Dr. Cleo Manago is a behavioral health and cultural analyst, writer, educator, popular speaker, and Black/African social justice and defense-focused human rights activist.  He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pride Center of Maryland and Chief Advisor/Founder of the Black Men’s/Women’s Xchange. He is also the developer of the critically noted Critical Thinking and Cultural Affirmation (or CTCA) methodology, a “racism/oppression trauma, trance-breaking” behavioral intervention. His work is featured in numerous journals, including The Black Scholar - Journal of Black Studies and Research, The Journal of Black Psychology, the American Journal of Public Health and We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity by bell hooks.

Cleo Manago studied behavioral health and cultural anthropology at New College of California, began his doctoral studies at the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, holds a doctorate in Cultural and Religious Studies from Christ University and is community faculty at Charles Drew University of Science and Medicine in Los Angeles. )