Consultants (Team)

Daphne Shih Gebauer is the founder and managing attorney of Tava Employment Law. Daphne has been a complex civil litigator her entire career. She focuses her practice on litigating employment disputes and advising employers and employees on their rights and obligations under state and federal law. Having been an employee, employer, and business owner, Daphne understands the competing demands of business, regulation, and workplace rights. Daphne founded Tava Employment Law to work towards fair, safe, and equitable workplaces for all.

Prior to founding Tava Employment Law, Daphne was Counsel at Charlson Bredehoft Cohen & Brown, one of the Washington D.C. area’s most-recognized employment firms. While at Charlson Bredehoft, Daphne litigated many discrimination, retaliation, and breach of contract claims on behalf of employees, and advised employers on internal policies, accommodation and leave issues, wage and hour matters, investigations, and employee discipline. She was also previously an attorney in Foley & Lardner LLP’s complex commercial litigation and white collar and corporate defense groups, where she worked in the areas of bid protests, distribution/franchise litigation, and health care compliance and fraud.

Daphne graduated from the New York University School of Law, where she was Marden Competition Editor for Moot Court, Professional Chair for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, a volunteer with the New York Battered Women’s Project, and interned with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Law & Justice Unit at ABC News in New York City. She obtained her B.A. (Honors) from the University of British Columbia.

Daphne is licensed to practice before the courts of Colorado, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. She is a member of the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, Plaintiff’s Employment Lawyer Association (Colorado), Association of Workplace Investigators, Ben S. Wendelken Inn of Court, and the Colorado, Virginia, and D.C. Bar Associations. She is a consultant with the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center and the current President of the Babywearing Society of Colorado Springs (BabywearingCOS).
Daphne has four loud children and has been thrilled to call Colorado Springs home since 2013. When away from her desk, she can often be found skiing, camping, hiking, and trying to get plants to grow. She is a decent cook and a lousy gardener.

Kim Stewart is a business and leadership coach and consultant, dedicated to supporting nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and leaders. Kim has a passion for the nonprofit sector, spending over 30-years as an organizational leader serving agencies of all sizes. In 2020, she decided to expand her reach and shift to supporting the nonprofit sector through consulting and coaching. By switching from staff (with one organization) to serving multiple agencies, Kim has been able to expand the impact she has on her community. With the belief that nonprofit organizations can save the world, she helps those that are struggling to fulfill their mission and purpose.

Additionally, Kim spent 15-years developing wellness coach programming and training coaches. The initiative has helped thousands of people through behavior change and creating healthy lifestyles that are right for them. These skills have translated smoothly to coaching leaders as they run their business, lead their staff, and balance their own lives.

Today Kim offers a wide variety of coaching, consulting, and facilitation services. Her ultimate goal is to help leaders get their organization/business to a place where the mission/vision, values, goals, and every single staff person is aligned and moving in the same direction. By simplifying, aligning, and calming the chaos, leaders find more time to focus on what’s important to them.

Kim and her family are originally from Iowa. They love being active in the outdoors, live music, art, reading and more. Her family includes two delightful teenagers ~ Libby and Callahan. Serving her community is important to Kim. She gives back as a Board member with Tri-Lakes Cares, a Board member for the Festival of Lights, an Ambassador for the Tri-Lakes Chamber, a Program Committee member for the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and as 2022 Chair for Accolades for the Women’s Chamber.

Alfred Ortiz is CEO of CSD Cyber, a provider of cybersecurity solutions. He has over 15 years of information technology experience with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Infor Global Solutions and DriveLock before starting his own firm. During his professional career he worked in various areas of sales, marketing, pre-sales and management covering regional territories from the arctic circle to tierra del fuego (including the McMurdo Station in Antarctica).

In addition to his professional career he has been involved in higher education as an affiliate professor at the University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio, TX), Regis University and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. To keep up on the academic side and reaching for his academic goal, he is a doctoral candidate in Information Systems at IE University in Madrid, Spain. In addition, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona, an MBA from University of the Incarnate Word, and executive education from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is originally from the Coachella Valley (California) and has been in Colorado Springs since 2003. Alfred enjoys reading, tennis and running out on the pitch for a rugby match. His true passion is his family and community.

Hard work and mistakes are just part of life, learn by doing.