EFFECTIVENESS INSTITUTE - Key Persons

Betty Burks has more than 30 years of experience in Texas public education. She has served as a teacher, principal, and several central office administrator positions in large urban, suburban, and rural districts throughout Texas. Betty's last position in a Texas public school system was deputy superintendent for teaching and learning in San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). Before joining SAISD, Betty served as Associate Executive Director of Instructional Support and Leadership Development for the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA). She also has experience working with non-profits and community organizations. Betty is known for her expertise in leadership development of campus and district administrators and was awarded the Excellence in Educational Leadership by the University Council for Educational Administration in 2011.  She has a wide range of experience in leadership, curriculum, instruction, and professional learning at all levels. Her current focus is on facilitating processes that develop individual's self-awareness and leadership ability through executive coaching. She is a co-author of Stop Fake Work in Education: Creating Real Work Cultures That Drive Student Success, available through Corwin Press. Betty holds a bachelor's degree in education from Texas Tech University and Master of Education Administration from Sul Ross State University. Her life's work as an educator has been focused on the improvement of educational opportunities for children by developing and supporting leaders at all levels.

Job Titles:

• Principal of DCP Training & Talent Development

Dana Pratt is the Principal of DCP Training & Talent Development. She has helped organizations as varied as Macy's, Safeco Insurance, the Oregon Department of Transportation and New Seasons Market, improve their performance and achieve their goals. She is passionate about helping managers improve their results and job satisfaction by identifying, building, and leveraging the talent on their teams. For over two decades Dana has been facilitating workshops using EI tools and content. She enjoys inspiring participants' curiosity about themselves and others. EI material resonates with a wide variety of audiences regardless of industry, level of experience, functional role or learning style. The models and job aids are easy to understand and apply to establish or enhance respectful and productive working relationships. As the leader of DCP Training and Talent Development, Dana offers guidance in succession planning and effective onboarding. She can provide structured one-to-one coaching for new and experienced leaders and facilitates tailored workshops. Dana enjoys assessing current team members, developing actionable plans, and working with leaders to ensure that team members throughout the organization have the resources they need to be engaged, encouraged and able to meet the challenges of our complex and ever-changing world.

Dr Angela Brooks has a passion for holding relationships at the center while helping people- of all ages- achieve their goals and embrace their most powerful self. As founder and CEO of ABR Consulting, she is leading the way in restorative school transformations. Throughout her 20+ years in education, she has had first-hand experience in being a direct change agent in restorative school transformations resulting in high achievement for all students. With Compassion, Achievement, and Hope at the heart of school transformation, Dr. Brooks has a unique approach in assisting educators to create and sustain a culture of hope so all students and staff can learn, achieve, and thrive. Her expertise is in leadership, adult social and emotional fluency, social emotional learning (SEL) and the implementation of SEL, multi-tiered systems of support, and coaching district and school leaders to create and sustain equitable school cultures.

Carrie has a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems. Her dissertation research focused on women in leadership positions and how they thrive amidst barriers of lack of respect in organizations. She has a Master's in Human Development, a Master's in Human Resource Management/Organizational Development, and a B.A. in Business Administration/Finance. She is currently a Fellow at the Institute for Social Innovation (ISI) and an Affiliate Member of the Respect Research Group, Hamburg, Germany.

Job Titles:

• Chief Potential Officer of Suzi Kalsow Leadership Development and Training, Was Most Recently the Vice - President of Learning and Development at Bank Midwest

She began her career as a middle school teacher and coach which led to jobs as a curriculum director and regional education consultant. Her next move was to higher education as a Graduate Professor in Leadership, Field Experiences Director, Dean of Education, Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs, and Vice-President of Academic Affairs. Travel during the years in higher education to Turkey, Poland, and Europe left a profound impact on her world perspective and beliefs about learning and leadership. In 2014 she made the move to the banking industry, where she had the opportunity to influence workplace culture and leadership through Fierce Conversations and People Skills training. She also enjoys teaching Fundamentals of Leadership in Boulder, Colorado at the Graduate School of Banking. Beginning January 2020 Suzi continued her work at Bank Midwest 2/3 time and began her speaking and training business during the pandemic of 2020. Teacher, speaker, facilitator, agitator, and persuader are all descriptors that make life interesting.

Sharon Andrade has been leading and transforming teams for over 30 years. She is an engaging facilitator and consultant focused on elevating individuals and teams wholly through performance improvement and personal growth. She is a certified People Skills, Leveraging Team Dynamics and Teams that Work facilitator. She also helps teams prepare for and navigate change based upon the William Bridges transition model. With a strong business acumen, she focuses on the desired strategic outcomes of her clients and delivers relevant and custom solutions. Prior to her roles as an executive in hospitality, Sharon was a leader with the Effectiveness Institute, where she had the opportunity to observe, assess and facilitate solutions for teams and leaders across industries from banking, credit unions, hospitality, and retail. Sharon's passion for finding innovative, relevant and distinct approaches to continuous growth led her to found HLeadership. The "H" is for hospitality as that is where her heart is. She is an advocate and speaker focused on providing audiences with insights and "aha" moments that will push their thinking and challenge them to re-engage and re-energize their roles as leaders and members of a team. The Pacific Northwest has been her home most of her life, but she enjoys traveling to all parts of the globe, cooking, hiking, entertaining and most of all her family.