Advancement of Leadership Programs

Dr. Kathy L. Guthrie is professor in the higher education program at Florida State University. She serves as director of the Leadership Learning Research Center and coordinator of the Undergraduate Certificate in Leadership Studies. She currently serves as the editor for the New Directions in Student Leadership series. Her research focuses on leadership learning outcomes, socially just and culturally relevant leadership education, and use of technology in leadership education.

Trisha Gott is an assistant professor and associate dean of academics at the Staley School of Leadership. Gott teaches undergraduate and professional coursework related to considering the ethical dimensions of leadership and leadership development. Gott focuses on practice-based leadership education and development for professionals. Since 2016 she has served as co-PI and co-director for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Engagement and Leadership Institute at Kansas State since 2016. Gott is particularly interested in understanding how leadership interventions sustain, translate, and advance community leadership in a global setting.  

Brittany Devies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Bio Forthcoming

Dr. Onyedikachi (Kachi) Ekwerike is a leadership lecturer at the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia. He earned a Ph.D. in Leadership Communication from Kansas State University. As a leadership educator, Kachi’s expertise is at the intersection of Inclusive Leadership, Organizational Culture, and Community Engagement.
Kachi is also a mental health advocate. He has over seven years of global leadership experience, leading change in the nonprofit sector. He is the founder of Postpartum Support Network Africa, a leading maternal mental health organization in Nigeria. Before transitioning to leadership education, Kachi worked as a consultant clinical psychologist. He holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and specializes in mood and anxiety disorders. Kachi’s leadership in the nonprofit sector inspired his interest in leadership education. He is passionate about helping people develop leadership capacity.
Kachi is a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow, a prestigious fellowship for young African leaders offered by the U.S State Department. He is also a Global Leadership Fellow, recognized in 2018 as among the top 10 emerging leaders globally.

JAY GARY, PhD, is Associate Professor of Strategic Leadership at Oral Roberts University. Educator, Entrepreneur and Futurist, Jay comes to ILA with 18 years of curriculum, teaching, and assessment experience in leadership studies, ranging from the bachelors, masters to PhD level. He now serves at the Dean level of an online learning unit that enrolls 1,300 students across 25-degree programs. His most recent project has been launching a multi-disciplinary Doctor of Strategic Leadership program for mid- to senior career professionals. For more information visit https://oru.edu/faculty/jay-gary.php or https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygary/.

Elnura Irmatova is a leadership development researcher and advisor whose work focuses on evidence-based, reflective, and globally relevant leadership education. She has served as a researcher at IEDC–Bled School of Management, where she has led multiple projects under the NLB Chair in Leadership Development.

Her research explores authentic, ethical, and change leadership; leader identity development and leadership self-awareness; reflective and experiential learning, including arts-based leadership practices; and leadership development in complex systems. Elnura contributes to global leadership conferences and publications, has authored chapters in forthcoming edited volumes with Routledge, Springer, and Emerald, and is a member of the International Leadership Association.

She holds a Master’s degree in Enterprise Management from Zhejiang University and a Master’s degree in Finance and Economics from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at the IEDC–Bled School of Management, with a research focus on leadership development and the future of management education.

Gang Li, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Leadership at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada, where he educates next-generation leaders. His research reimagines leadership education for a changing world, with forthcoming publications on peace leadership, digital leadership, and systems thinking. He actively bridges theory and practice, informed by his concurrent service as Board Chair of the charitable organization Global Scholars Canada and his role in university academic governance. Dr. Li brings to the committee a passionate commitment to designing leadership programs that are both ethically grounded and globally relevant.

Oliver Seale is a leadership development specialist, lecturer and researcher. He is the Director of the Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme at Universities South Africa (USAf). Before that, Oliver was the Director of Executive Education at the Graduate School of Business Leadership in UNISA. Some of his other former positions include: consulting as a strategist and advisor to public and private higher education institutions, acting CEO at Universities South Africa, Director in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at Wits University, and Deputy Director-General for Training Delivery at the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA).

Oliver has extensive experience in strategic planning, change management, business development, programme/project management, relationship and stakeholder management in various organisational environments. He has a keen interest in university governance, leadership and management, organisational development, performance management and leadership development. He holds a PhD in Leadership Development from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and has published various academic papers on university leadership, management, deanship and leadership development.
Oliver’s book titled Deanship in the Global South: Bridging Troubled Waters was published in 2021.

Spencer has over 35 years of experience working in higher education. Spencer is the Director of the
Illinois Leadership Center. Spencer served as the Chair of the National Association for Campus
Activities She serves on the Council for Advancement of Standards (CAS) for Higher Education and
chaired the CAS review of the Student Leadership Programs Standards, released in 2020.

Carolyn J. Stefanco, Ph.D. is a higher education leader who held positions as professor, dean, vice president, and president at universities throughout the United States. She also served as resident director of a London Study Program, Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, higher education consultant for Saudi Arabia and South Africa, and trustee and board chair at the American University in Bulgaria.

Dr. Stefanco earned a Ph.D. in history from Duke University, an M.A. in women’s history from Binghamton University, and a B.A. in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Following her presidency, she founded Barét Leadership Consulting, where she provides executive coaching to individuals, and assistance with board development and fundraising to universities and organizations.