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provocateur
noun pro·vo·ca·teur \ prō-ˌvä-kə-ˈtər \ an artist or activist whose work suggests ideas that are threatening to accepted values or practices. 
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Instead of traditional “Speakers,” we prefer the notion of the “Provocateur”.
This year, our Provocateurs are attending to enhance your experience, push you out of your comfort zone, and break down your mental models. Much like the first year of the Leadership Forum in 1918, we are at a turning point in society – one which requires courageous and creative thinkers willing to learn and challenge traditional ways. Our Provocateurs will be an integral part of the Forum and its outcomes. |
2021 Provocateurs
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Howard Kraft
Health care leader with 25+ yrs of experience in leading & consulting on health care strategy, design & implementation. Howard is currently the Staff Vice President, Total Health Clinical Strategy at Anthem. Specialties include: Total health related change management focused on organizational redesign; facilitation of staff transition of roles and responsibilities; leadership engagement; and demonstration of results. Howard has been a member of the Leadership Forum Community since 1996. He is the Leadership Forum Community Board Chairperson and is serving as the 2021 Summit Chair. Vanessa Mbouw
Vanessa was born in Indonesia, raised in the Middle East. After graduating high school in Abu Dhabi, Vanessa returned to Jakarta to pursue a career in music under the moniker, vanessaTM. Her musical career led to Habitat for Humanity Indonesia, where she took on the role as Youth Ambassador in 2014. She began by speaking and performing in schools across Jakarta to. Her efforts led her to champion the Habitat youth movement in Mumbai, Hong Kong, and New York. In 2015, Vanessa composed the Habitat Young Leaders Build theme song titled, Start the Fire, which united youths from across the Asia-Pacific Region. In 2017, she was awarded Outstanding Volunteer from HFH Indonesia and the Nehemiah Award (for distinguished volunteer service for youth in Asia Pacific) from HFH Asia Pacific in Atlanta, Georgia. After obtaining her degree in Communications and Public Relations in the United States, Vanessa returned to Jakarta where she currently works at a diplomatic mission. This year Vanessa hopes to release new music and launch a digital project aimed at sharing the stories of youth around the world. |
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Matthew Mullens
Through many failures and some success, Matthew enjoys utilizing his passion for sustainability along with his drive for problem solving to have a positive impact on the world. In 2019 he founded Empasta, a plant-based cheese alternative. Empasta strives to make healthy options satisfying and accessible by producing a multipurpose cheese sauce that will make you reconsider your perception of plant-based cheeses! Matthew also holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and serves as the Leadership Forum Community Programs Officer. Matt currently lives in Greensboro, NC and spends his free time in nature, reading about topics he's interested in, and cooking food that most people find questionable. |
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Linette Gomez
As a marketing advisor and executive and leadership coach, I work with leaders and their teams to find clarity, direction, and meaningful impact. My work is informed by nearly 20 years of multinational marketing, business, communications, and leadership experience. I am a solopreneur and a board member of the Association for Coaching, the Columbia Coaching Conference, and the M2M (MarketersToMarketers) - a Women in B2B community. I am a first-generation citizen of the US with Colombian and French parents. I live in Brooklyn with my partner and four-year old son. |
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Lyndon Rego
Lyndon Rego is the founder of CoMetta, which imagines a new way to build a vibrant and thriving community. CoMetta provides space, facilitation, and tools to enhance individual wellbeing, develop more effective organizations, and nurture a more connected and caring community. Lyndon spent 14 years leading innovation and global leadership development at the Center for Creative Leadership, where he was the catalyst for the Innovation Incubator, Leadership Beyond Boundaries initiative, and the Future Leadership Lab. He was the founder of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the African Leadership University, which was named as one of the 50 most innovative organizations in 2019 by Fast Company. |
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Renee Victoria McClure - Mills
A native New Yorker, Renee was born and raised on Long Island. Her foundation being built on church and family life. She received a BS in Computer Science from NY Institute of Technology and a Masters in the Ministry from California School of Ministry (Summa Cum Laude). An employee of National Grid for over 34 years, her expertise lies within IT and Community engagement. The foundation of technological skills and passion for the community has provided a win-win combination. Renee currently is the Manager of Community and Customer Management covering Brooklyn. As a motivational speaker, panelist, and trainer at professional conferences/workshops, engagements have included the National Society of Black Engineers, Blacks in Technology, Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), and MIT Race for the Digital Divide, non-profit organizations, and religious institutions. Her views and writings have been featured in publications for: Networking World, Black Enterprise, KIP Business Report, Diversity Careers, Hispanic Engineers, US Black Engineers, and the Tavis Smiley Report. Over the years, Renee has participated or provided leadership to many organizations, winning several awards. Currently she is the Community Chairperson of Alliance of Black Professional (ABP) at National Grid, and Co-Chair of the MWBE Committee and Executive Board member for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, executive board member of Weeksville Heritage Center, executive team member of the NY chapter of American Blacks in Energy (AABE), board member of HeartShare and a member of Women in Energy and Communications (WICE). Married for over 10 years, she continues to pursue her goals and initiatives with her husband and family. Renee states I’ve only just begun, and as I travel through life, I hope our paths will cross again in a way that will inspire and encourage positive and fulfilling lives for all mankind. |
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Joshua Ehrlich
Josh is a senior advisor and coach who helps leaders drive innovation and change. He is a leading authority on succeeding in demanding environments and an expert on mindful leadership. Based on his research, he helps individuals, teams and organizations develop their engagement, resilience and strategic thinking. Josh has worked with hundreds of executives and dozens of teams in multinational companies, including more than 50 of the Fortune 100 across multiple industries. Josh is the author of Mindshifting: Focus for Performance. Yohannes Yadagne
Yohannes was born in Ethiopia and later immigrated to Canada. His educational background is in Business Administration and Psychology. He has served as a catalyst to help organizations of all levels create sustainable solutions for leadership development that are inclusive, accessible, and affordable in Ethiopia and is now the Africa Regional Director for GO-innovation. This has included providing leadership training for private companies, NGOs and at the inter-governmental level for embassies, Forum of Federation (federalism and good governance), the Program for Young African Politicians (PYPA: in Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda) and more recently for the EU (ECES) for the upcoming Ethiopian elections among key stakeholders. He is also the co-founder of ‘Hiwot’ (www.hiwotlife.org) which provides voluntary leadership training using various mechanisms (including soccer) along the South Sudan and Somali borders and Refugee Camps that aims to help local people address and find solutions to the most difficult issues they are facing. |
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Bedriye Hulya
Bedriye has a successful track record of entrepreneurship, having founded and managed several enterprises in the tourism and textile sectors. During her career, Bedriye has successfully identified needs and opportunities and put together teams and resources. It was not until she took a career break to realize her dream to study psychology in the U.S. that she realized much of her struggles resulted from gender inequalities and being a woman in a male-dominated field. During her exploration of the U.S. lifestyle, she came across the concept of women-only gyms, which spurred her inspiration for b-Fit. Bedriye founded the first b-Fit center in Turkey in 2006. “I saw an opportunity to enable Turkish women to empower themselves” says Bedriye, which is exactly what she did. Today, Bedriye is looking for strategies to better assess, understand, and deepen her social impact on women in Turkey. She is looking to measure and deepen her impact, increase the diversity of women members, and at opportunities to expand across the Middle East. |
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Kyle Campbell
A starving artist at heart. Overly obsessed with being a dog dad. A generational nomad Millennial enough to post to TikTok, but too Gen X to understand Snapchat. And a human resources veteran whose professional life to date can best be characterized as accidental. With no life goal outside of wishing his pop-punk band would be interviewed on the MTV show TRL in the late 1990’s, Kyle began his career journey in the peopley-part of business as the administrative assistant in the training department of a small community bank in 1998. It was there that something clicked. If he was going to have to work a ‘real job’ for the rest of his life, then trying to help others make the time they spent at work as fulfilling, productive and enjoyable as possible was going to be his mission. Over the course of the next 23 years, Kyle held a variety of roles including corporate trainer, training manager, coach, learning designer, talent manager, and most recently, Sr. Director of Talent and Organization Capability at InterDigital. His proudest career moment was living and working in Singapore helping to stand up talent operations for a Fortune 500 company. Kyle holds a Masters in Organizational Development and Change from Penn State University, a B.A. in Human Resources Management from Muhlenberg College, and is certified in a variety of capability and leadership assessment tools. |
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Shiri Sandler
Shiri is the Managing Director at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwamagana, Rwanda. Previously, Shiri was the U.S. Director of the Auschwitz Jewish Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Shiri directed fundraising, educational programs for North American students, and Board relations for the Center, an affiliate of the Museum’s. While at the Museum, she led immersive programs on dehumanization and genocide for military students, developed new ethics programs for professional school students, and taught about the Darfur genocide. Prior to joining the Museum, she was the Interim Chief of Staff at the Genocide Intervention Network, a Darfur genocide activism organization founded and staffed by students. Shiri received her M.A. in Modern European History from Brown University and her B.A. from Cornell University. Her academic research is on Soviet liberator rape of Jewish concentration camp survivors. Shiri is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. |
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Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura
Jean-Claude (JC) has over 17 years of experience in education, marketing, government, and corporate communication. As the Executive Director of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, JC manages a diverse team of educators and care providers while building successful local and international partnerships. JC’s passion lies in Rwanda’s development and the belief that Rwanda’s success will be achieved through educated, empowered, and resilient youth. He received a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Central Arkansas before returning to Rwanda to work as a media and protocol officer in the Office of the President. He then moved to South Africa to undertake a Master’s program in International Relations. After completing his Master’s degree, JC founded XLcom, a communications agency that provided communication services to organizations including the African Development Bank. Prior to joining ASYV, JC served as the General Manager for Saatchi & Saatchi Rwanda. In 2011, he joined the ASYV staff as Village Director and was later promoted to Executive Director in 2015. |
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Maurice Ntagungira
Maurice is the Media and Content Advisor at Rwandan TV channel KC2. He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Film Production. Maurice is a member of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village class of 2013. Before coming to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, Maurice lived with his mother. He lost his father and most of his extended family in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In Maurice’s words, the Village “taught him to dream and gave him the tools to work toward his dreams.” In his career, Maurice hopes to use filmmaking to inspire young people and heal lingering wounds. Carin Taylor
Carin Taylor is the Chief Diversity Officer at Workday and has global responsibility for the development and execution of Workday’s inclusion and diversity strategy. Prior to joining Workday, Carin served as the head of diversity, inclusion, and innovation at Genentech where she was responsible for strategic initiatives including executive coaching, building and leading highly effective teams, and increasing employee engagement. She was also responsible for creating strategies to successfully recruit, develop, and retain diverse workforces as well as enabling large organizations to leverage diversity and inclusion to drive innovation. Before Genentech, Carin held various positions in human resources, inclusion and diversity, finance, and customer service at Cisco Systems. |
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Cliff Kayser MSOD, MSHR, PCC
Admired for progressive thinking and expertise in the area of values and dynamics of value polarities, Cliff Kayser has dedicated 25 years to leadership and organizational, executive coaching, and positive social change. Cliff is VP of Polarity Partnerships representing its east coast operations out of Washington, D.C. He is founder/president of XPERIENCE, LLC formed in 2007, which includes “Kayser Ridge,” a retreat and learning center he built in Berkeley Springs, WV. In 2017 Mr. Kayser founded the non-profit Institute for Polarities of Democracy and in 2018 formed Sixseed, a forward-thinking healthcare coaching/consulting firm. Cliff has held internal positions as Vice President of Organizational Development and Training for The National Cooperative Bank (NCB), Senior Organization Development Consultant for The Washington Post, and Corporate Manager of Human Resources and Training at The Washington Post Company. Cliff has practiced Tai Chi for 25 years and frequently integrates this practice into coach and leadership training. |
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Margaret Seidler, MPA
Margaret Seidler is a nationally-recognized Organization Development consultant, speaker, and author based in Charleston, SC. Her practice has focused on creating higher performance in both organization and community systems. Central to her work is Polarity Thinking®, a set of principles and method to help people see, map and tap the power of “both/and” thinking for better, more sustainable results. Her interest in helping other professionals become more effective leaders began in the early 1990s, when she recognized the need to improve her own leadership skills. Her areas of expertise include managing complex opportunities and challenges, increasing leaders’ self-awareness/self-management, teambuilding, resolving conflict and interpersonal communications skills. Since returning to her hometown of Charleston and establishing her consulting practice in 2001, she has published numerous articles. In 2008, her first book, Power Surge, was published by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Press of Amherst, MA. A case study of her work leading the Charleston Illumination Project, designed to strengthen relationships between police and the community it serves, was published in 2017 in The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox, Oxford University Press, UK. |
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Chandra Irvin, M.Ed., MDIV
Chandra Irvin is the Executive Director for Peace and Spiritual Renewal at Spalding University where she provides leadership to the Community for Peace and Spiritual Renewal (CPSR). CPSR is a community of faculty, staff, and students who facilitate spiritual formation and individual and collective journeys towards common ground. Chandra serves on Spalding’s leadership team and participates in the creation and implementation of an institutional vision and strategies to deepen spiritual values and promote peace and justice within and beyond the Spalding community. She is a certified life coach (ICF), a strengths-based coach (Gallup), and a master consultant in polarity thinking (Polarity Management Associates), who journeys with and supports students, faculty, and staff as they address difficult issues and seek to discern, live, and work in their purpose. |
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Jennifer Lea, MS, CSCS, CPT
Director, Global Portfolio Management & Innovation | Performance Coach Jennifer Lea is a nationally recognized authority in health education and performance training. As a performance coach, Jennifer delivers the Human Performance Institute’s energy management, resilience, and performance training worldwide to hundreds of top corporate executives. In 2015, Jennifer was recognized for her efforts as Johnson & Johnson Working Mother of the Year by Working Mother Media, Inc. She has contributed as a lead performance coach for MSNBC Know Your Value Conference and Vital Voices Global Women Leadership Summit. In addition, she has contributed her expertise to articles for magazines and websites. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree in health education and behavior from the University of Florida. Her passion for developing leaders is evident in her commitment to coaching individuals to make life changes and live to their fullest potential. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling the world with her family. |
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Clint Kofford, Global Head, Human Performance Institute and Talent Development
At Johnson & Johnson, Clint is responsible for The Human Performance Institute and developing the global talent development strategy focused on leadership development, coaching, career development, learning technology and energy management. Clint’s focus is driving innovation and purpose in the development space, democratizing development, building manager capability, and ensuring the vitality of the leadership pipeline. Clint holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Vanderbilt University and a B.S. Degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. Clint, his wife Nancy, and their 4 children (David, Emma, Claire, and Jackson) reside in Chester, NJ and enjoy all kinds of outdoor recreation including waterskiing, running, and hiking. Eric Bailey
Eric Bailey is the President and CEO of Bailey Strategic Innovation Group, one of the fastest-growing OD/Strategy consulting firms in the western United States. His impact helps leaders improve the lives of those who follow them, and the customers/citizens whom they are charged with supporting. Eric has a uniquely diverse set of experiences, including: helping future NFL Hall-of-Famer Larry Fitzgerald pet a rhinoceros; teaching dozens of young children to ski; changing the strategic course of dozens of cities; jumping out of an airplane with his wife; flying an F-16; and chatting with LL Cool J on the campus of Harvard University. Eric understands that no matter what life puts in your path, there are lessons to be learned or stories to be told. Eric is an author (The Cure for Stupidity) and is the creator of the Principles of Human Understanding™, a leadership and communication methodology based in brain science and psychology. Eric has a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Organizational Development from Saint Louis University and is a lifetime learner of human and organizational behavior. Eric understands that the success that he has been blessed with is not the end result, but rather a moment of time in his fight to have a greater impact on the world. Mark DeFee
Behavioral Health and EAP Client Executive, Anthem, Inc. Mark is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Coach, and BH and EAP Client Executive in Anthem’s National Accounts division. Mark has been with Anthem since 2010 and in the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) field since 2004. He has held numerous roles creating a unique skillset that consists of:
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K.C. Schroder
Behavioral Health and EAP Client Executive, Anthem, Inc. K.C. Schroder has worked as the dedicated Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Behavioral Health Client Executive for a large, ANA client since 2015. K.C. has worked for Anthem since 2012. Prior to her dedicated role, K.C. was responsible for Behavioral Health and EAP account management activities associated with Anthem’s national and local customers in the Southeast. K.C.’s experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor has taught her listening, staying calm in a crisis and constantly treating those around you in an empathetic way are keys to successful working relationships. K.C. uses these three key skills to provide thoughtful service and innovative solutions in her everyday work. K.C. enjoys cooking for her family and exploring the outdoors. She is an avid skier and loves water sports. She has an adventurous spirit and considers her role as a Mom her greatest adventure yet. |
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Michael Selmon
Behavioral Health and EAP Client Executive, Anthem, Inc. Michael is responsible for Behavioral Health and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) providing useful tools and integrated support to Anthem clients. He provides both strategic and tactical support for his clients based on their priorities, culture, and expectations. Prior to joining Anthem, Michael had extensive experience working with other managed care organizations. Additionally, he has over 15 years of experience providing individual, group and family therapy to adolescents and their families in settings such as Intensive Family Intervention, juvenile courts, and Atlanta Public Schools. Mike is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Psychology as well as a Certified Mental Health Disaster Responder. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from The University of Cincinnati, a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and MBA Executive Program at Georgia State University. Michael enjoys keeping up with the current/historical times, international travel, planning family events and reading self-help tips that focus on the mind/body/spirit. He resides in Powder Springs, Georgia with his family. |
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David Wright
Director, BH & EAP Sales & Client Management, Anthem Inc. David Wright works at Anthem as the Director of the Behavioral Health and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) Sales and Account Management team. His role includes oversight of the day-to-day sales and account management activity, supporting relationships with key clients and partners, creating sales & market strategy, as well as overseeing overall product approach of the behavioral health and EAP programs. David has been with Anthem for over 11 years, serving as the Clinical Operations Director for the Behavioral Health Resource Center and Anthem EAP teams for eight of those years. In this role, David led a team of clinical professionals in building and delivering Anthem’s BH and EAP services, responding both local and national markets to support members’ clinical needs. David holds a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the University of Denver and has worked in the behavioral health and EAP field since 1997. He lives in Denver with his wife and 3 teenaged kids, and enjoys cycling, photography, and skiing whenever he is not attending one of his kids’ activities. |
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Joe Tankersley is a professional futurist, writer, and advocate for better tomorrows. During a twenty-year career at Walt Disney Imagineering, he led creative teams and helped built the company’s foresight practice.
These days, his company Unique Vision, Inc. helps organizations Imagineer their best tomorrows. Joe’s clients range from Fortune 100 companies to community groups and nonprofits. Joe served on the Association of Professional Futurists' board for six years. He was a founding director of the Global Future Forum and has been a creative advisor to the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes nonprofit for the past decade. He is the author of “Reimagining Our Tomorrows.” Joe believes that by understanding the forces driving change in our turbulent world, we can create a sustainable, abundant, and just future. Charles J. (Chuck) Palus, PhD
Senior Fellow, Center for Creative Leadership (retired 2020) Chuck studies, teaches, and develops leadership as a relational process within the context of the vertical transformation of leadership cultures. Chuck is co-founder of CCL Labs, a community-based innovation laboratory with a line of products including Visual Explorer™, Leadership Essentials™, Transformations™, and the Early Leadership Toolkit™. He has co-designed numerous development experiences including: Leading Creatively, EdgeWork, Facing and Solving Complex Challenges, Transforming Your Organization, Boundary Spanning Leadership, and Leadership for Societal Impact. He is a passionate contributor to the CCL Societal Impact agenda and has worked extensively in Africa from the grass roots to senior levels at the African Union. Chuck is co-author of the award-winning book The Leader’s Edge; and the papers: Making Common Sense: Leadership as Meaning-Making in a Community of Practice, and Evolving Leaders. His work appears in Leadership Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, the Harvard Business School Handbook for Teaching Leadership; the CCL Handbook of Leadership Development; the CCL Handbook of Coaching; the Handbook of Action Research; and the Change Handbook. |
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Poyee Chiu
Poyee is a Co-Founder of UpSpiral Leadership. She works with clients across a wide-range of industries to generate positive and transformational workplace change. Together with the UpSpiral Leadership Team, Poyee helps companies build and deploy strategies that drive leader development, build critical experiences, and energize the workplace with purpose, creativity and inspiration. Poyee leverages her extensive background in talent management, leader development, organizational development and employee engagement with large organizations like Chubb, AllianceBernstein and Johnson & Johnson to design, prototype and facilitate innovative and powerful learning journeys for clients of all sizes. Poyee received her Doctor of Psychology degree in Organizational Psychology from Rutgers, Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology and is insatiably curious about new discoveries in the areas of positive psychology and neuroscience. |
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Faith Hassell Faith is passionate about the utility industry, handbell choirs, and chai tea lattes! Faith is currently a Community and Customer Manager at National Grid where she develops and maintains relationships with major accounts, key stakeholders, community and municipal leaders. She has a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Georgetown University (Go Hoyas!). Faith joined the Leadership Forum Community three years ago as a scholarship recipient and is very grateful to this community for all of the investment they have poured into her. Last year Faith took on the leadership of one of the Leadership Forum’s first incubation projects to put ideas into action. |
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Joel Wright
Joel is a leadership architect, social entrepreneur, innovator, and facilitator of leadership and organizational development focused on the question, what would the world look like if all people had access to leadership development? This question began incubating while he served the Sri Lanka YMCA and witnessed how leadership training empowered people, organizations, and communities to respond to the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Upon returning to the US, Joel spent twelve years with the Center for Creative Leadership innovating ways to democratize leadership development. With over twenty years of experience, Joel writes, presents, and facilitates about the importance of Expanding the Leadership Equation; he has a Masters in Educational Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship from UNC-Chapel Hill. Joel is currently part of the People team at Square where he continues his efforts to create scalable leadership solutions. Joel is also the President of the Leadership Forum Community. |