  

Dedicated to data, Stone Hearth Consulting provides a variety of services from steering organizations, municipalities, and corporations  toward building inclusive cultures, bridging gaps and inequities that exist within the organization, supporting the implementation of DEI best practices, conducting assessments of workplace diversity, and supporting in the evaluation and long term measurement of these strategies.