Guest Speakers

Nadir Ahmad

Founder & CEO of Dowling Street

Nadir Ahmad is the Founder and CEO of Dowling Street. He is a trusted advisor to leaders of companies, governments and other institutions who are building resilient and innovative organizations.
Leveraging his background experiences in engineering, sales & marketing, and public policy analysis, Nadir is excited by the challenge of integrating best practices from disparate fields to unlock new ideas with disproportionate power.
Nadir studied at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Krista Barron

Classroom Champions

Krista Barron is hungry to support school leaders doing amazing things with their communities. As Director of the Cahn Fellows Program from 2006-2012, she saw all the beautiful forms leadership and success can take. At the NYC Department of Education she helped open over 50 new schools, added more than 40,000 UPK seats and created the birth-to-5 child care and education system. Now at Classroom Champions she is eager to help districts across North America actualize the vision of what their students can achieve.

Maya Bernstein

Professor, Georgetown University

Maya Bernstein has facilitated inspiring and impactful leadership initiatives in nonprofit and educational settings for over 15 years.
She believes in the power of individuals and groups to adapt, and to creatively respond to challenges and opportunities they face in their work. She draws on her expertise in Adaptive Leadership, Design Thinking, improv tools, and story-telling to create unique environments in which participants become willing to take risks, and experiment with new ways of thinking and behaving. She is the founding co-director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership’s Certificate in Facilitation, where she co-designed the curriculum and is on faculty. Maya’s area of passion and expertise is the intersection of tradition and innovation; she strives to facilitate systemic adaptation and individual transformation.
Her current clients include the Wexner Foundation, for whom she facilitates intensive leadership seminars for graduate students, nonprofit professionals, and lay leaders; the Global Leadership Institute of the Jewish Agency, a six-month global leadership training program for nonprofit professionals; UJA-NY, where she is assisting in the creation of an Innovation Lab; and Yeshivat Maharat, the only orthodox Jewish rabbinical school for women in the world. Maya is the founding co-director of UpStart, an incubator that supports innovation in nonprofit settings. In her decade of work at UpStart, she helped build the organization from inception to a now-thriving national nonprofit organization; she offered content design for nascent nonprofits, and built the organization’s consulting branch, working with established institutions to train them to use best practices from the innovation sector and adapt accordingly.
Maya publishes widely, online and in print, on the topic of innovation and change. She has lived and worked in Israel, Belarus, China, and Germany. She graduated Phi Betta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from Columbia College and has a Master’s Degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Maya is a 2012 recipient of the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize. After a decade in Silicon Valley, Maya and her family have recently relocated to the Big Apple.

David L. Bell, MD, MPH

Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging - Columbia University Irving Medical Center

David L. Bell serves as the associate dean of diversity, inclusion and belonging in Office of Student Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, formerly the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Bell will bring extensive experience, a remarkable track record of scholarly engagement, experience with admissions and promotion, and proven administrative leadership to his role. Dr. Bell has demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing healthcare and addressing the unique needs of diverse populations; he has presented his research on primary care for adolescent and young adult males at regional, national, and international forums. Dr. Bell's work has not only contributed to the academic field, but has also directly benefited medical students and public health students. He is deeply connected to the VP&S students and pipeline programs, which will facilitate a seamless integration into this role. Dr. Bell is eager to continue and expand upon the college's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging in his new role as associate dean.
Throughout his tenure at Columbia, Dr. Bell has been actively involved in various initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion. He has been a member of the admissions committee for over a decade, playing a crucial role in recognizing and nurturing the visible and "invisible" diversity within each incoming class. In addition, Dr. Bell was a critical member of Columbia University Irving Medical Center Committee on Appointments and Promotions. Dr. Bell received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and his master's in public health degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital and his fellowship at University of California-San Francisco Medical Center.

Sue Boardman

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide

Sue Boardman, a Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide, is Leadership Coordinator for the Gettysburg Foundation. A two-time winner of the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Guiding, Sue is a recognized expert of not only the Battle of Gettysburg but also the National Park’s history and the history of the National Cemetery. Sue served as Museum Coordinator and historical consultant for the Gettysburg National Parks $14 million restoration of the epic Cyclorama painting that serves as the centerpiece of the Parks new visitor center.

Sonya Douglass

Associate Professor of Education Leadership, Teachers College, Columbia University

Sonya Douglass Horsford, Ed.D. is Associate Professor of Education Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she serves as Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Urban and Minority Education (IUME) and Co-Director of the Urban Education Leaders Program (UELP) – an Ed.D. program for aspiring and practicing urban school superintendents. Her research focuses on the social and political contexts of school leadership, school segregation, critical race theory, Black education and the superintendency.
Prior to joining Teachers College, Professor Horsford served on the education leadership faculty at George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in her hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her latest book, The Politics of Education Policy in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for Democratic Schooling, with Janelle Scott (University of California, Berkeley) and Gary Anderson (New York University) offers a critical analysis of education policy amid widening social inequality, ideological polarization, and the dismantling of public institutions in the U.S.A.

Lisa Epstein

Cahn Fellow 2017

Lisa Epstein, a 2017 Fellow, is Principal of Lee Elementary in Chicago. Lisa began her tenure as principal five years ago, in which time she has moved her school from a level 2 to a level 1+ (the highest CPS rating). She has been a proud and enthusiastic leader of the Chicago Public Schools for 25 years – serving in culturally and intellectually diverse neighborhoods. At the district level, Lisa is honored to serve as an Independent School Principal, serving on district level committees and as a Mentor to aspiring Resident Principals.
Lisa attended the University of Miami, graduating with a degree in both Psychology and Education. She completed her Master’s degree in Reading at the University of Illinois and later completed an additional Master’s program in Curriculum and Instruction at Lewis University.

Paul Facteau

Innovation Instigator, Apple Inc.

Paul Facteau is an Innovation Instigator on the National Apple Education Development Team. In his current capacity, he serves schools and districts that are considering educational transformation through the process of developing modern curricula, implementing effective learning methodologies, identifying and creating authentic assessments, and identifying the technology tools that can support and augment those efforts. Paul’s work includes direct project consulting in the development of project visioning, goal development, implementation strategies, tool identification, and program assessment. He also works as an innovation architect and experienced engineer to craft experiential opportunities to support and accelerate the change process for these transformational environments.
Paul has his B.A. degree from Westfield State University in Social Studies, an M.A. degree from Lesley University in Educational Technology, his administration and superintendent’s certifications from Fitchburg State College, and his Ed.D. from Lynn University in Educational Leadership.
Paul also has served as a visiting professor at Westfield State University teaching courses in educational leadership and technology. Paul was a social studies teacher in the Easthampton Public Schools and a technology teacher in the Virginia Beach City Public School system prior to his position as an Assistant Superintendent with the Gateway Regional School District. He is a former member of the US Kayak Team and is currently a ski coach/instructor at the Alpine Training Center at Mt. Snow, VT.

Monroe France

Associate VP for Global Engagement and Inclusive Leadership at New York University

Monroe France is the Associate Vice President for Global Engagement and Inclusive Leadership & Deputy Chief Diversity Officer within the Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation at New York University (NYU). Monroe is responsible for enhancing equity, diversity, and inclusion opportunities and resources for graduate students, postdocs, researchers, faculty, staff, and administrators across all of NYU and its global academic centers. Monroe France has more than 25 years of progressive experience in higher education, non-profits, corporate sectors, arts & creative industries, as well as social responsibility, humanitarian, & philanthropy initiatives as an educator, professor, professional trainer, consultant, strategist, and keynote presenter.

John Fitzpatrick

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide, Attorney, Arbitrator, Aviator and Veteran

John Fitzpatrick has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg since 2004 bringing his life experiences as an Attorney, Arbitrator, Aviator and Veteran to Leadership tours here. An Honors Graduate of Villanova University and the University of Georgia School of Law, he co-authored a Note on the legal issues involved in the recognition by the United States of the Peoples’ Republic of China.
An Active-Duty USMC Tank Platoon Commander, Pilot and Jet Navigation Instructor, including a combat tour of duty in Vietnam in support of USMC, US Army, Australian and South Vietnamese allies, he then entered Law School. He was Senior Counsel in the Chevron Corporation Law Department for thirty-two years focusing on Administrative, Antitrust, Arbitration and Mediation, Environmental, Franchise, Political Law, recruiting and contract matters. He was a Facilitator in Chevron’s Management and Leadership Forum also serving, for an additional twenty-three years, as an Active citizen-soldier USAF Reservist. He held a Top-Secret Clearance earning several decorations and the rank of Colonel.

Dr. Jacquelyn Gamino

Cognitive Neuroscientist, University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for Brain Health

Dr. Jacquelyn Gamino, a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth, has dedicated her life to translating cutting edge research discoveries into practical applications that improve the learning capacity of all students. She has 20 years of research experience, numerous evidenced-based publications, and has authored a cognitive training program, Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART), that develops and fosters higher-order executive function in middle and high school students.
Dr. Gamino has trained hundreds of teachers to implement her programs, reaching more than 80,000 students in various states over the past 10 years. Her data reveals that students of all socioeconomic status levels can benefit from executive function training. Her goal is to empower children to achieve their greatest potential by integrating developmentally appropriate executive function programming into all schools.

Dr. Antony G. Hacking

Social Organizational Psychologist, Global Insights Consulting

Antony G. Hacking, M.A., Ph.D., is a social-organizational psychologist and founding principal of C Global Consulting, LLC, an organizational consulting firm specializing in team effectiveness, leadership development, and diversity & inclusion. He holds a B.A. from Vassar College in biopsychology with a minor in Women’s Studies. In addition he holds an M.A. in organizational psychology with specializations in conflict resolution and change management from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University with research interests relating to cross-functional team effectiveness, leadership, and diversity.
Tony has designed and conducted workshops and consulting interventions for thousands of leaders, managers, diplomats, doctors, healthcare workers, police officers, and teachers in areas of leadership, team effectiveness, diversity and conflict resolution. Some of Tony’s most recent clients include Alcon, AstraZeneca, Shire, The Medicines Company, Bio-Rad Labs, Pfizer, BDO, The Federal Reserve, PGIM, Columbia Business School, The City of New York, NYPD, the United Nations and UNICEF. He is an expert instructor of negotiation, conflict resolution, and mediation and has taught several courses at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, Tony is an experienced mediator who has facilitated the successful resolution of both corporate and community disputes.
Tony has co-authored over 20 articles and white papers on conflict, brain function and motor performance. He is a licensed practitioner for the NBI Assessment; additional certifications include the Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS), DiSC and the Global Diversity Survey (GDS). Tony is a member of the American Psychological Association, Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychologists, and the Academy of Management. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

Britt Isenberg

Gettysburg Leadership Program Manager

Gettysburg Leadership Program Manager Britt Isenberg is a graduate of Millersville University of Pennsylvania. His professional leadership experience prior to joining the Gettysburg Foundation spanned several industries, including transportation and food production. He has utilized that experience for leadership programming at Gettysburg since he became a Licensed Battlefield Guide in 2014.
Britt has also worked in research and interpretive development at Civil War sites since 2010. He is the author of more than a dozen articles about various aspects of Civil War history and has also authored three non-fiction books about the Civil War: The Boys Fought Like Demons (2016), The 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry (2022), and co-author of Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard with James A. Hessler (2019).

Jean Howard Green

President of Lincoln Cemetery Project Association

Jean Howard Green has lived in Gettysburg, PA all her life, born in 1952, to parents Russell and Gladys Minor Howard. The Howard family has been in the Gettysburg area since the late 1890’s
Jean’s love of history started over twenty years ago, while visiting the National Archives in Washington D. C. and spending three years gathering historical facts on Adams County and surrounding areas. Jean went on to write a book on her ancestors on the Howard side. It tells of their journey to Gettysburg, PA. This has been a labor of love for her. She would also travel to Verdon, France, in 2019, to retrace the footsteps of her great uncle Joseph A. Williams (on her grandmother’s side) who was killed in France. His final resting place is Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.
Jean is a board member of the Adams County Historical Society; she also holds the title of “Church Historian” of Gettysburg United Methodist Church which she attends.
Jean researched and hosted the 200th Anniversary of the first church the Methodist worshipped in, built in 1822 the GAR Hall in 2022. Jean also is working on having Lincoln Cemetery placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Jean is also the President of Lincoln Cemetery Project Association.

Brian Klinzing

Gettysburg Leadership Program Executive Director & VP of Philanthropy

Brian Klinzing is AVP, Strategic Partnerships and Leadership Programming and serving as Interim VP of Philanthropy at the Gettysburg Foundation. Brian has twenty-plus years of experience managing teams and leading campaigns for a variety of nationally-significant nonprofit organizations, including the New-York Historical Society, National Audubon Society, Humane Society International, and Orbis International. Early in his career, he spent several years as an Adjunct Professor of History at Fordham University, where he holds an MA in History. He holds a BA in History from the University of Florida. He recently completed an MBA at George Washington University with a concentration in Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Management. He also completed an Executive Leadership Development Course at the Ivey Business School Asia in Hong Kong. He lives outside Frederick MD with his wife and young son.

Meridith Maskara

CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York

Meridith Maskara is a life-long Girl Scout, and her daughters represent the fourth generation of Girl Scouting in her family. In her brief time as a GSGNY staff member — first as VP of Product and Retail Sales, then as COO — Meridith has made a huge impact in leading the council to record-breaking cookie sales, establishing additional revenue streams including the first-ever official council store, and making Girl Scouting accessible to more of NYC’s young women through programs like Troop 6000, a new initiative that brings scouting to girls in the NYC shelter system.
Meridith came to the Girl Scouts after a highly successful career in branding and merchandising. She decided to pursue her passion of helping build a more just and equitable world where girls could grow up to be the great leaders they want — and can — be.

Carol Miller Lieber

Senior Consultant at Educators for Social Responsibility

Carol Miller Lieber is a national leader in integrating principles of personalization and youth development into everyday practices and structures for middle and high schools. As a senior district and school coach for Engaging Schools, facilitating academic success, healthy development, and postsecondary aspirations for every student has been at the heart of her work for over 40 years.
Carol has taught, co-founded a small urban secondary school, and served as a faculty member at Washington University, University of Missouri, and Lesley University.
Carol earned a B.A. in Social Sciences and Education from American University and a M.A.T. in English from Webster University.

Dr. Anthony Muhammad

Author and Education Consultant

Anthony Muhammad, PhD, is a much sought-after educational speaker and presenter. A practitioner for nearly 20 years, he has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, and principal, and also as a high school principal. His Transforming School Culture approach explores the root causes of staff resistance to change.
Dr. Muhammad’s tenure as a practitioner has earned him several awards as both a teacher and a principal. His most notable accomplishment came as principal of Levey Middle School in Southfield, Michigan, a National School of Excellence, where student proficiency on state assessments more than doubled in five years. Dr. Muhammad and the staff at Levey used the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process for school improvement, and they have been recognized in several videos and articles as a model high-performing PLC.
As a researcher, Dr. Muhammad has published articles in several publications in both the United States and Canada.

Matthew Pinsker

Brian Pohanka Chair of War History at Dickson College in Carlisle, PA and Director of the House Divided Project

Matthew Pinsker holds the Brian Pohanka Chair of Civil War History at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and serves as Director of the House Divided Project, an innovative effort to build digital resources on the Civil War era. Matt is also a fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington DC.
He has previously held visiting fellowships at Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Matt graduated from Harvard College and received a D.Phil. degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

Therese Orr

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide

Licensed Battlefield Guide Therese Orr has worked at Gettysburg National Military Park since September 2016. A 30-year veteran of the United States Navy and Navy Reserve, Orr retired as a Senior Chief Intelligence Specialist in 2007. Prior to earning her guide license, she served as Lead Assistant at the former Rupp House History Center in Gettysburg, interpreting the story of the civilian experiences during the three-day battle. Therese frequently presents programs for Gettysburg Foundation sponsored educational events.
Therese enjoys researching and providing specialty tours for visitors to the battlefield and is especially interested in guiding descendants of Civil War soldiers. Therese’s husband, children and grandchildren are descendants of a Union soldier who died in the Battle of Gettysburg and is now buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Joe Rigney

Retired Partner, Exec-Comm

With 20 years’ sales, marketing, and training experience, Joe Rigney is an accomplished coach, presenter, and public speaker. He specializes in leadership development and has coached executives in the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, India, China, and Australia. His clients include leaders from UBS, IBM, KKR, Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, SwissRe, and AXA. In his partner role, Joe oversees the firm’s marketing strategy.
Lately, he’s embracing opportunities to design new program content for the next generation of learners and leaders. Joe guides Exec-Comm CARES, which proudly develops people through education, communication, and community through the firm’s pro bono work globally and in the United States. He’s passionate about helping others during challenging times like career transitions. Since 2005, Exec-Comm has aligned with Columbia Teachers College and the Cahn Fellows program to develop the leadership skills of New York City’s most accomplished public school principals. Before joining Exec-Comm in 2002, Joe worked in the telecommunications industry in sales, sales training, and management positions.
He was recognized with Presidents’ Club and Inner Circle awards for Winstar. Joe graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
He lives in Fanwood, New Jersey with his lovely wife, Darlene, and enjoys watching lacrosse especially – when his two boys, Jake and Kyle, are playing. Along with his family in tow, he joyfully climbed Mount Washington, one rock at a time.

Paul Semanek

Gettysburg Spangler Farm Site Coordinator

Paul Semanek has been the site coordinator for the Historic George Spangler Farm and Field Hospital for the past six years. The Farm is owned and operated by the Gettysburg Foundation. He has also volunteered for the Foundation for three years. Prior to relocating to Franklin County Pennsylvania, Paul was in the residential real estate business for 21 years. He held a variety of positions including salesperson, trainer, broker-owner and director of career development.
Prior to entering the real estate business, Paul was a sworn uniform member of the New York State Police for 23 years and retired as Director of Public Information. He also served in the United States Marine Corps and is a VietNam Veteran.
He lives in Fayetteville with his wife of 44 years Janice. He has two grown children and one granddaughter who are living in New Jersey.

Jason Sirois

National Director of Education Programs, Anti-Defamation League

Jason Sirois, MPA, is a program director, organizer, facilitator and storyteller committed to creating opportunities for people to connect authentically across differences. He is the National Director of Education Programs at ADL (Anti-Defamation League) where he has spent the last decade working closely with schools, colleges/universities, nonprofits, and community organizations committed to creating more inclusive environments.
Under his leadership, the agency’s signature education program, No Place for Hate®, has grown to directly impact over 1.4 million students across the United States each year. He has also served as consultant and program developer for corporations across the globe looking to expand their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and deepen their impact on the communities in which they operate. Select clients include Netflix, American Eagle Outfitters, Volkswagen, and Chelsea Football Club. Jason is a co-organizer of Constructive White Conversations, a gathering space for white people committed to getting comfortable with the uncomfortable conversations necessary to break the silence and take the actions required to dismantle racism in the U.S.

Melissa Shaw

Arts and Communication Advisor, Muslim Jewish Solidarity Committee

Melissa Shaw is a facilitator who offers a unique consultancy based in the arts, social justice, diversity and inclusion, and social-emotional learning. She has facilitated in universities, schools, summer camps, detention centers, yeshivas, churches, corporate offices, and long-term temporary housing centers. She has led workshops for high school students, security guards, chaplains, non-profit managers, video game designers, Buddhist monks, school principals, older adults, NGO leaders, and the NYPD. She is a teaching artist and creative coach for various community-based organizations, including the Community Word Project and the Lulu and Leo Fund. Melissa also facilitates a variety of anti-bias and anti-racist programs for the Anti-Defamation League and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. She was on faculty for Drew University’s 2018 Institute On Religion and Conflict Transformation where she helped to foster dialogue among religious and lay leaders from around the world. She is the Arts and Communication Advisor for the Muslim Jewish Solidarity Committee and was part of the 2019 Nahum Goldmann Fellowship cohort. She is an associate artist with Falconworks Artist Group and a certified Ethno-Religious mediator. Melissa holds an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College.

Jim Sterling

Partner, Exec-Comm

Jim Sterling, an Exec-Comm partner with over 25 years of experience in the field of communication skills, coaches executives to increase their impact in front of important audiences. He specializes in presentation, writing, sales, negotiation and influencing skills.
As a partner, Jim also oversees program design and quality for the firm. Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in Drama from Dartmouth College, receiving a distinguished award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.

Sarah Suatoni

Managing Partner, Executive and Leadership Coach, Psychotherapist

Sarah Suatoni is a managing partner and founder at AIM as well as an executive coach and a licensed professional counselor. As a therapist and coach she has spent twenty years learning and being inspired by a very diverse group of clients from CEOs to High-schoolers. As therapist and coach, Sarah partners with people to connect head and heart, uncover barriers to success, learn to communicate with authenticity and lead life with meaning.
Sarah has a passion for designing curricula that make social and emotional learning and conscious communication accessible, practical, and effective. She has brought the curriculum she developed to Mastercard, World Bank Group, the New York Law Firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges, the United Way, Womankind, Babson College, the Garland Hotel Group, and several school districts across the country. She has also served on the Faculty of Columbia University teaching Self Awareness Training and written two books that help bring wellbeing and communication into action. Along with David Yuan and the AIM team, Sarah is currently partnering with organizations such as the Cahn Fellows, The Gray Fellowship, and Kripalu to bring Social and Emotional Learning, self care, and transformational leadership strategies to School Leaders.
Sarah coaches leaders from organizations such as Pfizer, Google, and Goldman Sachs as well as entrepreneurs and families. Seventeen years ago Sarah began a group supporting working moms that still meets monthly. She has spoken at various conferences such as Columbia Law School, Babson College, The International Finance Corporation and the Connecticut Women's Health Conference on the topics of Mindful Leadership, Parenthood, Body Awareness, and the power of community.
Sarah began her academic career at Cornell University’s school of Industrial Relations and graduated from the Juilliard school with a BFA in Dance. She earned her MA in counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and her Executive and Organizational Coaching Certification from Columbia University. After graduation, she worked as a dancer and choreographer as well as a certified Hellerwork Practitioner (deep tissue bodywork). Working with clients struggling with trauma and chronic pain inspired her to return to school to pursue a masters in counseling psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara CA. Sarah also received training in Mindfulness, Iyengar Yoga, Somatic Psychology, the Neuroscience of Emotions and Family Systems Theory. For six years Sarah collaborated with Dr. Home Nguyen, mindful leadership expert and executive coach. Together with David Yuan they brought MindKind into several organizations and supported an international fellowship by bringing MindKind practices to people daily online. Sarah’s biggest accomplishment is being a mom.

Cheryl Watkins

Leadership coach and inspirational speaker

Dr. Cheryl D. Watkins is an award-winning educator who fell in love with teaching as a child. On rainy days, you could find her playing school on the back porch of her apartment building with her sisters and friends. She remembers how her teachers would save copies of worksheets for her to use when she played school. The early experiences in her educational experience helped to pave the way for her academic and professional successes.
Dr. Watkins has two earned advance degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago, including a Masters degree and a Ph.D. in special education. Currently, she is studying to become a chaplain at a local school of Divinity.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career at the local, regional and national levels. She received the Golden Apple Award (for excellence in teaching), the Kizzy Award, the Kathy Osterman Award for Superior Pubic Service, the Michael Jordan Education Club Teacher Achiever Award and the Dare to Be Great Award from the Illinois Women in Educational Leadership group. As a principal, she was one of two recipients in the state of Illinois to receive national recognition as a winner of the prestigious Milken Award for excellence in education. In 2017, Cheryl was recognized as the recipient of the Margaret T. Burroughs Legacy Award by the DuSable Museum of African-American History.
Dr. Cheryl D. Watkins is an experienced leadership coach and inspirational speaker.

Sam Sullivan

Associate Learning Consultant, North America, Exec-Comm

As an Associate Learning Consultant, Samuel Sullivan helps business professionals develop communication skills and deliver impactful messages. As a Peace Corps volunteer, he facilitated workshops and community building initiatives throughout Armenia. As a passionate educator, he has taught communications courses for CUNY, St. John’s University, and Goodwin College. He has an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Fairfield University and his creative work has been featured in The New Plains Review.Prior to joining Exec-Comm, Samuel facilitated online public speaking courses for St. John’s University, writing courses for CUNY, and communication courses for Goodwin College. While serving in the Peace Corps, Samuel taught English as a foreign language in his host community and facilitated project design and management workshops for his fellow volunteers. Samuel earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Fairfield University. Samuel was raised in Pleasantville, New York. He enjoys traveling and has lived and worked in Ghana, Jordan, and Armenia. He hopes to continue his travels with Exec-Comm and help professionals from all over the world develop confidence in their communication skills. He currently lives in Fairfield, Connecticut. He spends his spare time working on his first novel and chasing his Peloton score.

Lily Woo

Cahn Fellow 2003, Cahn Program Director 2014-2018

Lily Din Woo was one of the 16 principals in the first cohort of the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Principals 2003. She served as the principal of PS 130 Manhattan, District 2, for 25 years before retiring in August of 2014. She subsequently went on to serve as the program director of the Cahn Fellows Program from 2014 until her retirement in 2018. Lily was instrumental in transforming P.S. 130 Manhattan from a struggling school into a consistently high performing school that has been recognized by New York City, New York State and US Department of Education as a Title I Distinguished School and as a demonstration site for its ability to incorporate the arts into the education of every child in the school. In her 44 years in education, Lily has also served as a classroom teacher, an ESL teacher, an ESL staff developer, and as a director for a demonstration project for the Division of High Schools with the NYC Department of Education. Within that time span, she had also served six years with the New York State Education Department as an Associate with the Division of Bilingual Education. She is a product of the NYC public school system. She received her B.A. from Queens College, CUNY, where she majored in Elementary Education and her M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. In 2004, Lily was chosen by the Summer World Olympics Committee as one of 120 “everyday heroes” to represent New York City in the 2014 Summer Olympics Torch Relay. In 2010, she received a “Principal of the Year” Blackboard Award from the New York City media for her exemplary work at her school, and in 2016, received recognition as an Outstanding CUNY Asian-American Woman of the Year for Leadership in Education by the City University of New York’s Asian American/Asian Research Institute. Lily has had the honor of serving on many advisory committees and task forces for several chancellors of the NYC Department of Education, and was a mentor principal for both the NYC Leadership Academy and for the Department of Education. She was a member of the adjunct faculty at Baruch College for seven years and at Bank Street College for 10 years.

Ron Woo

Executive Director, NYS Statewide RBERN at NYU

Ron Woo is an educator with more than 45 years of experience in public school and higher education with expertise in educational policy and law, second language acquisition, and educational leadership and teacher preparation.
In public school education, he served in multiple senior policy and administrative leadership positions, including superintendent. In higher education, Ron oversaw alternative teacher certification programs and serves as a senior policy associate. He teaches graduate educational leadership courses in education policy and law.
Ron holds a BA in Education, MA in TESOL/Applied Linguistics, and JD. He holds permanent NYS SDA and SAS certificates and permanent teaching certificates in Childhood Education and TESOL.

David Yuan

Managing Partner, Executive and Leadership Coach

David Yuan is an executive coach, leadership development consultant, mindfulness facilitator, co-founder, and Managing Partner at Awareness in Motion where he leads organizational change and well-being initiatives for Fortune 100s, school districts, and frontline workers. David is also an expert client thought partner, strategist, and confidant, balancing both support with challenge. He has coached and facilitated leadership development programs for the Department of Education, Gray Fellowship for Principal Excellence, the Cahn Fellows Program, Babson College, Columbia University, World Bank Group, and Mastercard. He works with leaders who are change agents, particularly when they are bringing about culture change initiatives, which require them to shift the way they function personally, relationally, and organizationally. He works with leaders who are invested in modeling the change they want to see and are inspired to improve the well-being of the people they serve. Previously, David was the Managing Partner for MindKind Institute. David is also an award-winning strategist who has led brand redesigns companies on the Fortune 100 and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list.
David partners with leaders to help them achieve the results they want for themselves, their teams, and their organizations while empowering a connection to their well-being, integrity, vision, and purpose. David views his clients as whole and capable and his job is to help them access their own capacity to become self-sustaining, transformational leaders.
David helps clients accomplish their goals by approaching coaching through research and industry best practices while being informed by the following foundations:
1. Using whole-person coaching (mind, body, heart, and spirit are welcome)
2. Tapping into a systems perspective (how the personal, relational, and cultural relate)
3. Embodied emotional intelligence (using language, emotion, and the body to gain insight)
4. Leader as host (helping you create the conditions for personal and organizational success rather than needing to be the fixer)

John Zervas

Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide

John Zervas has been a Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide since 2008. He is an Honor’s Graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School of Business as well as a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. A writer and a lecturer, he has served as an instructor at Harrisburg Area Community College and as a lecturer for the prestigious John Scott Adams lecture series.
He currently serves as chairman of the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award committee, which annually selects the best book about the Gettysburg campaign. John comes to guiding after a 25-year career in the financial services industry primarily with the prestigious Wall Street firm of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc. where he was a senior partner.