Tag Archives: appreciative inquiry

Nancy Stetson

Nancy Stetson

Nancy E. Stetson, Ed.D., was the founding president of Company of Experts.net (COE.net), a highly successful firm she founded in 1989 primarily to serve the professional and organizational needs of colleges, community colleges, schools and universities. She and her business partner, Charles R. Miller, sold the business to COE.net principals Jim Pulliam and Kathy Becker in 2005. While mostly retired, Nancy occasionally serves as an Expert on Call for COE.net.

Since 1979, Nancy personally has provided hundreds of consulting, executive coaching, facilitating, keynoting, and training services to more than 125 organizations-corporations and businesses, educational organizations, governmental organizations, and non-profit organizations-and, within those organizations, to many groups and individuals.

Nancy has made more than 100 presentations at international, national, and state conferences. She also has published dozens of professional articles and monographs. She is the co-author, with Miller, of Appreciative Inquiry in the Community College: Early Stories of Success, published in 2004 by the League for Innovation in the Community College; and author of Stories of Positive Change in the Community College: Appreciative Inquiry in Action, published in 2008 by Company of Experts.net. Her publications also include light verse, poetry and short stories, and she is currently seeking an agent for several “picture” books for preschoolers.

While working as a part-time consultant, Nancy also worked full time from 1972-91 for several colleges, holding a variety of executive-level management positions including Vice President for Planning and Development and acting Vice President for Student Services. From 1991-97, she taught college courses full time. From 1997-2001, she taught many part-time undergraduate and doctoral-level courses in business, communications, education and leadership/management/supervision, face-to-face and online, at six different two and four-year public and private colleges and universities. She continues to be a Mentor/Assessor in Walden University’s Ph.D. in Education online program, specializing in Community College Leadership.

Jane Magruder Watkins and Ralph Kelly of Appreciative Inquiry Unlimited trained Nancy as an Appreciative Inquiry practitioner. She holds a doctorate in higher education from Nova Southeastern University, and did post-doctoral work in higher education on classroom assessment at University of California at Berkeley with K. Patricia Cross and Thomas A. Angelo. Nancy earned a Master of Science degree in individualized studies/organizational behavior from Central Washington University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in writing and development from The Evergreen State College, and an Associate in Arts degree from Wenatchee Valley College. She also attended Swarthmore College for several years before taking a 13-year break in her education in order to be a full-time parent to her two daughters, Laurel and Nancy Lee. She is the proud grandmother of Laurel’s two sons, Connor and Brendan; and pays motherly and grandmotherly attention to some of her former husband’s children and grandchildren.

Nancy’s honors and awards include:

  • 2008 – Marquis Who’s Who in America; 2001 – International Who’s Who of Professionals; 1990, 2007 – Marquis Who’s Who of American Women; 1993, 2007 – Marquis Who’s Who in American Education [Marquis Who’s Who is the definitive biographical resource of top professionals. Selection is based on leadership positions, educational attainments, significant publishing or public speaking experience, or contributions to the communities]
  • 2003 – Lorraine Barry Individual Leadership Award from the California Community College Council for Staff and Organizational Development (4C/SD)
  • 2002 – With Charles Miller, Western Region John Fry Individual Merit Award from the National Council for Staff, Program, and Organizational Development for outstanding contributions to staff, program, and organizational development at the regional and local level 
  • 1998-2002 – Executive Board Outstanding Service Award from the California Community College Council for Staff and Organizational Development
  • 1997-98 – National Leadership Award from the National Council for Staff, Program, and Organizational Development for outstanding contributions in writing, research and advocacy that promoted the goals of staff, program, and organizational development at the national level
  • 1997 – Commendation Resolution for 15-1/2 years of dedicated service to the students and staff of College of Marin, Marin Community College District Board of Trustees
  • 1993-94 – Certificate of Appreciation for service on Commission on Trustee and Staff Development, Community College League of California
  • 1990-91 – Certificate of Appreciation for service on Commission on Research, Community College League of California
  • 1990 – Practitioner’s Hall of Fame by Nova Southeastern University for excellent contributions leading to the improvement of educational practice (shared governance work at College of Marin and state-wide publications in shared governance)
  • 1983 – Certificate of Appreciation, The Small Business Center, College of Marin
  • 1982 – Board Service Award; 1983 – Vice President of Programs Award, National Council for Resource Development
  • 1979-81 – City of Wenatchee for service on Parks Board
  • 1980-97 – Recognized eight times by the student governments and honor societies at Wenatchee Valley College and College of Marin for outstanding service and dedication to students
  • 1979 – Individual Supporting the Arts award from the Allied Arts Council of North Central Washington
  • 1977 – Co-chaired a Bicentennial year project that roofed the courtyard of a building at Wenatchee Valley College for which the Allied Arts Council of North Central Washington received the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award
  • 1954 – Edwin S. Fulop Public Speaking Award for commencement address at Union High School (NJ)

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Specialties:

  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training
  • Appreciative Process
  • Change Management
  • Consulting
  • Creative Thinking
  • Enneagram
  • Executive Coaching and Counseling
  • Goal Setting
  • Institutional Effectiveness
  • Keynote Speaker
  • Management Consulting
  • Organizational Development
  • Social Styles
  • Process Consultation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Teaching Effectiveness
  • Team Building
  • Trust Building
  • Vision

Charles Miller

Charles Miller

Charles R. Miller was a full-time member of the faculty at a northern California community college for 31 years, serving as an instructor, learning specialist and coordinator of faculty and staff development. He also served as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco and The Professional School of Psychology.

Charles was the vice president of Company of Experts.net for ten years. He is now an Expert on Call with the same company, specializing in Appreciative Inquiry and the Enneagram. He has been certified by COE.net as an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator and as an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training (AIFT©) Trainer.

Charles works as a consultant, facilitator, and trainer throughout the world. He was the national director of the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW), a training program for college and university faculty. Miller has an extensive background in conducting workshops for faculty, staff, and colleges, including Active Learning, Appreciative Inquiry, Classroom Assessment, Collaborative Learning, Enneagram, Great Teaching Seminars, Instructional Skills Workshops, Presentation Skills Workshops, Relationship Training, Right to Succeed/Helping Students Succeed, Strategic Planning, and Student-Centered Instructional Principles & Practices©. His clients have included dozens of schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities, including Concordia University in Montreal, Golden Gate University, Sonoma State University, and Samuel Merritt College. In 1995, Miller received the John Fry Individual Leadership Award from the National Council for Staff, Program and Organization Development. In 1996, he received the Lorraine Barry Individual Leadership Award from the California Community Colleges Council for Staff Development (4C/SD).

Charles has completed the coursework in a doctoral program in clinical and organizational psychology at The Professional School of Psychology in San Francisco. He holds a master of arts degree in psychology from Sonoma State University, a master of arts degree in English from San Francisco State University, and studied at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, and Mexico City College. He holds a bachelor of science degree in marine engineering from the California Maritime Academy.

Charles was trained as an Appreciative Inquiry practitioner by Jane Magruder Watkins and Ralph Kelly; and as an Executive Coach with an Appreciative Approach by Bill Bergquist and Kathleen O’Donnell. He is an Expert on Call with Company of Experts.net, co-Owner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting (AIC), LLC, and a member of the Positive Change Corps.

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Specialties:

  • Active Learning
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training
  • Building Teams
  • Collaborative/ Cooperative Learning
  • Creating a positive environment for learning
  • Department Chair Training and Development
  • Emotional Intelligence across the curriculum
  • Enhancing adult motivation to learn
  • Enneagram
  • Experimental Learning
  • Self-esteem building
  • Faculty training and development
  • FISH! and FISH! sticks
  • Great teaching or great teacher seminars(TM)
  • Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW)(TM)
  • Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW) Facilitator Training(TM)
  • Leadership Training and Development
  • Outdoor Leadership Initiatives
  • Presentation Skills Workshops(TM)
  • Right to Succeed Workshops(TM)
  • Technology-Mediated Teaching (TMT) Facilitator Training(TM)

Earl Bloor

Earl Bloor

Earl Bloor has a diverse background spanning higher education, government and industry, including twenty-five years as a chemistry instructor and administrator of a wide range of college-level programs, including arts, sciences, health occupations, technology, and trades programs. He has managed major instructional divisions in colleges in Canada, Massachusetts and California, and in Abu Dhabi (UAE). In government, he has worked with departments focusing on human resources development and apprenticeship training. For a two year period, he coordinated corporate development and training programs for a Middle Eastern oil operating company. With his wife, he publishes a regional magazine which focuses on sustainability issues.

Earl has managed major curriculum development projects, such as the Competency Based Apprenticeship Training Program in Alberta (Canada) and the Adult Applied Academics Project in British Columbia (Canada). Earl was one of the first Facilitators/Trainers of the Instructional Skills Workshop Program, now a major element in instructional improvement programs in colleges and universities around the world, and one of its original Directors. Earl has been certified by Company of Experts.net as both an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator and an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training (AIFT©) Trainer.  He is also a certified Team Coach.

Earl’s experience has led him to understand that empathy is at the root of every successful human relationship. “My approach to supervision is relationship-based. I believe that every employee seeks to do the best job s/he can do. If there are factors preventing peak performance, these need to be identified in a non-threatening manner and addressed. This belief is at the base of the work I do to help organizations plan to achieve the goals that are most important to them.”

Earl earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Western Ontario (London, Canada) and conducted research at the University of Illinois and Simon Fraser University (Canada) before settling into a long and rewarding career based in community colleges around the world.

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Specialties:

  • Appraising
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Coaching
  • Consulting
  • Counseling
  • Curriculum Development
  • Delegation
  • Effective Communications
  • Empowerment
  • Instructional Skills Development
  • Leadership
  • Presentation Skills
  • Strategic Planning
  • Teaching & Learning Styles
  • Team Building
  • Teamwork

Kay Weiss

Kay Weiss

Kay Weiss is a community college administrator and has extensive experience in professional and organizational development.   In addition to teaching, Kay has served as a division dean, department chair, committee chair, and Standard Chair for Accreditation. She received the outstanding professor of the year award at her college in 1999 and, in 2000, the Golden Apple Award from the San Bernardino Education Roundtable. In 2006, was the recipient of the National Leadership Award presented by the National Council for Staff, Program and Organizational Development (NCSPOD.)  Kay has been certified by Company of Experts.net as an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Trainer and an Instructional Skills Workshop Trainer.

Kay has been an extremely active volunteer with NCSPOD, serving as Western Region Vice President, President Elect, President, and Past President. She currently serves as Certificate Program Liaison, working with newer practitioners and mentors on NCSPOD’s professional certificate process.  She has served as facilitator for the New Practitioners Institute, the Summer Institute and the International Professional Developers Workshop for NCSPOD.

She has also served as the lead facilitator for various Campus Great Teachers Format Seminars, including Great Staff Seminars, and the Great Online Teachers Seminar and has utilized both Appreciative Inquiry and the World Café Model to facilitate dialogue about topics “that matter most” in a variety of settings..

Kay is a long-time member of the California Community College Council for Staff and Organizational Development (4C/SD), the International Reading Association, and the California Reading Association.

She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California, a master of arts in education degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a bachelor of science degree in general studies/education from the University of Southern California.

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Specialties:

  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training
  • Classroom Assessment TechniquesTM
  • Customer Service
  • Department Chair Institute
  • Great Teaching or Great Teachers SeminarTM
  • Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW)
  • Workshop Facilitator Development (FDW)TM
  • Leadership Training and Development
  • Learning Communities
  • Learning Styles
  • Online Education
  • Orientation Programs
  • Presentation Skills Workshops (PSW)TM
  • Student Learning Outcomes & Assessment
  • Technology-Mediated Teaching (TMT)TM
  • True Colors

Kathy Becker

Contact Information:

Address:
5920 S. Rainbow Blvd, Ste 4,
Las Vegas, Nevada 89118

Email: Kathy@CompanyofExperts.net

Phone:
Work: (702) 228-4699
Mobile: (760) 333-4993

Skype: company.of.experts

Website(s):
Center for Appreciative Inquiry
Company of Experts, Inc.
Department Chair Institute

Social Media Networks:
Center for Appreciative Inquiry Facebook
Company of Experts Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

LinkedIn Groups:
Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training Group
Discovering Appreciative Inquiry Group

Working Portfolio:
Download Resume

Becker.Picture.2013

What might be possible if community and organization members were fully engaged and using their strengths to collectively achieve shared visions?

This is the question that motivates Kathy Becker and has her focused on collaboration. Given current global challenges, Kathy uses strengths-based organizational design practices to help clients respond effectively to increasing levels of complexity in their environments and growing demand for innovation and change.

Kathy is the CEO/President of the Company of Experts, Inc. and oversees this Small Woman Owned Business serving schools, colleges and universities, businesses, corporations and non-profits moving them from deficit models of planning and thinking to engagement, empowerment and collaboration.  Under Kathy’s leadership the Company has developed a world presence and is continuing to add new teams throughout the world including Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East and South America.

Kathy’s employment history includes 20 twenty-years at a college that began a premier international student’s program for undergraduate students. Kathy has knowledge of the housing, personnel, visa, hiring and orientation, health and curriculum decisions that will go into the development of this project.

In an academic environment, Kathy served as a founding Chief Human Resources Officer, Staff Development Coordinator, Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, and has had direct responsibility for contract negotiations, sexual harassment training, discrimination investigation, mediation and conflict resolution, discipline and grievance, management training, and leadership development.

Kathy has also served as an elected board member for a number of non-profit organizations and has relocated her company to Las Vegas, Nevada to be part of the energy, creativity and change.

  • Appreciative Inquiry Consulting & Training
  • Board Training & Retreats
  • Business Consulting
  • Coaching
  • Content Development
  • Large-Scale Summit Design
  • Leadership Development & Training
  • Organizational Development
  • Strategic Development
  • Succession Planning
  • Workshop Facilitation

Macon Miracle:

  • Creating the Macon Miracle (Part 1) – “Creating the Macon” – Bibb County School District, with the help of the Center for Appreciative Inquiry, conducted a Strategic Planning session using Appreciative Inquiry. With 4500 people in attendance, this is the largest Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Summit known to date. In this video, Dr. Romain Dallemand opens the session with a powerful speech.
  • Creating the Macon Miracle (Part 2) – Day 2 of the Macon Miracle, Dr. Romain Dallemand shares his gratitude and excitement about the possibilities & opportunities that emerged through the inquiries conducted on Day 1.

World Appreciative Inquiry Conference (WAIC) 2012:

  • Anne Gathumbi WAIC Interview – Anne Gathumbi is a program manager with OSIEA and the Open Society Law and Health Initiative. She is responsible for the organization’s work to promote legal initiatives to advance the human rights of East Africans living with and affected by HIV/AIDS
  • Kathy Becker WAIC Interview – President of the Company of Experts talks about her experiences with Appreciative Inquiry

Presentations:

  • Bibb County School District
  • Broward College
  • Catholic Health East
  • Disability Rights Nebraska
  • Government of Alberta
  • Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS)
  • National Council for Staff, Program and Organizational Development (NCSPOD)
  • Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA)
  • SAB Miller, Latin America
  • Stanford University
  • State University of New York (SUNY)
  • Three Rivers Community College
  • Truman Medical Center
  • University of San Diego
“Just a note to say how much I appreciate what you’re doing in the world and to let you know that AI continues to inform many aspects of all that I do.
~ Susan Sanford, Certified AI Facilitator

Experts on Call

Since 1989, Company of Experts, Inc., has sought out the most qualified Coaches, Consultants, Facilitators and Trainers within their specialized subject field. Each person has a strong commitment to the theory and practice of their subject area bringing a balance of education, consulting and on-the-job experience to bring unique real-world richness to our training.

With Experts on Call (EOC) located throughout the World, we can provide training and consulting on-site at a reasonable rate. Each Expert on Call strives to create a learning environment that is open, respectful and focused to ensure that you will have practical and relevant experience to immediately use when you return to work.

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Leverage your membership as an Expert on Call by:

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All applications for Expert on Call Membership are subject to approval by the EOC Review Committee. If Membership is not accepted fees paid (minus the evaluation review fee will be refunded).