Instructors

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• About Us

Valerie Alexander-Bailey, CPP, has spent the past 12 years of her 22 years in the payroll industry working as Payroll Manager, Operations Manager and Human Resources Manager for companies such as McClatchy Newspapers, Oracle Corporation and Lakemont Homes. Valerie had a key role in developing the Payroll Administration Certificate Program. Valerie is also a contributing author to Aspen Publishing recent publication titled, Basic Guide to California Payroll. Valerie is also active with the Local Chapter of the American Payroll Association and Director of the Northern California Payroll Conference.

Jill Wien Badger holds a designated subject teaching credential in event and conference planning; hotel and lodging occupations and business & computer applications and co-wrote the monthly column, Coming to Terms, in The Meeting Professional Magazine. She is also a veteran of Hyatt and Westin Hotels & Resorts in both food and beverage management.

Rick Blankenship, M.A., C.C.I.A., has been with the Redding police department since 1998. He is a member of the Northern Valley Crime & Intelligence Analysts Association, having served as president or vice president for five years. He is also a member of the California Crime & Intelligence Analysts Association, having served in various board member positions.

MaryAnne Bobrow, C.A.E., C.M.P., is the owner of an association and event management company. She teaches “Using 21st Century Technology in Meeting Management and Marketing and Promotion” for the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education’s Meeting Planning Certificate Program and “Association Management and Trade Show Operations” in University of Nevada Las Vegas’ Distance Learning Degree Program.

Sharon Bock, C.M.P., is past president of MPI/Sacramento. As owner of Leadership Dimensions, she specializes in full-service conference management, professional development workshops and group facilitation.

Ed Brazo, associate professor of theatre, joins Sacramento State after teaching musical theatre and dance for the last ten years at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. He maintained a professional career in New York for over 15 years and traveled nationally with Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury.

Marybeth Buechner, professor of Biology at Cosumnes River College, has been active in teaching, research, curriculum development, program review, teacher mentoring, and pre-service teacher training.

Holly Burkett, M.A., SPHR, is principal of Evaluation Works and a seasoned HROD consultant with over 18 years of experience. She has special expertise in the areas of performance improvement and measurement; training assessment, design, delivery, and evaluation; change management; on-the-job training; and leadership and career development. A certified ROI professional, she has authored numerous case studies about measuring the impact of training or performance improvement solutions.

Rita Cameron-Wedding, Ph.D., is an associate professor of ethnic and women's studies and is the coordinator of the women's studies program at California State University, Sacramento.

Irene Caridi-De Barraicua, a native of Guatemala, holds both Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento. She has taught Spanish language classes for military officers' wives and medical doctors, translated Spanish for medical and educational organizations, and tutored Spanish at Sacramento State.

Sherrie Carinci, MBA, Ed.D., is a scholar/researcher in the field of gender and multicultural patterns in the area of education, business and society. She is an assistant professor for the college of education and graduate coordinator for the Master of Arts Education, Gender Equity Studies emphasis at Sacramento State.

Tony D. Carney, MBA, has been principle management consultant of the Sierra Pacific, Human Resource Development Company in the Sacramento area since 1991. He provides consulting services to organizations in the areas of Strategic Planning, Total Quality Managmenet, Team Building, Management Training, Organizational Development, and Human Resource Management. He received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Colorado.

Keirsten Scanlon, M.B.A., is the founder of The Scanlon Group, offering sales and human resource management solutions. She has over 10 years of sales and human resource management experience in the financial services and consulting industries.

Wendy Chason has a master’s in library science and has served as a library media specialist for 28 years in New York and California. She currently works in the libraries at Patwin Elementary School and Holmes Junior High School in Davis.

Mike Christensen is the director of environmental health and safety at California State University, Sacramento. He consults in the areas of safety, environmental compliance, and risk management.

Nancy Compton, M.A., C.P.P., is a program specialist with the adult, career, & technical preparation division of the Sacramento City Unified School District. Her background includes teaching at both the adult and college levels in the areas of ESL, VESL, and communications studies. In 2001, she received the Excellence in Teaching award from the California Council for Adult Education.

Elizabeth Contreras, M.S.W., has 27 years of experience in social work and education. She is the training coordinator for the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, Alcohol and Drug Services Division, and is a part-time instructor for UC Davis Extension and has taught graduate courses for CSUS Division of Social Work.

Geni Cowan is an associate professor in the department of educational administration and policy studies at California State University, Sacramento.

Mark Demsky
Mark joined Fox 40 in November 2003. He's seen anchoring sportscasts at weekends on "Fox40 News At 10" and reports on area sports events during the week. He's also been a newscast producer at UPN31 in Sacramento; Sports Director at KIEM-TV Eureka; and Director of Broadcasting at Humboldt University. He is a graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in Radio, Television and Film.

Virginia Dixon, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies at CSUS.

Wes Doak has a master’s of library and information science and has been a CEO, state librarian, media lab director and college instructor. He currently serves as a technology consultant to various California organizations.

Mike Dowd manages facilities planning for Intel's California facilities and manages workplace services for Intel's Folsom and Sacramento sites. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial technology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an MBA from Golden Gate University.

Rocky Dunne, M.A., has worked in all areas of adult learning disabilities (LD) in private practice and in both community college and university settings. She is currently the coordinator of learning disabilities at American River College in a program of more than 650 LD students.

Evelyn Eagleton, M.A., is the assistant superintendent of Career and Alternative Education for the Merced County Regional Occupation Program.

Jerry Erickson, M.S., P.M.P., is a PMI certified project manager with over 18 years experience managing projects in business, technology and logistics. A retired HP program manager, he is now a project management consultant and a member of PMI-Sacramento.

Denise Escobar taught English in the Bay Area for five years and has been teaching at Florin High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District since 1990.

Michael Grabow has over 20 years of experience in human resource development and management with global organizations. He specializes in creating workplace training and development programs and has a passion for seeing the human potential within organizations realized, released and renewed.

Kevin J Williams , M.S., has 25 years of business experience including V.P. of Customer Service at Comcast. As a Managing Partner at FutureDecisions he is involved with the public and private sector in succession planning, training and career transition.

Eric Gallenkamp, M.A., is currently a school psychologist for the Contra Costa County Office of Education.

Kathy Goodwin, M.A., is a K-8 librarian for Center Unified School District and a past president of the Placer Area Reading Council.

Steve Gottlieb is a veteran law enforcement officer and the author of Crime Analysis: From First Report to Final Arrest. He provides consulting services to law enforcement agencies throughout the world.

Tino has served in a variety of positions from law enforcement to becoming Director of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Fresno. Presently, Tino serves as the Organizational Development Division Manager for Placer County. The division is responsible for all training, career development, community events and facilitation and mediation for the in the County.

Sharon Hallberg has a master’s in library science and information management from the University of Denver and is a librarian and mentor teacher for Davis Senior School.

Marilyn Hauck, C.M.P., is president of the Complete Conference Inc., a Sacramento-based meeting consulting company. She has been active in the meeting planning industry for more than 20 years and was the founding president of MPI/Sacramento.

Eric Heckelman, M.S., is a software domain manager on Hewlett-Packard's global IT procurement team. He has over 14 years of federal, state and private sector contracting experience and has served as president and director of the Sacramento chapter of the National Contract Management Association.

Elissa Hinze, C.P.P., has 20 years of payroll and accounting experience. She is a member of the American Payroll Association and currently manages the Rocklin EBS On Line office.

Margaret Hoogland is a teacher at Florin High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District. She taught English for her first eight years at Florin and has served as the school's library media teacher for the past six years.

William M. Hughes, M.S.C., has over 18 years of employment program training experience with an emphasis on career development in vocational education, school-to-work, ex-offender bridges to employment, and foster youth. He also has several years experience as a public school administrator, school counselor, and vocational education teacher.

Terri Jessen has an extensive and diverse background in analyst work in both the public and private sectors. Her background includes over 10 years in legislative, technical, financial, and statistical analysis and has held various organizational leadership positions in both public and private sectors. She sat as chair for regional and statewide consortium committees for legislation and regulatory analysis, and has been a member of the State of California legislative analysis committee. For the past three years, she has been a manager for Intel Corporation, responsible for statistical end user research and program development for Intel's Information Technology division worldwide.

Penny Kastanis is a library instructor, consultant and the executive director of the California School Library Assocation. She was formerly the director of educational technology and learning resources for the Sacramento County Office of Education.

Phoebe Kelsoe, Ph.D., is retired from the crime analysis unit, special investigations bureau at the Riverside County sheriff's department.

Katrina Kennedy has assisted over 6,000 people in the development of supervisory, management and leadership skills in public and private organizations. She is an expert at group involvement and consensus decision-making, guiding organizations in developing teams, creating collaborative relationships, and planning for the future.

B. L. Kennedy, MFA, nationally renowned poet, author of 23 books, and a resident of Sacramento since 1976.

Dohn Kissinger, M.B.A., Ph.D., P.M.P., helps organizations plan projects so they finish on time and within budget. He has over 25 years of business and project management experience, and is the developer of The 7 Steps to Project Success™. He was awarded an MBA at California State University, Sacramento and a Ph.D. in Engineering from Purdue University. He is a member of MPA, the official association for Microsoft Office Project. He is certified as a Blue Belt in Microsoft Project and as a Black Belt Professional in Microsoft Project Server by the International Institute for Learning (IIL) and as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

John Laughlin has a Master's degree in counseling psychology from UC Santa Barbara and a bachelor's degree in psychology and sport ccience from Purdue University. He is currently the school psychologist for Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District.

Joanne Ligamari has a master’s in education and is currently the education coordinator for the after school program at Rio Linda School District. She is also the library media teacher at Regency Park Elementary and Woodridge Elementary Schools.

Jannene Litchfield is a human resources professional with over fifteen years experience. Her major strengths include management development, strategic planning, organizational development, employee relations, and retention. She is also skilled in creating and implementing business metrics, management and employee practices, compensation systems, facilitating, and employee communication.

Neil Malvetti has 20 years experience with the Sacramento County office of education including management responsibilities for a great variety of research, evaluation, training and organizational improvement projects and programs.

Denis "Joe" McCarthy, M.A., is an instructor in the department of educational administration and policy studies at California State University, Sacramento.

Kathleen McPherson, M.B.A., is a consultant and educator with over ten years of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors.

George Mettee is the technical publications manager for BOC Coating Technology.

Mark Mitchell is currently a teacher for the San Juan School District and has been an instructor with CCE since 1986. Mark is a retired employee from the State of California. In that state job, he was a senior electronic data processing acquisitions specialist for the California department of general services, procurement division. He was involved with the procurement of telecommunication and data processing systems.

Scott Modell has a doctorate in teacher education and a master’s in adapted physical education from Florida State University. Dr. Modell is a professor of kinesiology in the Health Science Department at California State University, Sacramento.

Renée Neal has primarily worked as a fitness instructor in various formats and venues for 21 years but enjoys a wide array of interests ranging from Mah-jongg, martial arts, and eBay. She has worked with all age groups, but is especially in tune with working with seniors and greatly enjoys their personalities. She has also obtained numerous fitness certifications and is a 3rd Dan in American Kenpo.

Charlotte O’Hara has worked as a technical writer and project manager for over 20 years. She is currently employed with Delta Dental as the manager of special projects.

Kaylene Hallberg , M.A., is the Associate Dean of Student Services at Sierra College. She served as Dean of Student Services at both Cypress College, and at the California Community College Chancellors Office. Ms. Hallberg is also Vice President of Ombudsman Press, an educational consulting company.

Sam Parsons is a graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara, and works for CSUS Academic Technology and Creative Services unit as a photographer. He began the move to digital photography in the ‘80’s with the advent of Adobe Photoshop and now works almost exclusively in the digital medium. In his spare time, Sam is also a part time faculty member with the CSUS Department of Design, as well as a part time grad student taking art classes.

Nate Peterson has served in numerous management positions developing managers and supervisors, creating team environments and improving operations processes. He also teaches leadership skills to youth groups.

Karen Harold-Husted is principle of Professional Training Partners, a training, consulting and coaching firm. She has consulted with individuals, corporations, law enforcement agencies and nonprofit groups to provide educational solutions and conflict resolutions initiatives for 14 years.

Joseph Richards is an assistant professor in the department of management at California State University, Sacramento.

Chris Sablynski, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the College of Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento.

Ruth Scribner has a master’s in library science and information management from the University of Denver and is a library media teacher at Prairie Elementary in the Elk Grove Unified School District.

Jacquelyn Southward is a human resource consultant focused primarily on organizational culture and development. She has been an instructor with the College of Continuing Education for more than five years.

Margie Starr has been in the meetings industry since 1989 working for major hotel companies including Radisson Hotels, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. She is currently the director of group sales for the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento. In addition, she has been on the Board of Directors of Meeting Professionals International, Sacramento Chapter for several years and is the president-elect 2006-07. She is also active in the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and the California Society of Association Executives.

David Stone, C.M.P., knows the "bells and whistles" of effective audio-visual use and management. He has over 20 years of experience coordinating audio-visual requirements for meeting planners.

Louise Stymeist, M.S., has been involved in career and technical education for over 15 years. She is an experienced classroom teacher, program administrator and small business owner. Working in public education has intensified her passion for powerful teaching, curriculum development, standards integration, project-based learning, and program development. She is currently the ROP coordinator for the Sacramento City Unified School District.

Heather Tanfani, B.S., CMP is the president of events!, specializing in coordinating meetings, conferences, and special events, which she started in 1995. She is also the founder of Independent Meeting Planners and has served as an executive board member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI). She received her Certificate of Meeting Planning in 1998. 

William Teeple, M.B.A., has an extensive background in contracting, procurement and process improvement through his work and teaching in these areas. He has over 20 years experience in contracting and manufacturing.

Dale Tom is currently the director of human resources at the California School Boards Association. She previously worked at UC Davis as a senior employee and labor relations consultant and as staff development coordinator.

Margie Tomenko is a practicing project manager with over 10 years PM experience. She has worked for Tandem Computers, DST Output, and currently, for Computer Deductions, Inc. Margie earned her PMP certification from Project Management Institute (PMI) and her Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Purdue University. After obtaining the Community College teaching credential, Margie has been teaching on-line and in-person classes for over 15 years, both Project Management as well as computer related courses. Project Management is a natural for Margie - the multi-tasking, the people interfacing, the coordination and creative thinking all work to provide an adrenalin rush that makes working - and teaching - a pleasure! Margie is eager to share her knowledge and experience with you! Feel free to contact her with any questions you may have.

Lee Towe, M.B.A., P.M.P., is a project manager and senior trainer for PMLeader.com, one of the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Charter Registered Education Providers. He is one of PMI's presenters for SeminarsWorld and is the primary author of the human resource chapter of the 2004 Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge®.

Professor Catherine Turrill is Chair of the Art Department at California State University in Sacramento. A specialist in Italian Renaissance art, she has written and spoken on the patronage and iconography of altarpieces and small devotional paintings by Ercole de' Roberti, the provenance and date of an altarpiece by Girolamo da Carpi, the subject of Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck, and aesthetic issues in 18th-century Ferrara. Her current research is on the artistic activities of Plautilla Nelli and other Dominican nuns in Renaissance Tuscany. She contributed an essay and preliminary catalogue to the first book in English on this artist, Suor Plautilla Nelli (1523-1588): The First Woman Painter of Florence (ed. Jonathan Nelson). Her most recent publication on Plautilla Nelli and art production in her convent is in The Art Market in Italy: 15th-17th Centuries (ed. Marcello Fantoni, Louisa Matthew, and Sara Matthews-Grieco).

Bill Vicars is the president of Lifeprint Institute, a consultation business focusing on sign language communication and assistive technology. He has an Ed.D. in deaf studies/deaf education and over 15 years of university-level ASL teaching experience. He currently teaches in the ASL program at California State University, Sacramento.

Kurt von Meier, Ph.D., has taught art at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, at Princeton, UCLA, and Sacramento State. He is professor emeritus of Sacramento State's Department of Art.

Dennis Wade, M.A., is principal of People Development Systems. His 16 years as an adult educator and his 10 years with Intel Corporation helped prepare him to provide employee development consulting services. Change management, leadership, team development, management skills, customer service, and performance-based training are some of his areas of expertise.

Lester H. Wielstein is an L.C.S.W. with over 20 years of experience in clinical social work, delivering both direct practice and clinical supervision. He is a lecturer in the CSUS Division of Social Work and the FOCUS team supervisor at Terkensha Associates North Area Mental Health Treatment Center.

Jon Wilhite has over 14 years of training and development experience. He began his career with Walt Disney Company as a field trainer for The Disney Stores and then spent several years in the banking industry as a training facilitator and course designer. He developed training programs for call centers at First Nationwide Bank and Westamerica Bank. He is currently the training manager for Thunder Valley Casino, specializing in leadership and relationship breakthrough development training programs.

Kathy Sole is the owner of WriteSource, a writing and editing firm that specializes in complex business and government documents. She has been a contract technical writer and editor for the past 18 years and is the author of What's the Rule?

Joan Zeglarski, M.H.R.O.D., is a partner in HRT Associates. She has more than 25 years experience in human resources, organization development management, consulting and training in both the public and private sectors.