Liberation Labs is an organic and uplifting collaboration of two purpose-driven humans.

Our Story

We first connected through a mutual friend at a Bay Area B Labs event. It’s hard to believe that was in the spring of 2016—when global and national landscapes for both life and work felt very different.

When we founded Liberation Labs years later, the collective consciousness had shifted. Through a series of serendipitous opportunities to collaborate, we realized that the alignment of our values, shared belief in humanity, and complementary skill sets could offer something both profound and actionable within the new world of work.

Rooted in equity and connection, we’re bringing fresh perspective to the ways that teams see—and help liberate—one another.

WORK WITH US >>

Viva Asmelash and Michael Gregor sitting on a white sofa having a conversation, with Viva gesturing with her hand and the man taking notes in a notebook.

Our Core Values

Compassion

We honor our innate potential as humans to learn and evolve, and believe we learn best when cared for. We express care frequently and tend to the health of the whole—with a particular focus on the most marginalized among us.

Clarity

We make the implicit explicit. We seek to communicate clearly from a place of people-centered outcomes, and welcome multiple modes of engagement in our work. This includes telling the truth, even when it’s hard.

Joy

We believe that we can’t wait until everything is perfect to find joy. Joy isn’t the destination; joy is our fuel. We bring intentional levity to the hard work of building culture and systems.

Michael Gregor - a smiling man with blonde hair, glasses, and earrings, wearing a navy blue shirt, standing with arms crossed in front of a light-colored wall and framed artwork.

Michael Gregor and Viva Asmelash talking and sitting on a park bench.

Meet Michael Gregor

Michael (he/him) transforms how bold leaders create effective collaboration. He blends change management, participatory learning, equity principles, human-centered design, and co-active coaching into powerful experiences that deliver breakthrough team results.

As an inclusive facilitator and strategic coach, Michael has spent 15 years igniting potential across diverse sectors—from tech startups to government agencies and Fortune 500 firms. His expertise in leadership development, organizational design, and equity-centered cultural strategy has empowered over 100 organizations to thrive amid complexity. Michael's online courses, How to Spot Organizational Dysfunction & Fix It and Signs You’re Doing Performance Management Wrong, now extend his transformative insights to global leaders ready for change.

As a queer white man parenting in a multiracial family, a dedicated mindfulness practitioner, and a purpose-driven entrepreneur, Michael connects authentically with visionary leaders who challenge conventions while nurturing themselves and their communities.

Let’s connect >>

Viva Asmelash - a woman with curly hair sits at a white desk with a Dell laptop in a bright room with plants, books, and a wall sign that reads 'That hip-hop would take it this far.'

A woman with long dark hair and earrings smiling while looking at a man with glasses in an outdoor setting with greenery in the background.

Meet Viva Asmelash

Viva (she/her) is a passionate people operations and certified inclusion strategist who specializes in sustainable DEI strategy, inclusive instructional design + learner experiences, and critical team conversations. Viva’s professional purpose is to create environments where people feel truly seen and are inspired to be their best and most authentic selves. She brings 15 years of experience in leadership training + development, values-driven branding, and employee engagement.

Viva frequently designs and delivers group and individual inclusive leadership coaching programs for executives, delivers keynote speeches and panel discussions, and crafts custom DEI education experiences for organizations of many kinds.

As a first-generation Eritrean-American, Viva leverages a unique, life-long perspective on race, gender, culture, belonging, privilege, and access to education. With this lens and her breadth of industry experience, she takes deep care in working with select clients to share insights and tactics to deepen their people + inclusion ethos and efforts—all in hopes of planting seeds for collective liberation and joy.