Roxanne Gilgallon, MS, BCC, PCC, PMP | Founder, SouthPoint Coaching Group, Inc
Roxanne believes we are all leaders, teachers, and social influencers at some level that can transform lives and inspire change; making a positive and lasting impact for generations to come.

Roxanne founded SouthPoint Coaching Group, Inc., which provides transformation coaching and training to corporations, non-profits, and educational institutions since 2010. Contracting with companies, Industries served include automotive, Fortune 50 financial and accounting institutions, education, healthcare, insurance manufacturing, non-profits, pharmaceutical, and telecommunication.

Roxanne’s passion is helping her clients to lead from within by blending brain-based coaching, compassion leadership, evidence-based mindful practices, and emotional intelligence. Roxanne also works with clients to manage organization change with resilience, self-compassion and with a Me to We approach.

Roxanne Gilgallon is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) Certified Executive, Leadership, Business and Career Board Certified Coach (BCC), and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Roxanne received her Business Coaching from Duke University, completed various certified trainings in Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence through Duke University, Wake Forest, UMass and SIY Search Inside Yourself. She also has A Master in Natural Health (MS) and a Bachelor of Administrative Science (BAS), Business Administration.

Tim Leet | Executive Director, Heart of Character
Tim is the Ethics and Character Coordinator at Columbus Academy (OH), where he also teaches upper school courses in ethics, moral psychology, and physics.  He has developed a curriculum for adolescents that explores moral identity and ethical decision making and is the author of Ethics and Identity, a textbook to support that curriculum. His diverse academic and professional background includes graduate degrees in both theology and engineering, as well as considerable experience coaching student leaders, aligning discipline systems, and developing a school-wide program in ethics and character.  A regular presenter at local and national conferences, Tim has spoken on topics such as academic integrity, school culture, ethics education, and the keys to internalizing motivation.  Tim formerly served as the character development consultant to the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education and is a founding member and the Executive Director of Heart of Character.

Michael Martin | Director of Choral Activities and Music Education, Methodist University
Dr. Michael D. Martin hails from the great state of Maine. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Maine. He completed his Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in choral education through Kent State University, Kent, OH. He has taught in grades 4-12, in the capacity of choral, band, and orchestral education positions throughout ME, NH and MA. He has received recognition as a teacher and conductor, having been the recipient of several teaching awards, serving as a guest conductor, vocal clinician, and as a judge for several New England, Midwestern, and East Coast festivals. His past student performing ensembles (SATB, SSAA, TTBB) have received both regional and national awards for their performances.

Dr. Martin has also enjoyed a rich involvement in conducting community choral groups in NH and ME. In 2001, he created a semi-professional chorus, The New Vocal Collective, in central New Hampshire recording one compact disc. He also conducted the Portland Downeasters, a Portland, ME based barbershop chorus, which became one of the top four choruses in the Northeastern District in 2002-2004. He received national attention with his championship barbershop quartet The Management (1986-2003) by touring New England schools in support of music programs. For this work promoting youth involvement in music, the quartet shared the National Education Service Award sponsored by MENC and SPEBSQSA (now Barbershop Harmony Society). He also received distinction as the recipient of Distinguished Choral Director of the Year from the Maine Chapter of ACDA. He is the immediate past Artistic Director of the Cumberland Oratorio Singers who were Finalists for the American Prize in Community Chorus Performance and recently inducted into the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame. Dr. Martin is also the first recipient of the Union-Zukowski Endowed Professor in the Fine Arts. Recently, Dr. Martin ended a 9-year artistic directorship of the Cumberland Oratorio Singers.

His current college groups are in constant demand for performances throughout North Carolina and the southeast. They have toured the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and recently, Italy, and from Orlando to Boston. They have also recorded 2 CD’s: A Yuletide Keepsake and Legacy. He is currently the Director of Choral Activities, Director of Music Education, and Coordinator of Fine Arts Management at Methodist University, where he conducts the MU Chorale, Chamber Singers, “The Noblemen” (men’s chorus), “Grace Notes” (women’s chorus), and the MU Chamber Orchestra. He is currently the R & R Chair for NC-ACDA.

Elizabeth McLeod | Founder and Director of Consulting, The Institute of Social and Emotional Learning
Elizabeth McLeod, M. Ed., is a multi-talented educator whose portfolio reflects her distinctive commitment to the social and emotional wellbeing of children, adults and organizations.

Elizabeth has served as SEL Specialist with grades 1-6 at The Nueva School; classroom teacher for 5th-8th grates at Live Oak School; and school counselor at Marin Primary and Middle School. She has facilitated online learning courses in the Advanced Leadership Program for Women through the Australian School of Management’s National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative.

Elizabeth was the founding Executive Director of GirlVentures, a Bay Area nonprofit that empowers adolescent girls to discover and express their strengths though outdoor adventure and creative arts. Leading people into the outdoors to learn about themselves, others, and our connection to the natural world is a theme that runs through all of Elizabeth’s work.

Elizabeth also specializes in teaching peace-building skills to youth and adults, drawing on principles of non-violent communication and Eastern contemplative practices. As a trainer for the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, she supported conflict resolution and peer mediation programs in diverse Bay Area schools. She also facilitates mindfulness and yoga experiences for children and adults seeking to develop embodied self-awareness and resilience.

Elizabeth graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Human Development and English. She holds single and multiple subject teaching credentials from San Francisco State University. She earned her M. Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She completed teacher certification programs at the Yoga Garden and Spirit Rock Meditation Center and is a longtime student of yoga and vipassana meditation. Elizabeth lives on the coast south of San Francisco, where she loves to spend time outdoors with her teenaged children and their active border collie.

Laura Parrott | Advanced Academics Coordinator, Durham Public Schools
Laura is an enthusiastic and passionate educator, currently serving as the Advanced Academics Coordinator for Durham Public Schools (NC) where she coordinates programming to cultivate the talent development in grades K-2 and facilitates advanced learning opportunities for students in grades K-12.  A frequent presenter, Laura’s work focuses on helping teachers create an environment that promotes and engages student thinking. 
 
As an educator for 27 years, Laura has worked with diverse student communities in Alabama and North Carolina as a teacher, then serving in district director roles in the areas of Gifted Education, Fine Arts, and AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination).  Her role as a state lead for Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Students in the North Central Region of North Carolina and former Board Member of the North Carolina Association for Gifted and Talented have continued her advocacy of ensuring all students have opportunities that propel their thinking forward, foster inquiry, and affirm their social-emotional growth as intellectual contributors in an ever-changing world.

Rush Sabiston Frank | Founder and Director of Workshops, The Institute of Social and Emotional Learning
Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S., is a passionate SEL advocate whose work centers on equipping students with the powerful social-emotional practices and increased self-awareness that they instinctively want and need. Her work at IFSEL is informed by more than two decades of counseling practice, teaching experience, and social work with youth and families.

Rush taught SEL in grades 5-8 at Nueva School for eight years. In the wake of the Columbine school shootings, she supervised the San Mateo County/YMCA School Safety Advocate Program on all seven San Mateo Union High School District campuses for four years. She also served as Upper School Counselor at Marin Country Day. And at Odyssey Family Counseling Center, she helped treat and educate mandated and at-risk youth in an outpatient substance abuse program, ran anger management groups, and ran a survivors of suicide group for children. Rush has also coordinated and led groups for Kids’ Turn, an educational program that offers hope and optimism to children during divorce and separation.

As a lead SEL workshop designer, Rush has helped develop programs that interface between SEL and media literacy, body image and gender issues, nutrition, and psychological research on forgiveness.

Rush specializes in working with schools to create a Student Advisory curriculum, and in helping both students and teachers learn the Open Session, a core IFSEL curricular component for upper-grade students. She is a thoughtful leader of interactive information sessions about SEL for parents. She is also particularly skilled at providing proactive support for students and parents new to SEL.

Rush holds a Masters of Science in professional counseling, and a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina after 17 sunny years in Northern California, and exercises by trying to keep up with her two young sons.

Amber M. Smith | Founder and Executive Director of Activate Good

Amber Melanie Smith is a speaker on service, leadership, and social impact and the founder and Executive Director of Activate Good, a nonprofit with a mission of inspiring everyone to find their passion for service and take action. Amber completed a B.A. in Social Change Leadership and a Masters in Public Administration with a focus in Nonprofit Management at NC State University, where she also served as an advisor for other students pursuing careers in nonprofits.

As a little girl, Amber wanted to change the world. There were just a few problems: She had no superpowers to speak of, no money, and no leadership skills or business know-how. So Amber took off on a two and half month cross-country road trip with her best friend, volunteering and conducting acts of kindness in over 20 states, during which she discovered her power to make an impact. When she returned home, she launched Activate Good, which has since mobilized thousands of volunteers to help hundreds of causes in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Amber was honored to receive Wake County’s Commission for Women Award in 2006, the Independent Weekly Citizen Award in 2011, and Leadership Triangle’s Goodmon Award in 2014 for her work promoting a culture of service. Her writing about service and leadership, social innovation, and nonprofits has appeared in Fast Company, the Philanthropy Journal, The Nonprofit Revolution by Wethos, and other media. In 2017, Amber was appointed a commissioner on the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service by Governor Roy Cooper and continues her service on the commission today.

Above all, Amber believes every person can meet their potential and find meaning through service and helping others. She continues to spread this message, speaking at schools, colleges, and businesses about her journey to become a leader, how to start making a difference from nothing, and lessons learned along the way.

Laura Tierney | The Social Institute
Laura Tierney is the Founder and CEO of The Social Institute, empowering students and their role models to navigate social media and technology in positive, high character ways. Combining her standout sports leadership experience with her career managing social media for world-class brands, she bridges the gap between students and adults as one of the nation’s leading pioneers in positive social media education. She has spoken and collaborated with over 50,000 students nationwide, developing a unique approach that has been applauded by Melinda Gates and featured by The Washington Post, NPR, and USA Today.

Prior to envisioning, researching, and launching The Social Institute, Laura served as Social Media Director at the award-winning advertising agency McKinney, overseeing social media strategy for the agency’s leading global brands. Laura honed her marketing skills as a Social Media Manager at ESPN, helping espnW use social media to inspire millions of women and girls who love sports. During her 10-year career in social media, she built strategies and campaigns for leading brands including ESPN, Samsung, Coca Cola, Travelocity, Oakley, Disney, and Duke Men’s Basketball. Her work with Duke catapulted the @DukeMBB account to become the most engaging, most followed account in college sports.

In 2018, Laura received the Triangle Business Journal’s 40-under-40 award. She currently serves on Duke University’s Learning Innovation Advisory Council, helping Duke imagine the future of learning on-campus and online.

Laura is an unshakable optimist and competitive athlete at heart. A graduate of Duke University, she became a 4x Duke All-American, 2-time team captain, and Duke Athlete of the Decade for field hockey. She played for the U.S. Junior National Team, representing her country at home and abroad.

Today, Laura plays on behalf of students to equip them with skills and values that embody their daily digital needs. Through her work, students now have the chance to win at the world’s largest game: social media.

Melanie N. Woodard, NBC-HWC, BCC, LPC 
Melanie Woodard maintains a private coaching and consulting practice serving individuals, couples and groups.  Mindfulness coaching grounds her work in an integrative perspective, engaging clients to explore and act from their own wisdom from the sum of their life experiences.  Melanie brings mindfulness and compassion-focused trainings to non-profit and corporate gatherings in healthcare, education, and workplace wellness.  

Melanie is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), Center for Credentialing and Education Board Certified Coach (BCC) in Wellness, and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

Melanie received her Health and Wellness Coaching from Duke University Integrative Medicine Professional Training.  She has additional certifications in Health and Wellness Coaching from UNC-G, and trainings from SIY Search Inside Yourself, Wake Forest Baptist Health, and Shalem Institute. She has her MS in Counseling and Ed. S. from UNC-G.

Melanie finds inspiration through partnering with clients and communities to lift up their highest values and actively build a healthier world.