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.

Rachael Kay Albers

Rachael Kay Albers is a creative director, brand strategist, and business comedian who blends marketing expertise with comedy and cultural commentary. As founder of RKA ink, she leads a brand reinvention studio for bold businesses that break the mold. Rachael is the creator of Awkward Marketing, a viral sketch series, and hosts the Marketing Muckraking podcast, where she explores the impact of brand culture on society. Her work has been featured in NPR, Vox, and Newsweek, and her GIFs have taken the internet by storm (just search “RKA” on Giphy!). Through humor, storytelling, and strategy, Rachael helps businesses build unforgettable brands grounded in authenticity, human connection, and a little bit of rebellion.

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.

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.

Jacob Bond

Jacob is a cybersecurity professional with more than eight years of experience. He holds several certificates, including CISSP, GIAC and CompTIA. Jacob is seasoned speaker at conventions and in the classroom covering various IT, cybersecurity and programming courses. He ran his own small business, but has since shifted focus to improving the operational defensibility of organizations against cyber threats. His ability to effectively break down complex subject matters into digestible, practical takeaways for broad audiences sets him apart as a cybersecurity instructor and consultant.

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.

Susan Caesar

Susan Caesar is the former Digital Experience Director of Airbnb, Lightful, Microsoft and Former Global Customer Operations Director of Sage, ASOS and Mail Newspapers. Susan has dedicated her career to leveraging technology to create authentic experiences that are integral to the growth and sustainability of any organization.

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.

Robin Coyne

Robin S. Coyne, CIH, is a seasoned environmental, health, and safety professional with over 25 years of experience across the manufacturing, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. She is a private HSE consultant and a Continuing Education Instructor at Harper College, specializing in OSHA compliance, industrial hygiene, and health and safety training. Robin has led national and international HSE programs, integrated over 15 company acquisitions, and developed behavior-based safety initiatives that significantly reduced workplace injuries. She holds an MBA in Economics from Roosevelt University and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. A Certified Industrial Hygienist and OSHA-authorized trainer, Robin has contributed to national safety publications and webinars, advancing best practices in workplace safety and industrial hygiene.

Jesus Dominguez

Jesus “Chuy” Dominguez, a University of Illinois at Chicago alumnus, brings more than 14 years of expertise in Training Within Industry (TWI) delivery across the United States and Mexico. His extensive experience encompasses diverse industries, from manufacturing and food to healthcare. Certified in TWI Training Solutions by IMEC (Illinois MEP), he specializes in job relations, job safety and job methods. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Chuy collaborates with clients to deliver comprehensive TWI training programs. His approach emphasizes team-based problem-solving and addresses critical aspects including job instruction, relations, methods and safety. With a proven track record of success, he is dedicated to enhancing organizational efficiency and fostering a culture of excellence.

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.

Deborah Harris

For the past 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.

Diana Hernandez

Diana Hernandez holds a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies from Judson University and a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has over 10 years of experience in translation communication and business training.

Diana is dedicated to fostering positive relationships and supporting effective communication within organizations. Her sessions are engaging and designed to ensure participant engagement and comprehension. With her extensive background in translation services, she bridges communication gaps and creates strong partnerships within the business community.

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.

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.

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.

Erica Sidney

Erica Sidney is a licensed professional counselor and entrepreneur in the field of mental health and wellness. Through her coaching, you can expect to gain workplace management skills for mental health. She provides training to managers and supervisors to promote healthy behavior at the office. Her coaching provides the tools, strategy, and support to help people create meaningful change in their lives. Erica knows that employers who successfully manage mental health issues can: alleviate performance problems, avoid litigation, create a more inclusive work environment, enhance employee engagement, and increase organizational effectiveness. Focusing on the mental and physical health of staff will not only lead to a happy, healthy workforce but will also improve productivity and performance. 

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.

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.

Venu Yalavarthi

Venu Yalavarthi is the founder and CEO of a leading IT professional services firm with expertise in artificial intelligence, cloud migration, app development, analytics, and cybersecurity. With over 20 years of industry experience, Venu has led hundreds of digital transformation projects across diverse sectors. He specializes in translating complex business needs into cutting-edge technology solutions that drive sustainable growth. Venu’s deep expertise and forward-thinking mindset help clients harness emerging technologies to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. He brings real-world insight and a passion for innovation to every interaction. Venu also shares his knowledge through webinars and workshops, empowering others to embrace the future of tech.