About
First Revolution Consulting specializes in training and coaching leaders across various sectors, including corporate, nonprofit, education. We work with clients from Fortune 100 companies like Google and Amazon to school leaders and organizations nationwide. Explore our Talk Sense trainings, designed to empower leaders of all backgrounds, and discover our tailored offerings specifically for educators.
CEO
Dr. Antonio Cediel
Since 2009, Antonio has been training and coaching educational, corporate, and nonprofit leaders throughout the country. Before beginning his consulting career, he served as a teacher, principal, chief academic officer, and deputy superintendent in urban school districts. During his tenure as a deputy superintendent, the Boston Public Schools was repeatedly named one of the top five districts in the country for improving student performance and reducing equity gaps. As a principal, he and his team reduced campus fights by 75% and achieved the school’s highest-ever Academic Performance Index.
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Antonio supports a range of leaders from multiple fields. In the education sector, this has included: executive coaching for school superintendents; instructional leadership training for school and district leaders in L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Minneapolis, El Paso, Santa Fe, and many other cities; the design and implementation of a school leadership program at the University of Chicago; and teaching instructional leadership to graduate students at Harvard. ​In the corporate sector, he is one of a small handful of trainers certified in the “Talk Sense” communication and decision-making methods which he has used to train leaders from a long list of Fortune 500 companies including Google, Amazon, J.P. Morgan, Target, Citi, American Airlines, U.S. Bank, and many others. In the nonprofit sector, he has supported a range of organizations working on criminal justice reform including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Clean Slate Initiative, and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
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In addition to his consulting work, Antonio serves as Special Advisor at Live Free USA, a national organization dedicated to ending gun violence and mass incarceration. At Live Free, Antonio helps cities launch and run effective community violence intervention initiatives which dramatically reduce shootings and homicides. As part of this work, he helped design and serves as an instructor for the Community Violence Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab.
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Antonio holds a B.A. in religious studies from Brown University, an M.A. in Latin American history from California State University, East Bay, and masters and doctoral degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Having taught middle schoolers in Oakland, graduate students at Harvard, and aspiring school leaders at the University of Chicago, his best students were the men at San Quentin State Prison.
Partners
Dr. Angélica Ramsey
Dr. Ramsey is a proven systems leader with a distinguished record of transforming school districts across California and Texas. As Superintendent of Fort Worth ISD, Midland ISD, and Pleasant Valley School District, she led initiatives that dramatically improved student outcomes, fiscal stability, and public trust. She is recognized for elevating district ratings, eliminating structural deficits, and leading large-scale strategic planning efforts. Dr. Ramsey previously served as Chief Academic Officer for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, where she oversaw instructional services for 32 districts and 275,000 students. Her leadership is grounded in equity, accountability, and inclusive decision-making. A bold and deliberative executive, Dr. Ramsey brings deep expertise in instructional leadership, talent development, and systems transformation.
Dr. Shelley Jones-Holt
Dr. Shelley Jones-Holt has served the educational field for over 20 years as a PK-12 teacher, principal, district office administrator, superintendent, college faculty member, and executive leadership coach. She has trained and coached school and district leaders at all levels and specializes in helping leaders to engage in courageous conversations and lead with authenticity and empathy. Dr. Jones-Holt earned a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, a master's from California State University, Sacramento, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California (USC). She has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for her work in equity leadership, including being named Equity Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
Daryton Ramsey
​Daryton Ramsey is a strategic and equity-driven K–12 leader with extensive experience in district transformation, instructional leadership, and executive coaching. Daryton has held principal, director, and executive director roles in multiple states. He led the “System of Great Schools” initiative in Texas, built multi-tiered support systems, and directed regional professional learning networks. Daryton currently advises superintendents, leadership teams, and school leaders on systems improvement and strategic execution in multiple districts. Addition to his school and district leadership work, his background includes statewide consulting and military service, bringing discipline and innovation to every leadership challenge. He is certified in Improvement Science, MTSS, Cognitive Coaching, and Implementation Science.
Dr. Bob Johnson
​Dr. Johnson holds a PhD in organizational psychology and is an executive coach who helps leaders and teams create cultures of shared ownership and high performance. Over the last decade, he has focused primarily on working with senior leaders and teams to address the root causes of misalignment and turn cross-functional friction into collaborative momentum. Bob began his career in the U.S. Army, where he led a Combat Stress Control Team in Iraq and partnered with Walter Reed researchers to improve team effectiveness under pressure. He’s since coached leaders across industries, from Fortune 500s to nonprofits, blending psychological insight with practical tools for real-world results. He is certified in the use of a number of different psychological assessment tools and focuses on how leaders shape the mindsets, habits, and culture around them.