Management Development Academy

Harold Cavallaro
Principal/Owner, CavCo Management Partners

Harold Cavallaro is the founder and principal of CavCo Management Partners.  He provides leadership for his team of business consultants to ensure the delivery of solutions that leverage advanced manufacturing performance improvement concepts and methodologies, such as Lean Manufacturing, Synchronous Management and Six Sigma. He has more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing, including mechanical design, materials and supply chain management, strategic planning and business models, and systems design.

Cavallaro received his education from Norwalk State Technical College, the University of Bridgeport and Charter Oak State College in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. He is also the co-author of these books – Regaining Competitiveness – Putting The Goal to Work, Theory H.O.W. – How Organizations Could Work and Theory H.O.W. To Workbook.

Traci Fisher
Executive Wellness Coach, The Wellness Coach, LLC

Traci Fisher, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain and helicopter pilot, helps people unlock their potential through self-leadership and tailored tools. She specializes in guiding individuals and teams to thrive in challenging, uncertain environments.
 
As an executive wellness and leadership coach with more than 25 years of experience, Traci blends neuroscience, positive psychology and physical science to boost performance without sacrificing joy and fulfillment. Her Wellbeingness® approach, designed for busy executives, offers concise, precise strategies to achieve lasting success and wellbeing.
 
As CEO of The Wellness Coach, Traci coaches leaders and teams worldwide. Traci is an ICF Professional Certified Coach, Gallup Strengths Coach, Red Team Critical Thinker, and host of The Healthy Leader podcast. She’s also an author, speaker and managing director of two wellness companies in Cleveland, OH. Traci serves on multiple veteran organization boards, volunteers with The Honor Foundation, and enjoys life with her family and two Beabulls, Emmie and Oscar.

Rita Goodroe
Owner/Founder, Rita Goodroe Global, LLC

Rita Goodroe is an award-winning coach, community builder and keynote speaker who helps organizations, entrepreneurs and teams make more money with less effort by focusing on the meaningful relationships and opportunities that drive success and impact. Using humor and storytelling to break down tough topics into practical, easily implementable actions, Rita is a sought after motivator and community builder for organizations on the Fortune 500 like Kellogg’s, all the way to associations and organizations such as Women in Insurance and Financial Services and the National Concierge Association.

Featured in The Washington Post and seen on NBC, CBS and Great Day Washington, Rita’s strategies and thought leadership earned her the Change-Maker award by the United State of Women Summit under President Obama’s administration. Based in Savannah, GA, when Rita isn’t speaking to audiences, you can find her fundraising for nonprofits, trying new restaurants or spending time at the beach with her husband.

Sylvia James
Owner and CEO, Sylvia James Consulting

A recent retiree, Sylvia is a human resource professional with over 20 years of responsible and progressive experience in human resources management as well as manufacturing and operations management including, executive level management, strategic program management, training/employee development, organizational development, environmental health and safety management and employee relations.

Sylvia is the owner and CEO of Sylvia James Consulting Group, LLC. In this role, her goal is to continue the passion she has for developing leaders who truly care about progressing themselves as leaders. The organization’s overall goal is to provide human resources management, leadership development, executive coaching, and training to leaders at all levels of an organization.

Prior to her retirement Sylvia was the Senior Manager for Human Resources at Pridgeon & Clay LLC.  Her areas of responsibilities include, oversight of staffing, compensation, training and development, employee relations, and environmental health & safety.  With more than 20 years in Human Resources, she has held successful leadership positions at Steelcase, Inc., Corewell Health (formally Spectrum Health), and Robert Bosch, Inc.

She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI, teaching in the Management and Leadership discipline for the Professional & Graduate Studies, and Traditional Studies division.

Sylvia holds an Associate in Liberal Arts degree from Grand Rapids Community College, a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Organizational Leadership, a Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree, and an MBA from Cornerstone University. 

Connie King
Workforce Development Director, Precision Metalforming Association

Contact Connie: cking@pma.org

Prior to joining PMA in May 2022, Connie King served as the director of professional development for Baldwin Wallace University, where she created and delivered original, competency-based learning programs for external organizations and university employees. She previously worked for the University of Akron as a manager of business solutions, where she developed and implemented internal and external organizational development programs, and created community, industry-based consortiums for assessing and satisfying skills demands. Prior to her higher education career, Connie worked in a variety of corporate and entrepreneurial positions which included expertise in marketing, trade show/events management, publishing, and training and development. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business from Baldwin-Wallace College and an MBA from the University of Akron.

Forrest Large
Training and Development Manager, L2 Learning & Development

Forrest Large is an enthusiastic training and development professional with more than 25 years of experience in the business of learning. He has held global leadership positions within Fortune 100 organizations, as well as establishing his own team and leadership development consulting firm. His areas of expertise include curriculum design, adult learning theory, team facilitation and leadership development. With a background in operations and manufacturing, Forrest utilizes a style focused on relationship building, action learning, measureable results, and bottom-line impact.

Forrest received his undergraduate degree from Eastern Washington University, and a master's degree in Management from Aquinas College. He is a member of ASTD, AMA, ISPI, and an Achieve Global certified trainer. He has conducted training sessions throughout the world and for numerous organizations, including Kid’s Hope USA, Adoption Associates, The Holland Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Forrest resides in Hudsonville, MI with his wife, Jennifer, five children and four grandchildren.

Edwin Meyer
Professor of Physics, Baldwin Wallace University

Ed received his PhD in physics from Case Western Reserve University in 1989.  From 1989 to 2000 he was a research scientist and part-time recruiter for Imperial Chemical Industries. In 2000, he became a professor of physics at Baldwin Wallace University for the purpose of teaching problem-solving skills.
 
In 2002, Baldwin Wallace University became the first university anywhere to offer for-credit problem-solving courses. Since then, the problem-solving offerings at BWU have expanded considerably and they are now recommended courses in the business division and for pre-law students at BWU.
 
Ed gave a TEDx talk titled, "Preparing Today's Youth to Solve Tomorrow's Problems" and TedED has produced two of his original problems. 

Mike Nwankwo
Founder and Principal Consultant, Apogee Leadership Group, LLC

Mike Nwankwo is the founder and CEO of Apogee Leadership Group LLC. Mike has more than 30 years of experience as a business and sales consultant with a variety of public and private organizations. 

Mike is certified to facilitate, speak, train and coach individuals and groups in the areas of leadership development, DEI, professional skills and personal growth. Trained and mentored by John Maxwell and mentors of his world-class faculty, he is equipped with the tools, resources and experience to help you and your team improve your productivity, performance and profitability. Mike is also FranklinCovey certified.

Charles Oshurak
Partner, Cohen & Company

Since beginning his public accounting career in 1999, Chuck has provided specialized accounting, assurance and advisory services to clients in the public and privately held sectors with operations in the United States and overseas. He has experience working with complex clients on diverse projects, including those related to accounting research and financial reporting, due diligence, forensic investigations and process improvements within multiple internal control environments and structures, including Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance projects. Chuck frequently conducts technical accounting research on auditing, accounting and financial or regulatory reporting matters, including assisting clients in addressing responses to SEC comment letters and other regulatory matters. His background spans a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, distribution, trucking, construction, oil and gas, energy, higher education, not-for-profits and companies with employee benefit plans.

Lisa Ryan
Owner, Grategy

Lisa Ryan is owner and chief appreciation strategist at Grategy, Cleveland, OH. She works primarily with manufacturers to help them keep their top talent from becoming someone else's. After spending 13 years in industry, including seven years in the welding industry (and yes, she does weld), Ryan developed a process to attract, recognize and retain employees that works.

Ryan received her MBA from Cleveland State University and is past-president of the National Speakers Association, Ohio chapter. She has served on many other boards including those of The American Welding Society, Association for Equipment Manufacturing Professionals, and Toastmasters International.

Kathy Sullivan
Principal & Owner, Talent Principles LLC

Kathy is the principal and owner of Talent Principles LLC, an organizational development consultancy that provides executive coaching, leadership development and other services to support business results. She helps clients improve individual, team and organizational performance by understanding the mission, vision and culture, and aligning development goals with desired outcomes.

Her background includes 25 years of people operations and human resources leadership, developing strategies to attract, develop and retain talent; 25 years of training program design, development and facilitation to build leadership capabilities; 25 years of experience building cross-functional teams, implementing process improvements and leading large-scale organizational change initiatives; and 15 years of executive leadership coaching and organizational development consulting experience.

Kathy helps clients improve their negotiating, conflict resolution and influencing capabilities. She has a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix; an Executive Coaching Certificate from Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University; and is a Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner. Kathy also completed her Scaling Up Certification, which is a business methodology framework that helps improve business results.

Kathy serves on the Board of Trustees for Hudson Job Search, and is on the Board of Directors and serves as Secretary for WEPAN (Women in Engineering ProActive Network). She was selected to participate in the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2023 through the Cleveland Leadership Center and was recently designated as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business Notable Consultants in 2023.

Meridith Witt
Associate Professor of Physics, Baldwin Wallace University

Meridith has been teaching in the physics department at Baldwin Wallace since 2008. Her areas of expertise are general physics, modern physics, electromagnetism and problem-solving techniques. She co-authored the two textbooks used for the general physics program at Baldwin Wallace: Problem-Solving Guide for Electromagnetism and Optics and Problem-Solving Guide for Mechanics and Thermodynamics. She has been teaching General Problem Solving with Ed Meyer in the physics department since 2015. Together, she and Ed also developed a course in Quantitative Problem Solving. She is passionate about the metacognition of problem solving.
 
Meridith was named Crain’s Cleveland’s Notable Woman in STEM in 2019.
 
Meridith has conducted problem-solving workshops for J. P. Farley Corp., Six Figs Business, Women in STEM conferences and Innovations in Teaching conferences. She also has co-led several problem-solving workshops with Ed Meyer at Vitalia senior living centers throughout northeast Ohio. Meridith and Ed Meyer have regularly hosted local high schools for problem-solving competitions. They also regularly host community problem-solving events for attendees ranging from six years old to 88. Meridith has held Mindful Yoga events which integrate the metacognition and self-awareness of problem solving with meditative yoga techniques.