Instructor Spotlight

Cynthia Aaronson

Cindy holds a degree in Psychology from Indiana University and a Masters in Organization Development from Loyola University. With over 20 years of experience teaching, her approach is highly skill based, and focuses on agreed-upon outcomes to ensure the greatest success for both the individual and the organization. Widely acknowledged as a first-class group facilitator, Cindy likes to focus her talents in three major areas of leadership development: Communication, Management & Supervision, and Teambuilding.

Sean Bailey

Dr. Bailey has a Doctorate in Education and is a highly respected senior researcher, trainer, leadership coach, author, and keynote speaker in private and public sectors. A Certified Professional in Learning Performance (CPLP), with leadership, project management, and strategic planning expertise that values the process of learning and helping others exceed professional expectations. Known for taking complex issues and designing simplified strategic solutions to help others be more productive.

Judy Beaver

Judy Beaver has more than 20 years of professional business experience in management and her students give her a 5 star rating. She teaches business communication and software application classes. Author of the article, “Have Your Way with Word,” for OfficePro, the magazine for administrative professionals, she is also the founder of National Proofreading Day. A true advocate for professional advancement opportunities, Judy also serves on the board of directors at the Community Center in Naperville, Illinois. 

Lyndon Beharry

With more than 35 years in business (insurance and risk management, equity valuation, product costing and optimization) and education, Mr. Beharry offers business analytics and education services; financial and econometric analyses; business strategy reports; and high-end financial engineering/modeling using the Monte Carlo method. He is an experienced instructor of business, economics, finance, several software packages, and other training topics.

Jack Belford

Jack believes that when leaders, business owners, and salespeople are at their best, their business and quality of life is at its best. As an entrepreneur and small business owner with more than two decades of senior-level leadership at $100M+ companies, Jack offers instructional expertise in developing top performing business leaders. He brings a wealth of sales, service, strategic planning, operations, team building, and leadership experience to his role as a business coach and customized training facilitator.

Frank Bonacci

Frank holds a BA from Rosary College, an MA from DePaul University, a JD from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Frank has decades of teaching experience plus experience in nonprofit development and grant writing. He presents workshops and is a featured speaker nationally in his field. His unique background gives him a big picture viewpoint of Liberal Arts and the detailed analysis that is the hallmark of the law. His approach is client-centered and focused on great outcomes. His passions include motivational speaking, business writing, and leadership development.

Vanessa Cabrera

Vanessa Cabrera is an award-winning social media marketing strategist, an online marketing consultant, an NLP certified business coach, corporate trainer and a dynamic keynote speaker whose passion is helping others learn how to increase their online visibility. She is always in high demand for her ability to map out money making social media marketing strategies that bring her clients explosive results.

John Chiappetta

John Chiappetta is a solutions-driven strategist experienced in managing all aspects of application and vendor management, project management, and Agile Transformation.  Experienced at managing high performance development teams to ensure the delivery and integration of applications to meet business stakeholder’s goals.

Celines Colon

Celines is an entrepreneurial bilingual and bicultural leader who envisions prosperity, transformation, and service for her clients. Her passion has always been to support individuals and organizations in developing their leadership skills, realizing their purpose, managing the best use of their time and energy, as well as assessing the effectivity of external influences. She has a great passion and ability towards empowering people to break through barriers, fully reach their potential, and finding the leader within.

Deborah Harris

For the last 15 years, Deborah has been bringing her energy and tchotchkes to a variety of training spaces including:  Financial Aid Regulations & Processing, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Practices, Medical Device Sales, and more.  Fluent in Haitian-Creole and French, Deborah's BBA from Florida Atlantic University is in International Business & Trade. A creative and innovative instructor whether in-person or virtually, she has a flair for making heavily regulated and complex materials digestible, while challenging learners to open themselves to growth and explore new perspectives.  Deborah is also a certified trainer in both Situational Leadership® Essentials and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace.

Timothy Gaffney

Tim’s Industrial Engineering education served him well in his 35-year career in the Engineering and Telecommunications industries. Throughout his career in Project Management, IT, Customer Service, and Operations, he strove to learn how to implement and improve processes to deliver exceptional customer service. Tim enjoys the opportunity to provide training that is helpful to his students and clients in order to enhance, advance, and support business goals and future successes.

Cathy Horwitz

Cathy is a high-energy trainer with a flair for connecting with adult learners. She received her master's in Business Administration from Loyola University as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Northern Illinois University. Along with her broad professional background, she has 30 years of classroom training experience and takes pride in customizing classes by providing realistic business examples that complement training and boost learning.

Ilia Jakel

Ilia Jakel is business professional with 20+ years of expertise leading business development and mentoring rising professionals to develop a pipeline of leaders. A bi-lingual leader in communication with fluency in English and Spanish she has a knack for connecting with people at all levels. A proven customer relationship management expert Ilia’s areas of training expertise include: sales strategies, customer relationship management, process improvement, event management and business analysis and leadership training.

Jennie Johns

Jennie is a widely sought-after instructor with skills in layout design, end user experience, and extensive knowledge of web programming which she brings to every customized training class she teaches. Proficient in both Mac and Windows platforms, Jennie teaches 11 different software programs and 8 different computer languages at last count. In addition to teaching, she’s always working on something new to share with her students.

Darrell Katz

Darrell has been working with management, government, technology and health care sectors for more than 30 years, creating and delivering custom-designed training solutions that align with organizational needs and performance objectives.  He is a highly sought-after, skilled facilitator, presenter and meeting manager who holds certifications from DDI, MBTI, DiSC and Achieve Forum.

Stephen Kohler

Stephen Kohler, is a University of Chicago MBA-trained executive who also holds a BA form Northwestern. With P&L experience he’s led global marketing and strategy departments for several blue chip and industry-leading brands. He designs his sessions to help people find clarity, direction and purpose in their work. Stephen knows what magic can happen when people are all listening and contributing.

Julie Kowalski

Julie Kowalski is a seasoned thought leader, inspiring leadership coach and superb facilitator, who develops and delivers training programs, which excite, engage and achieve results! Over the past 22+ years, Julie has gained valuable insight and acumen, into the art and science, of what it takes to develop and deliver dynamic, engaging, thought provoking training, which resonates with attendees, sparks innovation, challenges the status quo, elevates performance and accelerates overall success. Julie was named one of the “World’s Most Creative Thinkers” by bestselling author Seth Godin (Purple Cow).

Roger Lall

Roger has been teaching graduate level courses in Marketing Management and Strategic Planning at DePaul University since 2001. He has served as Executive in Residence and Director of M.S. (Master of Science) in Marketing program. Prior to this, Roger served in executive and marketing management roles at corporations in the information technology sector. Roger holds an MBA degree from Wheeling University in West Virginia and a B.S. degree in Statistics and Economics from the University of Mumbai, India. Roger is passionate about presentations on topics related to leadership, decision-making, marketing strategies, and more.

Vijay Muralidaran

Vijay Muralidaran is a Management Consultant and a Six Sigma Certified Black Belt who partners with all functional areas of a business delivering the best possible quality and customer experience. He has a proven background in combining the right expertise to drive outstanding financial results, encompassing alignment of strategy at all levels of an organization, and building skills of all employees through his training to unlock their true potential to drive business performance.

Steve Ott

Steve has a master’s degree in Transformational Leadership from Bethel University and is an expert in Leadership and Culture Development. He has worked with organizations of all shapes and sizes, from local non-profits and manufacturers to nation-wide retailers and business solutions providers. Steve has a passion for helping leaders achieve their goals while also building pride in the work culture for all employees. By bringing the entire team together through engaging dialogue and unique training, Steve’s clients have seen impactful changes across the board.

David Prorok

David Prorok is an experienced meditation and mindfulness practitioner with a passion for helping individuals connect with their inner selves, express themselves authentically and manifest their goals. He combines traditional meditative techniques with innovative approaches, such as drawing, journaling, coaching, rapping and Al-generated art and writing, to create unique and transformative experiences. With a background in software engineering, user experience design and creative arts to draw from he delivers sessions in Meditation and Mindfulness, Workshop Facilitation for New Product Development and Training on leveraging and utilizing ChatGPT for various business needs.

Dee Reinhardt

Right-brained. That’s a good description of Dee Reinhardt. When social media advanced into the marketplace, Dee embraced it with great creative passion too. Energetic and gregarious, Dee is a certified social media strategist specializing in digital marketing and LinkedIn for Businesses. If you are looking to plan, create, implement, maintain and/or train staff to market on social media platforms for your business, you’ll want to work with this gifted instructor.

Dan Rey

Winner of the prestigious Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) in Microsoft 365 Apps and Services, Dan is a Microsoft Certified Trainer.  He holds certifications for training in the use of apps like PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and multiple Microsoft Fundamental Certifications. As a former tour guide for Microsoft Chicago Dan can teach you about the cloud and even share with you what it looks like from a first-hand perspective!

Dan’s skills also include training on social media, presentation skills, personal branding, and positions as an amplifier buddy. Dan is a facilitator for the #IAmRemarkable program (to help women, people of color, and underrepresented communities find their voice to share their achievements in public and online).

Chip Rose

With more than 25 years of teaching experience, Chip has authored a wide range of curricula for standard and proprietary software. Personable and compassionate, he makes students feel comfortable enough to participate and interact. His great sense of humor also makes classes comprised of mixed skill levels fun and entertaining. Knowledgeable in Windows and Macintosh environments, he teaches in traditional, instructor-led classroom training, one-on-one coaching and via remote connection as needed.

Marianne Rowe

Marianne is an expert trainer who helps employees at all levels improve their business communication skills. She’s a former corporate vice president and the published author of a business book, in addition to penning several articles for Training Today magazine. Certified to deliver both DDI and Achieve training programs on a wide range of topics including leadership, customer service, and communication skills, she has also developed her own programs for business writing, presentation skills, and effective listening.

Dave Rudin

Dave has dedicated his life to adding value to others through the application of proven leadership principles, believing that when you train and develop leaders, you give hope to that individual, business, and community. He has trained internationally with The John Maxwell Team, is a certified Behavioral Analysis Trainer, is the former Executive Director at the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce, is President of Advance Leadership LLC, and has served as board chairman and/or director for several organizations.

Tyler Smith

Tyler Smith has been working in the field of conflict engagement (coach, mediator, facilitator, trainer) for 12+ years, specifically as an organizational ombuds for a decade.  He is passionate about empowering individuals, groups, and organizations to build their capacity to engage in conflict effectively.  He believes in building an approach to conflict prevention, management, and resolution that focuses on individual and systemic factors.  He currently works as an Associate Ombuds for the National Institutes of Health, as the Conference Ombuds for the Midwest Political Science Association, and as an Ombuds for the International Ombuds Association.  Tyler earned an M.A. in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution from Salisbury University.

Bob Squires

Bob Squires has over 30 years of progressive experience in both staff and management positions within electronics, assembly, molding, machining and stamping manufacturing environments. With a B.S. in Management, and technical degrees in Electronics and Quality he has successfully assisted manufacturers in the implementation of: 

• Quality Systems including ISO and QS 9000
• Safety Programs
• Project Management Programs for new product introduction
• Continuous Improvement Programs, including Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing
  
  

Angela Valentine

Angela Valentine is a Google Certified trainer who holds a B.A. in Management and HR as well as an MBA. With Computer Information Systems and business management in her background, she was a corporate trainer for a global telecommunications company for 15+ years. A G-Suite trainer and an expert in developing, customizing and delivering training, she is also a conference speaker and author passionate about technology and sharing her knowledge.