Faculty

Bill Barker, Thomas Jefferson Character Interpreter

Bill has enjoyed portraying Thomas Jefferson in a variety of settings over the past sixteen years. He first came to Colonial Williamsburg in the spring of 1993 to perform as Jefferson in a film made to honor Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg. Continuing to appear as Jefferson in Williamsburg, he has assisted in the development of further Jefferson programs for the Foundation.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Bill has been interested in Thomas Jefferson since his youth. Bill has enjoyed researching the America Jefferson knew with interest in the role the man played and continues to play in our American identity.

Bill received a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in history, from Villanova University and attended the University of Pennsylvania for a brief time. Attracted to the stage at an early age he became a professional actor, director and producer. He was cast as Jefferson in many different venues including the musical, 1776. Bill is the same height, weight and general appearance as the man who has so long interested him.

Over the years, He has evolved a repertoire of Jefferson presentations tailored to corporate and government audience, as well as school, societies and festivals. Bill performed as Jefferson at the White House, the Palace of Versailles and throughout the United States, Great Britain and France. He presented for Chautauqua and has been featured as Jefferson in several Magazines including Time, People, Atlantic, Philadelphia, Southern Living, Reader’s Digest and the Colonial Williamsburg Journal. Bill has been cited in various newsletters and reports, among them those of Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, The Remnant Trust, The Jefferson Legacy Foundation and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He appeared as Jefferson in programs aired on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN and C-SPANN. He has received commendations from the City of Philadelphia, The City of St. Louis, and the Hellenic Ideals Foundation. He enjoys historical research, archaeology and traveling. Top

Effley Brooks

Mr. Brooks serves as Director of the Denver Community Leadership Forum (DCLF). In addition to leadership training, he specializes in the areas of cultural diversity, tolerance, suicide prevention and intervention, self-esteem issues, and violence prevention training for adolescents and adults.

He has worked with a number of organizations nationwide, in Colorado, in New York City, and in South Africa, including the Spring Institute for International Studies, the Anti-Defamation League, PeaceJam, and the Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth. Mr. Brooks has also worked as a high school teacher.

His achievements have been recognized by honors and awards from Denver Mayor Wellington Webb for fighting hate and discrimination and endeavoring to make Denver a Safe City; from the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference for promoting the ideals of peace and understanding to the youth of Colorado; from the Colorado School Counselor Association for "Outstanding Service"; and, from the Contemporary Learning Academy for his volunteer work and commitment to children. Mr. Brooks holds a BA and MBA from the University of Phoenix. Top

Lisa Carlson

Lisa Carlson is the Executive Director for the Centers at the Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. She specializes in collaborative problem solving and consensus building with diverse groups. She is an experienced trainer in the fields of conflict managment, team building, leadership development, strategic planning and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. She has facilitated a wide variety of strategic planning sessions for nonprofit boards, private companies, citizen committees and govenrment entities.

Ms. Carlson has provided technical meeting facilitation services for a wide variety of clients seeking resolution of issues, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rocky Flats Local Impacts Initiative, the Keystone Center, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Colorado Trust, the State of Colorado, the cities of Grants Pass (Oregon) and Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania), and the City and County of Denver. Topics range from environmental issues such as the Fish Recovery Program on the Upper Colorado River Basin and Super Fund and "Brownfields" projects, to social programs such as teen pregnancy prevention and youth violence, to general planning and community goal setting initiatives.

Ms. Carlson has directed the Rocky Mountain Program and the Denver Community Leadership Forum. Prior to joining the Centers, Ms. Carlson was the assistant to the director of the City Venture Corporation in San Antonio, Texas, where she worked on economic development projects and prior to that, a fellow studying leadership in the Coro Fellow's program through the Coro Foundation in Missouri. Top

Christopher Gates

Chris Gates is the first Executive Director of PACE, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement. PACE is a new organization founded to bring more attention and focus to the issues of civic engagement and to encourage more members of the philanthropic community to make civic engagement a part of their funding priorities. In this role Gates speaks extensively around the country and around the world on the broad topics of civic engagement, including civic education, leadership training, community problem solving, political reform and democratic renewal.

He previously served for eleven years as President of the National Civic League, a national, non-profit organization with offices in Denver and Washington, D.C. The National Civic League is a 112-year-old advocacy organization that was founded by Teddy Roosevelt and focuses on revitalizing America’s democracy at the local level. Before serving as President, Gates served for eight years as Vice President of NCL.

Prior to his work with the National Civic League, Gates ran a consulting practice that worked with both communities and corporations to help them deal with issues of change. These strategic planning efforts helped his clients better align their practice and structure with their goals and aspirations. Prior to that he served as the Communications Director of the Piton Foundation and as a speechwriter and policy aide to then Colorado Governor Richard Lamm.

Gates is currently a member of the board of the California Center for Civic Renewal and is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He has previously served on the boards of the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship and INDEPENDENT SECTOR. He has also served as co-chair of the board of the Civic Practices Network and co-chair of the Saguaro Seminar, a research project based at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government working to find ways to build social capital in America.

Gates is also active in his community, where he is the founder and Chair of the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training, a former board member of Leadership Denver, and a member of Denver’s City Club. He is a regular instructor at the University of Denver’s Leadership Program, the University of Colorado’s Graduate School of Public Affairs, Leadership Denver, and Roaring Fork Leadership.

Chris is a Colorado native who graduated from Fairview High School in Boulder. He received an honors degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, where he studied the interaction between the public and private sectors. He also studied political economics at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. Top

Chickenlips and the World Humor Organization

Robert Wells (M.A., University of Denver) is the principal of the World Humor Organization (WHO) and Chicken Lips Comedy Theater in Denver, Colorado.

Bob presents hands-on workshops and customized entertainment events for corporate, professional, educational and governmental organizations throughout the world. WHO workshops demonstrate humor as an innovative means to achieve successful results in a variety of important issues: creative thinking, communication, teamwork, customer service, spontaneity and flexibility, change and transition, laughter and health, appropriate humor and other areas of professional and personal development.

Bob is a theatrical producer, director, actor, choreographer and writer, and is owner of Chicken Lips Comedy Theater, Denver's original improv-based theater. He is co-host (with Dave Johnson) of Chicken Lips on the Air!, a radio comedy/talk show heard on Denver's KHOW radio (AM 630). He is the author of Murder Most Fowl, the popular audience participation comedy mystery, now in its 10th year.

Bob's teaching experience includes Cherry Creek Schools, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, and Loretto Heights College.

WHO workshops have been presented for General Motors, AT&T, Los Angeles Times, Turner Broadcasting Network, HBO, U.S. Steel, Young Presidents' Organization, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, IBM, Ball Aerospace, Sun Microsystems, American Bankers' Association, US West, Social Security Administration, Kaiser Permanente, U.S. Department of the Interior, McGraw Hill, and many others. Top

Carl Larson

Carl Larson is Professor Emeritus of Human Communication Studies and past Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Denver. He earned his B.A. degree (1961) in Speech and Drama at Idaho State University and both his M.A. degree (1962) and Ph.D (1965) in Communication at the University of Kansas.

Larson’s main research activities have focused on groups and teams, and on negotiation and collaborative processes. He has co-authored seven books on communication, including Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong, with Frank LaFasto (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage 1989), and Successful Communication and Negotiation, with Alvin Goldberg (Gardena, Calif.: International Right of Way Association, 1992). Collaborative Leadership (with David Chrislip) published by Jossey-Bass in 1994, reports research on successful collaborative projects and their leadership. His newest book, When Teams Work Best, with Frank LaFasto, is a 2002 publication with Sage, and reports research on 600 teams and 6,000 team members.

Larson does extensive consulting with both private and public sector organizations on teamwork and collaboration. In 1997, Larson received the Driscoll Master Education Award, given by the students of the University of Denver to the outstanding professor of the year. Top

Barbara Mackoff

An executive coach and acclaimed leadership educator and author, Dr. Barbara Mackoff’s groundbreaking research and presentations explore how exceptional leaders translate their formative experiences into powerful habits of mind that guide their approach to leadership.

Dr. Mackoff, is a widely acclaimed expert in understanding the way leaders think. Her bold approach to leadership is in demand in organizations around the world including AT&T, Pepsico, Nordstrom, Boeing and Nintendo as well as numerous public sector organizations including the Community Development Corporation, the National League of Cities, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officers, YMCA and healthcare organizations across the country.

Dr. Mackoff is the author of five highly praised books including the Art of Self-Renewal, and co-author of The Inner Work of Leaders: Leadership as a Habit of Mind. Her forthcoming book, Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty-handed , will be published later this year.

Her perspectives on leadership and productivity have been featured on The Today Show, CBS Morning News, and All things Considered, and her work has been profiled in the New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post.

Educated at Harvard University, Dr. Mackoff has held educational appointments at Tufts University, Northeastern University, and the University of Washington Medical School and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Top

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Floyd "Sonny" Massey

Floyd “Sonny” Massey, III, regarded as one of the nation’s leading consultants and trainers on diversity management education, brings a wide range of business and leadership development experience to worldwide corporations of all sized, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits and local community organizations.

In addition to being a skilled educator, Mr. Massey is a consummate motivational speaker, using his humor, passion and warmth to help break down barriers and explore what it means to respect and value our differences.

Sonny is CEO and founder of SOKAKI & Associates, a diversity management consulting firm based in southern California. He was formerly employed as Director of Diversity at Pacific Telesis, a $9 billion California-based telecommunications company. Previous experience includes Sales and Training Manger where he developed skills training programs for a statewide sales force.

Mr. Massey’s credentials include a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Macalester College in Minnesota, with post-graduate work and certifications in cross-cultural counseling and training, leadership, sales, presentation skills and diversity management.

Organizations that have benefited from Sonny’s unique and insightful training seminars come from a wide variety of business enterprises ranging from Fortune 500 companies throughout the US to local and state government, academic and other professional firms.

Recent clients include Net Noir, Honeywell Inc., and the San Francisco Zen Center. Clients from city and local community organizations include the Police Departments for the cities of Peoria and Glendale, Arizona, the Fire Authority for the City of Orange, California, and Pikes Peak Colorado Workforce Colorado.

Mr. Massey is frequently invited to collaborate with some the country’s most respected diversity and inclusion consultants including the Roosevelt Thomas Consulting firm where he delivered training to Polo/Ralph Lauren, Wellpoint and LexMark. Other partnerships include Barnes, O’Neale & Assoc. where Sonny managed and delivered executive and employee training for Court TV and for MTV Networks and their VH1, Law and Business Affairs, Advertising Sales, MTV Interactive and Affiliate Sales divisions. Top

Harold Suire

Harold Suire is President and CEO of Education, Research and Information Services, Inc., a private company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and also serves as President of the J. Bennett Johnston Science Foundation. Suire is also the Vice President of Education for the Browning Group International, in Castle Rock, Colorado. Suire received his Maters degree in 1974 and has taught at the university level. His majors include English, psychology, counseling, special education, and school administration.

Suire has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations, and economic development groups throughout the United States. Suiire serves as a citizen member with Governors from the South on the Southern Growth Policies Board in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and has served on the group’s Executive Committee and as its Treasurer. He is currently on the board of directors and treasurer of the University of Louisiana System Foundation. He has been instrumental in establishing community leadership programs in several states. For the last several years, he has studied whole brain theories and practices and through the tutelage of Dr. Geil Browning of Denver, Colorado, has become a certified Emergenetics specialist.

Suire’s clients include the University of Colorado Rocky Mountain Leadership Program, Denver Community Leadership Forum, Leadership Alabama, Leadership Kentucky, Leadership Louisiana, Leadership Florida, the Bell South Foundation, Tulane Medical Center, Hershey’s of Canada, Synovus Bank (Georgia), Alabama Farmers Cooperative, and several Fortune 500 companies including Dow, ChevronTexaco, ExCel Energy, Eli Lily and Shell Oil. In addition to business clients, Suire also has provided training and consultation for the National Council of State Legislators, Oregon State Legislature, City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Larimer County, Colorado, City of Fort Collins, Colorado, City of Denver, Bay County, Florida, the Junior League of New Orleans, the University of Louisiana System, Louisiana Technical Colleges and the Young Presidents Organization.

He has received the National Distinguished Leadership Award and was a Volunteer Activist of the Year in Baton Rouge. In 1996, Suire was named Outstanding Alumni of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Top

Allan Wallis

Allan Wallis is associate professor of public policy at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado in Denver, where he directs the program in local government. His principal areas of current research are regional governance and growth management.

For eight years, Dr. Wallis was director of research for the National Civic League. During that time he authored the series of articles--Reinventing Regionalism -- which appeared in the National Civic Review. While a senior research associate at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard, Dr. Wallis conducted an evaluation of the implementation of Florida's 1985 Growth Management Act, subsequently published by the Lincoln Land Institute. He is also author of the book, Wheel Estate: the Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes, published by Oxford University Press.

Allan holds a Ph.D. in environmental psychology from the City University of New York, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard, and a Bachelors of Architecture from Cooper Union. He has taught architecture at the University of Colorado and at Ball State University. He has also taught urban design and town planning at Pratt Institute and at the Cooper Union. Top

John Nalbandian

John Nalbandian chairs the Department of Public Administration at the University of Kansas. He came to Kansas in 1976 from Los Angeles, where he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

The public administration department at KU specializes in training students for careers in local government. US News and World Report has rated it as the number one local government academic program in the country.

In addition to his faculty position, he served on the city council in Lawrence from 1991-1999. The council elected him mayor in 1993-1994 and again in 1996-1997

In addition to numerous articles on city management, in 1991 he has written Professionalism in Local Government: Transformations in the Roles, Responsibilities, and Values of City Managers and with Donald Klingner: Public Personnel Management: Conflict and Compromise.

He has spoken nationwide and in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, to elected officials, professional staff, and academic audiences about “Council-Staff Relations,” the “High Performance Governing Body” and “Contemporary Trends in Local Government.”

Professor Nalbandian has been honored on two occasions by the International City Management Association—as an honorary member and as recipient of the Stephen B. Sweeney award for local government education. The Kansas Association of Parks and Recreation recognized him in 1996 as its elected official of the year. He was honored with a teaching excellence award by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration in 1997 and was inducted into the National Academy of Public Administration for lifetime contributions to public administration. Top

Sylvia Lovely

Ms. Lovely is president of the NewCities Institute, a national nonprofit organization that encourages citizens to get involved in helping their communities thrive in the rapid technological change and global challenges of the 21st century. Her commitment to the wellbeing and safety of our cities and the people that call them home has shown in her work as CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities and interim Executive Director of Kentucky’s new Office of Drug Control Policy.

Sylvia Lovely believes in the power of people, no matter who they are or where they live. She inspires others with this simple but powerful message: Ideas that transform the world can begin locally with people who care.

Lovely is a regular contributor to newspapers and publications and a featured commentator on various TV and radio programs. Her writings have appeared in the Miami Herald, Indianapolis Star and Cincinnati Enquirer. She has offered community solutions in her appearances on the “Lou Dobbs Tonight” show on CNN, CNBC’s Power Lunch and ABC Radio. Sylvia Lovely is also publisher of City magazine, a community issues publication. Top

Kathie Novak

Ms. Novak is Director of the Rocky Mountain Program. She specializes in process facilitation, leadership development, management training, team building, and retreat facilitation. She also teaches at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado at Denver and had taught at Regis University’s School for Professional Studies. After serving for ten years as a Northglenn City Council member Ms. Novak was elected Mayor of Northglenn in 2001, and was re-elected in 2005.

Ms. Novak served on numerous council committees and is active in the National League of Cities, participating on the Leadership Training Council of the Leadership Training Institute for many years and serving as chair in 1998. She also chaired several other NLC committees and was elected to their Board of Directors in December 2002. She was elected Second Vice President in December 2006, and will serve as President of the National League of Cities in 2009. In addition, she chaired the Mayors and Councilmembers Section and the Strategic Visioning Committee for the Colorado Municipal League. Ms. Novak contributed to Working Together: A Guide for Elected and Appointed Officials, published by the International City/County Management Association and the National League of Cities.

Her awards include “9NEWS Leader of the Year” for 2003, MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce’s “Businesswoman of the Year” and an “Excellence in Teaching Award” from Regis University. In July 2002 she was awarded an American Marshall Memorial Fellowship. Ms. Novak has an M.S. in Management from the University of Colorado at Denver, and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Top

Stephanie Samano