Your Summer 2019 Guest Presenters
Larry Long Jr – Speaker, Trainer, & Director of Collegiate Sales | Teamworks Innovations Inc.
Larry is an experienced sales leader with a demonstrated history of success in SaaS sales. He is extremely passionate about coaching, and helping sales professionals take their game to the ‘next level’. Larry brings a unique perspective to the table and understands many of the challenges faced by sales professionals. His areas of experience include Sales Training, Team Development, Leadership, and Motivation within organizations of all stages (start-up to publicly-traded). Practicing what he preaches, Larry continuously seeks opportunities to learn & grow. For more information on Larry, please explore his LinkedIn here and the Teamworks Company Website here.
Alison Carroll – Executive Coach & Entrepreneur | The Hidden Narrative.
Coach Alison Carroll has been an entrepreneur for almost 25 years, first as founder of Commonwealth Language Services Ltd. and now as owner of her own coaching practice, The Hidden Narrative LLC. She is fascinated by the power of language and narrative to shape our experience, and she brings that focus to her coaching work today.
Prior to coaching, Alison worked as a translator from French, German, Portuguese and Spanish into English for law firms, multilateral organizations like the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank and federal agencies like the FBI and the IRS. She helped organize and worked with teams of linguists for large-scale projects like patent litigations and international terrorism and bank fraud investigations while also serving as a medical interpreter on the side.
Alison became a credentialed coach in 2010. Since 2013, she has been a member of The COMMIT Foundation’s coaching “team of teams,” working with over 50 members of the Special Operations community. Her military client base includes veterans that come through Stand Beside Them, Inc and The Capitol Post/Bunker Labs. She also works with the small business community and with individual clients in personal and professional transitions.
As an ontological coach, Alison’s initial focus is on building a client’s powers of self-observation so he can begin to see and question assumptions and beliefs and identify blind spots. Always attuned to language, she explores any hidden narratives standing in the way of change and supports her client in rewriting them in a clear and future-oriented way. Finally, she works to lay a strong foundation for personal agency and accountability, since insight without action does not build the momentum that is essential to sustain change. A lifelong learner, Alison reads widely in psychology, adult development, spirituality and other topics that support her own development as well as that of her clients.
Alison holds a BA in Romance Languages from Harvard University, an MA in Latin American Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and three certificates in translation from Georgetown University. She is a Newfield Network Certified Coach (NCC) and holds a PCC from the International Coach Federation. She is fluent in five languages and has traveled and lived abroad for extended periods of time. Alison works with the Extended DISC assessment tool. Alison is also a U.S. citizen who has lived in Washington, DC and Arlington, Virginia for three decades. She is an avid swimmer and traveler. Married and a mother of four children ranging in age from 17 to 26, she currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.
For more information on Alison, please explore her LinkedIn here and her website here.
Adam Weiner – Coach & Speaker with a focus on Character, Leadership and Teamwork.
Adam spent 14 years in leadership roles as a Navy SEAL where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Among other assignments, he served as Platoon Commander, Operations Officer, and Executive Officer at different SEAL Teams.
After the Navy, Adam brought his leadership to the automotive industry and finance. At General Motors, he was the Business Manager for the Vice President of Engineering before joining AIG as a Divisional Vice President. Today, he partners with Michigan Retirement Advisors as an Investment Advisor Representative.
In 2017 he spearheaded Hatmada LLC to teach character, leadership, and team-building as a coach and speaker. He keynotes around the country to share his message with individuals and teams. A sought-after voice in the Detroit Metro area, he’s appeared numerous times on Fox 2 “Let it Rip” as well as local radio shows.
Adam currently sits on two boards. The Governor of Michigan appointed him to the Veterans Facilities’ Board of Managers where he helps manage various policies for the two veteran homes in the state. Additionally, he was invited to sit on the Board for the Michigan Jewish Action Council who create events to cultivate critical thinking on present day issues.
Adam is a proud graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He is happily married, and they have three wonderful children. For more information on Adam, please explore his LinkedIn here and his website here.
Libby Rybacki – Veteran & Business Development Lead for the Avionics Division of Dynetics, Inc.
Libby Rybacki has consistently built community while excelling in competitive environments, and this pattern of success through teamwork started in her earliest years. She bonded with her four brothers while playing little league football and winning the league MVP award. In high school, she built strong relationships with her teammates in a variety of sports while winning a state championship. She graduated with honors in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology while building lifelong bonds with her sorority sisters and fellow Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets.
In her career as a dedicated Army officer, Libby has succeeded as few others have. As a soldier with specialized training as a Combat Engineer, Libby supervised and directed teams as they tackled a variety of rough terrain in combat situations. Her expertise includes areas such as mobility, countermobility, survivability, and general engineering as well as the construction of fighting positions, fixed/floating bridges, obstacles and defensive positions, placing and detonating explosives, route clearance of obstacles and rivers, preparing and installing firing systems for demolition and explosives, and detecting mines visually or with mine detectors. Libby also led numerous no-notice air movement logistics exercises as a member of an alert force, and she served with distinction in the highly selective and competitive special operations community. She credits her success to the relationships she has built with those around her as well as to the support she received from her church community.
After leaving Active Duty, Libby earned the Dean’s Recognition Award while completing her MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where she also served as a BOLD (Building Outdoor Leader’s at Duke) Fellow and as a CASE (Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship) Fellow. In addition to her academic pursuits, she represented the Army as a member of the All-Army Triathlon team and finished her second Ironman triathlon. She now leads business development for the Avionics Division of Dynetics, Inc. For more information on Libby, please explore her LinkedIn here.
Andre W. Thornton – Founder & CEO | Whitman Consulting.
Andre W. Thornton is the Founder & CEO of Whitman Consulting. Above the sink in his home is a phrase that reads, “Change lives by helping people reach their full potential through purpose-driven leadership”. This desire has evolved into a purpose statement for Whitman Consulting that serves companies around the world by accelerating the development of their leaders. 20 years ago, Mr. Thornton started in the trenches as a young professional and moved up the ranks to the level of Engineering Director at Lockheed Martin. While there he was part of the cultural transformation across the 100,000+ employee company that resulted in tremendous year over year growth. In 2014 he shifted his career to focus on leadership development where he led the strategy and execution of the Technical Leadership Programs for Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Solutions business area.
Andre has led organizations as large as 2,000+ employees, is a 3-time recipient of the Lockheed Martin Aero Star Award, has received the Lockheed Martin Eagle Award, as well as been recognized with the national Black Engineer of the Year Special Recognition Award (BEYA) by Career Communications Group, Inc. These results are rooted in the competencies that advanced his career and are now transferred to others through Whitman Consulting’s leadership development framework called The 7 Steps to Significant Leadership Impact TM.
Since 2016, Whitman Consulting has become a sought-after partner in the leadership development arena. They are working with a growing list companies that includes Microsoft, EY, Lockheed Martin, SunTrust Banks, SNC-Lavalin, and Teamworks Inc., among others.
The 7 Steps and their science-based behavior change techniques are delivering the measurable results that organizations have been looking for in a leadership development solution.
Andre holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from the Georgia State University Robinson School of Business. For more information on Andre, please explore his LinkedIn here and his website here.
Arika Clark – Certified Professional Coach, Entrepreneur, President.
With nearly 20 years of experience in the helping professions, Arika is a success driven internationally credentialed professional coach and motivational speaker. Arika has been able to translate her passion of working with people who feel stuck in their life, into a successful practice where she is able to help individuals regain control of their lives and begin to live intentionally. In doing so, her clients gain an appreciation of and for self-care, become more successful in their lives, and have more fulfilling relationships.
As a mentor, a coach and an educator, Arika has extensive experience working with adults in diverse populations. She does so by not only empowering people but by effecting change in their lives. Arika holds a Master’s degree in Adult Education from the University of Illinois, Springfield campus, she is a Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and a certified administrator of the Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i2.0) assessment. In
addition to her role as a coach, Arika holds national credentials as an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and serves as an adjunct instructor at Moraine Valley Community College.
As a strong entrepreneur, Arika is the President and founder of ASL Communications Inc., serving a multi-state area proving coaching, interpreting, and educational services for thousands of individuals each year. Understanding that it takes a village as well as the need for community involvement and engagement, in her spare time Arika generously gives of herself by her active
participation on multiple Boards. Arika is the President Elect of the International Coach Federation, Chicago Chapter and Secretary of OnePatient Global Health Initiative.
Currently living in Chicago, Arika was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where she developed one of her greatest passions, the pursuit of travel. Arika has traveled the United States extensively, visited 25 countries, and even lived in Japan where she developed curriculum and taught English as a Second Language for prominent local business programs. The experiences she gained during her times inland and abroad have shaped her global perspectives, providing her a
valuable insight into her very diverse clientele. For all of these reasons, and more,
Arika is a highly sought-after educator, coach and influencer who has what it takes to help her clients see change. For more information on Arika, please visit her LinkedIn here and her website here.