Kim Cameron

Cameron Institute

Session Title: Positively Energizing Leadership, Virtuousness in Leadership/Engagement Activity

Kim Cameron is the William Russell Kelly Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business and Professor Emeritus of Higher Education Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. He is a co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan and has served as a dean at Case Western Reserve University, associate dean at the University of Michigan and Brigham Young University, and the department chair at the University of Michigan. His research on positive leadership and positive organizational scholarship, as well as organizational effectiveness, downsizing, and organizational culture, has been published in more than 140 scholarly articles and 16 academic books. He was recently recognized as being among the top 10 scholars in the organizational sciences whose work has been most frequently downloaded from Google.

Leslie Lynch, DBA

Grand Valley State University Seidman College of Business

Session Title: Scenarios, experiences, how do we handle them? (Discussion)

I am honored to be a faculty member of Grand Valley State University Seidman College of Business. Prior to making this career shift a few years ago, I served as a multidisciplinary business executive with an eye for innovation and creativity. I’ve worked in several industry sectors (financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, higher education), and though my skill set is broad, my greatest expertise and love is in organizational change, leadership development, and high-performance talent management.  I have a deep interest in people’s behavior and its effect on a company’s financial and non-financial results. I love to teach, coach, and guide. I am an influencer. The highlights of my background?  20+ years of executive-level experience (c-suite), operational, administrative, and sales expertise. Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral business degrees; successful defense of doctoral dissertation entitled Financial Regulation and Economic Performance: A Descriptive Correlation Study of American Financial Institutions. Personally, my husband and I enjoy lake life in Michigan with our two sons, one daughter-in-law, two granddaughters, one grandson, and two English labs!

Gretchen O'Hair

University of Michigan

Session Title: The Success of Failure – Redefining the relationship between risk, resilience, and growth.

Gretchen O’Hair serves as an Administrative Specialist Associate in the Michigan Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, supporting the Office of Culture & Engagement and IMPOWER — Inspiring Medicine to Promote Opportunities for Well-Being, Engagement, and Respect. With 14 years of experience at the University of Michigan in a variety of administrative and leadership roles, Gretchen has a demonstrated commitment and passion for breaking down barriers, enriching the university climate, advocating for mental health, and helping others understand the importance of healthy culture, positive relationships, and supportive environments. She serves on the IMPOWER Leadership Team and as Co-Lead of the Department of Internal Medicine Administration IMPOWER Council. Gretchen is also deeply involved in university-wide staff engagement and well-being initiatives as a Voices of the Staff Lead Facilitator, MHealthy Champion, Planet Blue Ambassador, Well-Being Collective Influencer, and Staff Well-Being Network Associate. In her work, Gretchen seeks to inspire others to create environments where faculty, staff, learners, and community members feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.

Casey Laurienzo

E&I Cooperative Services

Session Titles: 

• Your Leadership Landscape: Leading in a Complex and Changing World
• Emotional Intelligence in Action: The Leadership Advantage (Breakouts)

Casey Laurienzo is the Vice President of Community Engagement & Education at E&I Cooperative Services, which focuses on delivering member training & education, enabling member networking opportunities, and disseminating industry research to our members. Casey has over 20 years of combined public, private, and higher education experience in a variety of subject matter spanning sales, procurement, project management, program management, and training & development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and media production as well as a Master’s in Law (J.M.), both from Florida State University. She holds a Certificate of Specialization in Leadership and Management from Harvard Business School Online, is a certified Project Management Professional (P.M.P.), and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Most recently she began her PhD in Leadership Studies. Casey has a passion for public speaking, leadership development, and public advocacy and works out of her home office in Florida. In her spare time, Casey enjoys yoga, board games, tacos, public advocacy, anything murder mystery, and spending time with her husband and 2 small children.

Brie McDaniel

E&I Cooperative Services

Session Titles: 

• Strategic Problem Solving: Moving from Complexity to Action
• Emotional Intelligence in Action: The Leadership Advantage (Breakouts)

Brie McDaniel, Ph.D., serves as Program Coordinator for Community Engagement & Education at E&I Cooperative Services, where she supports professional learning experiences designed to strengthen leadership, collaboration, and engagement across higher education. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in higher education, student development, teaching, and leadership programming, she brings a practitioner’s perspective to building meaningful learning opportunities that connect strategy with day-to-day practice. Before joining E&I, Brienne held a variety of leadership roles in student affairs and campus life, including Director of Student Life and Recreation at Gordon State College and leadership positions at Lee University. Across her career, she has led large-scale programs and events, supported student and staff development, taught courses, and contributed to initiatives focused on student success, leadership development, and institutional improvement.

Brie holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Carolina, an M.S. in College Student Personnel from the University of Tennessee, and a B.A. in Psychology from Lee University. She is passionate about helping individuals and institutions cultivate leadership that is thoughtful, collaborative, and grounded in purpose.

Sarah Steele Roar

E&I Cooperative Services

Session Titles: 

• Leading Organizational Change: Building Engagement Through Transition
• Emotional Intelligence in Action: The Leadership Advantage (Breakouts)

Sarah brings over 15 years of experience partnering with organizations such as Federal TRIO Programs, Lead for America, NASPO, NAEP, E&I Cooperative Services, and higher education institutions to strengthen leadership and drive meaningful change. Her academic background in higher education leadership, human sexuality education, and mental health counseling uniquely equips her to support individuals and teams in navigating growth, connection, and impact. As a Gallup CliftonStrengths coach, she works with business owners, leaders, and teams to uncover their strengths, enhance performance, and build sustainable pathways for success. Through Steele Roar, LLC., Sarah continues her mission to foster transformative learning experiences that maximize strengths and build lasting, influential connections.

Deb Dunbar

DND Consulting LLC

Session Titles: 

• Engagement is an Inside Job
• Navigating Change in the Midst of Uncertainty

Deb has spent over three decades working with leaders in higher education institutions, corporations, health care institutions, and financial institutions.

She retired in 2023 to launch DND Consulting LLC and spend all her time living her dream, partnering with value-driven organizations and universities to focus on competency-based leadership development, transfer of learning strategies, comprehensive strategic plans, and serving as an executive coach to up to two dozen executives. A sampling of her long-term clients include: Michigan State University, Indiana University, Butler University, NCAA, NACDA, Leadership Bloomington and ACUI.

Deb has spent her career in Talent and Organization Development; she started consulting across the country in 1998 and worked at Indiana University for 32 years. She served as the University Director of Talent and Organization Development at IU. Deb was responsible for leading the T&OD team and serving on the university-wide HR strategic leadership team. She provided strategic leadership and oversight for consulting, organization assessment, talent development, enterprise-wide solutions, including the LinkedIn Learning Strategy, The My Voice Employee Engagement Survey, Performance at IU, the competency design and strategy for 10k employees, Leading at IU, and Career Planning at IU.

Deb facilitates approximately 50 development programs on an annual basis, collaborates to deliver comprehensive leadership development experiences, assists in the development and implementation of 10-15 strategic plans and typically leads 30 consulting projects with senior leaders each year. She has a B.A. from DePauw University and an M.S. in Higher Education with an emphasis in Adult Learning and Training and Development from Indiana University.

Dan Prater

Forvis Mazars

Session Titles: 

• Strategic Thinking and Decision Making – Essential Leadership Skills
  

Dan is a Senior Manager in the Forvis Mazars National Nonprofit/Education Group. He uses his 25-years of experience in the nonprofit and higher education industries to help organizations be more effective in accomplishing their missions. His practice focuses on leadership, board governance, strategic planning, and outcome assessment.

He is the past chair of Nonprofit Missouri, the state’s association for the nonprofit industry. He is the founding director of the Drury University (Springfield, MO) Center for Nonprofit Leadership and is the co-creator of the university’s popular master of Nonprofit and Civic Leadership program, for which he continues to serve as lead instructor.

Dan is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops across the country and has been cited in major publications like the Washington Post and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.