Christopher Szecsey (pronounced “say-chay”) has over 38 years of worldwide experience across more than 48 countries in capacity-building of individuals, teams, community groups, organizations, & projects. For the past 15 years, he has worked as consultant, trainer, & facilitator with international nonprofits & local nonprofits (NGOs) as well as with government & multilateral agencies in the USA & around the world. His international clients include: the Center for Disease Control in Ethiopia, Carter Center, World Wildlife Fund, American Red Cross, Save the Children, CARE, PACT, PATH, Family Health International, Pathfinder, Counterpart International, The Asia Foundation, FAO/UN, UNDP, & UNICEF as well as international consulting firms, foundations, & government agencies. Prior to consulting, he served nine years as a Country Representative/Field Office Director for Save the Children/US on three international assignments in Asia & the Pacific Islands; two years as a Project Director for UNDP in Nepal; & three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. His USA clients, mostly in the Northern California, include: the Volunteer Center & its Nonprofit Resource Center, Community Action Partnerships, West County Community Services, Santa Rosa Symphony, Habitat for Humanity, RECOURSE, Restorative Resources, Sonoma County Repertory Theater, Next Generation, Lifeschool, Osmosis, Southwest Community Health Center, La Luz, foundations such as Levi Strauss & West County Healthcare, school districts, & local city & county government agencies. Key areas of Christopher’s consulting experience include building the capacity of the nonprofit sector around the world including in the USA; providing technical assistance, training & facilitation in collaboration/partnerships; organizational assessment & development, leadership & team strengthening; program assessment, design, planning, & management; & board & staff development as well as work with local government agencies. Christopher has significant experience & skills in training & facilitation with boards, senior staff, & diverse stakeholder groups, using learner center participatory, interactive, & collaborative learning processes to ensure client & stakeholder involvement, engagement & ownership for positive change efforts. He has served on the board of three nonprofits as well as the chair of one, and as a nonprofit executive director. He graduated from the University of the Pacific/Callison College, and successfully completed the Executive Certificate Program in Global Change & Social Innovation/Appreciative Inquiry, Global Excellence in Management (GEM) Initiative, Case Western Reserve University. His three languages are: English, Spanish, and Indonesian. |
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Tag Archives: leadership training and development
Ray Wells
Ray Wells, based in the Philadelphia region, is the president of a consulting firm that uses a strengths-based approach in designing leadership, team and organization development programs for its clients. This approach, which focuses on accentuating and building on “who we are when we are at our best,” has helped the firm capture the energy and professional passion of the people it serves. Ray has been certified by Company of Experts.net as an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator and Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Trainer (AIFT ©). Since 1987, the firm has customized programs and projects for nearly 100 non-profit, business, and education clients in organizations ranging from just a dozen people to the Fortune 500, from the smallest private schools to the Ivy League, from single-office non-profit agencies to the largest corporate health systems. When necessary, the firm draws on the talent of a host of trainers, facilitators and consultants with whom it regularly partners. Ray’s own strengths and professional passion are focused on guiding higher education institutions and their leaders in transforming the post-secondary educational landscape. He has assisted with major change initiatives at Penn State University, Lehigh University, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, the University of Connecticut, and in the growing Drexel University system. He has facilitated whole systems change workshops for the National Association of Presidential Assistants in Higher Education, the American Council on Education, and A Community of Agile Partners in Education (CAPE), a not-for-profit Pennsylvania-based consortium of higher education and K-12 members, where he has served as a consultant since January of 2001. In 2001 Ray joined the faculty of the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) as a leadership scholar/instructor. The annual FAIMER Institute serves medical school faculty from developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia who have the potential to play a key role in improving medical education in their schools. Over a four-year span at Princeton University, Ray worked with an on-going culture change program targeted towards Princeton’s top 450 administrators and managers. Among many other projects, he assisted with the design of several management development conferences and post-conference training programs on the challenges of change, process improvement, the introduction of a performance enhancement initiative, and the impact of new technology on organizational processes. Ray earned his Master of Arts from Bowling Green State University (OH) in college student development and his Ph.D. in applied social-psychology from Temple University, where his research focused on how leadership creates and maintains a sense of community on a college campus. He has held professional student affairs positions at Arizona State University, Southeast Missouri State University, and Temple University. |
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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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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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