Nathan served as the Director of Organizational and Professional Development at the University of South Carolina from 2011 until 2023. He has over 35 years of experience in the fields of organizational development and performance improvement. His primary areas of focus were organizational assessment, supervisory and management development, process improvement, and individual and group performance enhancement. Nathan led efforts to identify work climate and employee engagement issues and develop strategies to enhance both employee performance and satisfaction. He designed organizational planning and problem-solving sessions and provided leadership, conflict resolution, team development training and executive coaching. He also facilitated strategic planning, team development, goal setting and metric development sessions. At USC, he created and facilitated the Pipeline for Academy Leadership (PAL) program, oversaw the university’s staff professional development and training operations, and led organizational development activities across the Columbia campus. In addition, Nathan has consulted with over 70 public, private, and non-profit organizations on organizational performance issues since 2008 through his company Strong Performance-Based Solutions. His favorite saying is: “Ideas compete, people collaborate.”
Aaron Helander graduated from Oakland University’s Honors College in 2017 with a degree in Integrative Studies and is currently pursuing an MBA with a concentration in finance. Aaron has had the honor of being the keynote speaker at several leadership events in the community. He also holds down a full-time position as the Director of Marketing and Operations for KARMA Jack Digital Marketing. Aaron coordinates all student engagement initiatives for the office of alumni engagement with the primary responsibility of managing the Leadership OU program. A graduate of Leadership OU himself, Aaron looks forward to helping high-achieving students reach new heights by connecting them with impactful alumni mentors and speakers.
A two-time alumna of Western Michigan University, Erin Sudrovech began her career in alumni relations at her alma mater in 2001, where she served as the coordinator of student and young alumni outreach. She took the Assistant Director position at Oakland University in 2005 and was elevated to Associate Director in 2010. She was appointed to her current role as Director of Alumni Engagement in 2016. Under Erin’s leadership, the office of alumni engagement develops strategies and initiatives to engage the university’s 118,000+ alumni population through meaningful programs, events, mentorships and volunteer opportunities. This work has resulted in four consecutive years of recognition through the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), including Pride of CASE V awards for Best Practices in Alumni Relations and Best Volunteer Engagement Program for Leadership OU.
In her role at Appalachian State University, Kim leads a team that recruits, engages, and retains transfer students. One-quarter of the undergraduate population at App State began as transfer students, and the office of Transfer Admissions and Engagement recruits future students through community college visits, innovative transfer pathway programs, and admission counseling and pre-transfer advising. The work doesn’t end once the students are enrolled, however, and Kim’s team collaborates with campus partners to coordinate orientation and welcome weekend events, provides community in a transfer residence hall that doubles as a Transfer Students Center, and plans and hosts transfer-specific programming throughout the semester to help transfer students connect both socially and with campus support services in their new environment. Working with both Transfer Student Mentors and Faculty Transfer Mentors, Kim provides transfer students with the resources, support and advocacy they need for success at Appalachian. She also chairs the Transfer Services Team, which is a campus-wide advisory board where faculty, staff, and students identify and address transfer student needs. Kim has spent 25 years in higher education, including 10 years at a community college, where she first began working with students starting the transfer process.
Jonathan has spent the past 9 years working directly with transfer and non-traditional students and developing transfer retention initiatives to support them. He recently started at the University of Virginia (UVA) in June 2022, working in the University Career Center. He oversees the Business Community and is also part of the Exploration team, where he helps first- and second-year students explore their major and career options. Before starting at UVA, Jonathan spent 15 years at the University of Lynchburg. During that time, he had many different roles. In his current last role as Director of First & Second Year Initiatives, Jonathan oversawsees Transfer, Adult Learner, Commuter, and Second-Year student services, as well as first-year initiatives. This includeds overseeing the transfer peer mentoring program, Transfer Orientation, Adult Orientation, Second-Year Welcome Week, Tau Sigma: Transfer Honor Society, and the Commuter Student Association. He spent the past 9 years working directly with transfer and non-traditional students and developing transfer retention initiatives to support them. Jonathan has presented at numerous conferences on Transfer, First-Year, Second-Year, and Commuter students. Some topics have included “Creating an Innovating Transfer Student Experience,” “Creating Successful Transitions: The Transfer Orientation Experience,” “Lynchburg College Legacy: Blazing the Path to Staying Relevant […]
At the University of Central Florida (UCF), Jeremy works with collegiate males to help them strive for success academically and professionally. He has been a mentor and coach for over 200 young men since 2009. At UCF, Mr. Jones coordinates the Collegiate Male Institute, in which he oversees two mentoring programs, Brother 2 Brother (Collegiate) and Brother’s on the Rise (Pre-Collegiate). He is also the faculty advisor for numerous male registered student organizations on campus, such as Men of Integrity, Chi Tau Tau chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Faithful Black Men of UCF, and Hazard Team. While at Tusculum University, Mr. Jones developed and implemented a mentoring program called “Pioneering Connections,” which is nationally certified by College Reading and Learning Association. The University had the highest retention rate in 10 years with the implementation of high impact programs like Pioneering Connections around campus. He is also an alum and former professional of TRiO Student Support Services.
In his current role, Wayne provides academic support for more than 30,000 multicultural and first-generation students on the UCF campus. During his tenure at UCF, Wayne has received the 2016 NASPA Excellence Award, the 2012 SDES Team of the Year and the 2010 NACADA Outstanding Institutional Advising Program Certificate of Merit for his leadership in directing the department’s summer bridge program called SOAR (Seizing Opportunities for Achievement and Retention). He is also the 2003 winner of the Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award for his work in directing the Minority Mentoring Program at The College of New Jersey. Wayne is the co-founder of Jackson-Davis Educational Consulting, a company that helps colleges and universities increase their retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students.
In these roles, she leads and provides training, support, guidance, and resources for formal and informal mentoring relationships for college students, faculty and staff, and alumni, as well as leading personal and career development programs for young professionals. She has written for and spoken to national and international audiences about effective mentoring strategies, leadership, and professional development. Prior to joining Wake Forest in 2010, Allison was a public service faculty member at the University of Georgia, where she created, administered, and facilitated leadership development and organizational development programs for higher education and public sector audiences. A native of Durham, North Carolina, Allison earned her bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest, and holds a master’s in public relations and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Georgia.
Dr. Grace Wong Sneddon has an Interdisciplinary PhD in Anthropology and Pacific and Asian Studies. As past Director of Academic Leadership Initiatives and Advisor to the Provost on Equity and Diversity at the University of Victoria, she continues to share her knowledge and expertise with organizations locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. She consults with post-secondary institutions and corporate organizations. Her areas of research include: equity, diversity and inclusion, race and gender in popular culture, Asian North American identity, Chinese Canadian Spirituality in the 21st Century, and the Chinese diasporic culture. Dr. Wong Sneddon is committed to community engagement. She is vice-president of the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation, treasurer of the Hoy Sun Ning Yung Association, chair of the Victoria Foundation, and a member of TRIUMF Board of Management, Personnel, and Administration Committee.
Prior to joining academia, Dr. Kaufman worked in sales for Nabisco Biscuit Company. In this capacity he managed territories and developed and implemented store level sales promotions. On a Fulbright, he gained international experience working in planning for DuPont in Mexico City and separately as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow spent one year in Mexico interviewing executives and government officials regarding their perceptions of free trade. At the university he has been a co-director on a U.S. Department of Education grant and was also awarded a Small Business Administration grant to promote international business education at Illinois State University. These grant monies total $250,000. Most recently he has co-created interdisciplinary minors in Business Environment & Sustainability and Analytics. Through classes and grant sponsored activity, he has consulted extensively with U.S. companies in the following areas: automobiles, packaging, eye-wear, chemicals, agriculture, beverages, medical devices, air filtration, and construction. Dr. Kaufman’s teaching interests include Marketing Strategy, International Marketing, Sustainability, and Career Management. He has received numerous teaching awards, including: Wilma Jean Alexander Innovation Award (College of Business) (2008) American Marketing Association Prentice Hall Solomon-Marshall-Stuart Award for Innovative Excellence in Education (national) (2008) Outstanding Team Research Award (university-wide) (2012) MBA Professor of the […]
