OUR CONSULTANTS
CARL BRAUNLICH, D.B.A | PRISCILLA HART | JOHN KANTOR, Ph.D. | LAUREN KEITH, Ph.D. | MARLY A. MERENDA RUBEN R. MORFIN | SHARI MRAZ | JOESEPH V.RAFFA, Ed.D. | STEVEN SCHULTZ, Ph.D. | | JEFF TOISTER
CARL BRAUNLICH, D.B.A.
Dr. Carl Braunlich has more than 30 years of extensive business
experience including 15 years as a professor and consultant. Dr.
Braunlich is an Associate Professor with University of Nevada, Las
Vegas. He teaches and consults in the areas of strategic knowledge
management, performance management, organizational development,
performance-based instructional design, and the development of
enterprise-wide learning management systems.
Dr. Braunlich has been on the faculties of Cornell University,
Purdue University and the University of the West Indies. He is a
Founding Fellow of the Purdue University Teaching Academy and is
included in Purdue University's Book of Great Teachers. He is a
recognized leader in the development of academic enterprise course
management programs.
He received his BS and MS Degrees from Cornell University and a
Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) degree from United States
International University in San Diego, California. PRISCILLA HART
Priscilla has more than 20 years experience in organizational
development and training working with organizations in many industries
including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, finance, construction,
consumer goods, airline, hospitality, auto, utilities and government.
Her primary areas of practice include management and executive
development, organizational design, team building and design, customer
service, interpersonal skills, process improvement, culture change,
defining vision and values, selection and assessment. She is a
certified job analyst and assessor. She also has an extensive
background in e-learning.
Priscilla previously served as vice president for I2cyber. She spent
five years as a consultant and master trainer for DDI, an international
training and consulting organization and five years as a senior
learning manager for SmartForce (now Skillsoft). She started her career
with IBM Corporation and Cullinet Software.
She received her BS Degree in Marketing from Indiana University and
her MS Degree in Management/ Organizational Development from Georgia
State University. JOHN KANTOR, Ph.D.
John has over 20 years of experience as a consultant in government
and public sector organizations. He has also been an Associate
Professor at the California School of Business and Organizational
Studies at Alliant International University for the past 12 years.
He implemented large-scale organizational change projects involving
thousands of uniformed and civilian employees at the US Navy. He
was in charge of organizational surveys that involved the approval and
coordination of dozens of survey projects per year that involved job
satisfaction, compensation, benefits, organizational climate, sexual
harassment and various other topics.
He is an expert in compensation studies and in training graduate
students in this field. He has managed and evaluated projects in
a wide range of industries and levels over the past decade.
Because of his expertise in survey work, he also heads the various
projects done through Alliant in the field of survey-guided feedback
and the newer field of on-line surveys.
As an Associate Professor, John has taught a variety of courses,
including Organization Behavior, Organizational Development, Work
Motivation, Fundamentals of Compensation, Human Factors, Survey-guided
Feedback and a variety of others. He has presented the results of
his research at national and international conferences.
John earned his MBA at Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in
organizational psychology at the California School of Professional
Psychology. He is a Member of American Psychological Association,
Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Western
Psychological Association. LAUREN KEITH, Ph.D.
Dr. Lauren Keith is an organizational consultant with extensive
experience in leadership assessment, leadership and management coaching
and development, training development and implementation, performance
management and organizational surveys. She has developed
organizational effectiveness programs for a wide variety of industries
including government agencies, manufacturing, sales, public sector and
financial institutions.
In more recent projects, Lauren has facilitated team awareness and
development efforts and company culture change starting with leadership
and continuing on through the organization. Other projects
include development, analysis and implementation of organizational
surveys (both employee and customer), action planning based on survey
or assessment results, group facilitation and various forms of Human
Resources support. Lauren is also an experienced trainer and
instructional designer, developing programs for a wide variety of
corporate clients on a range of topics that include management skills,
stress management, time management, team development, and performance
management.
Dr. Keith received her Master’s degree and Ph.D. in
Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the California School of
Professional Psychology in San Diego, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology from Tufts University. She has also served as an
adjunct faculty member at Alliant International University (formerly
the California School of Professional Psychology). She is a past Board
Member for the San Diego Chapter of the Association for Talent Development and member in the San Diego Chapter of the
Society for Human Resource Management. She is a certified Senior
Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Dr. Keith is also a certified Success Coach.
MARLY A. MERENDA
Marly specializes in organizational development training, consulting
and coaching across a variety of industries. The focus of Marly’s
practice is to develop, align and balance an organization’s people,
processes, structure and work environment. Her emphasis has been
in the areas of organizational assessments, business process redesign,
career transition, performance management, employee
selection/retention, and work-life balance. Marly’s clients have
ranged from small start-ups to large corporations in diverse industries
including finance, biotechnology, information technology,
telecommunications, healthcare, manufacturing, and government.
Over the last ten years, Marly has been instrumental in large scale,
corporate initiatives involving leadership development, business
process reengineering, and custom assessment processes. Some
clients whom she has served in this capacity both domestically and
internationally include Motorola, Linkage Incorporated, GenProbe, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Sempra Energy.
Her work also includes successfully transitioning downsized employees
and managers back into the workforce through both seminars and
individual coaching sessions. A partial list of clients whom she
has served in this capacity includes Hewlett
Packard, MP3.com, NFL San Diego, SAIC, McGraw Hill, Qualcomm, Copper
Mountain, Aetna, Greenpoint Credit, Lockheed Martin, and Computer
Associates.
Marly has developed and delivered customized training tools and
provided developmental coaching sessions for hundreds of individuals
ranging from front-line employees to senior executives. She also
jointly conducted comprehensive work environment assessments, developed
detailed executive reports and created online, interactive 360-degree
feedback systems for several client organizations.
She received an M.A. in Organizational Development & Behavior
from the California School of Professional Psychology and a B.A. in
Psychology, with an emphasis in Business Communications, from Boston
University. Marly serves as an adjunct professor for the
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Extension’s HR Certificate
Program. She is a member of the Organizational Development
Network, the Society for Human Resources Management, the American
Society for Training and Development, and the Society for Industrial
Organizational Psychology. RUBEN R. MORFIN
With over 20 years of hands-on experience in large and small
business, non-profits, and governmental organizations in the USA and
abroad, Ruben's diverse managing and consulting record encompasses
industries in manufacturing, construction, automotive, retail,
distribution, agriculture, and diverse services - hospitality, social
services, transportation, higher education, training, engineering, etc.
Well known organizations include RainBird
International, City of Boston, United Way, Budget Rent-a-Car, Union
Pacific Railroad, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The broad mix is based on Ruben's firm belief that diversity
enriches tool sets. Even dissimilar sectors, such as businesses,
charities, and governments, in their pursuit of excellence often
create, borrow, and perfect techniques that guide and teach the other -
if not always consciously or willingly. Facilitating the transfer of
diverse knowledge is one of Ruben's interests.
Ruben's academic preparation includes Urban Studies, Economics, and
Visual Arts (BA, UC San Diego); Socio-Economic Development and
Administration (Master's, MIT); International Business Management
(MBA, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, France); complementary
coursework at Harvard University; and diverse specialized training at
other institutions over the years.
The list of Ruben's "specialties" describes a generalist:
organizational design; culture change; leadership and team development;
training programs and techniques; cross-functional processes and
operations improvement; production/cost assessment and control; survey
design and data analysis; policy and procedures development; personnel
hiring, managing, and performance assessment; multicultural relations;
negotiations, and conflict resolution; strategy; and marketing. He is
fluent in English and Spanish, functional in French, and literate in
Portuguese and Italian. SHARI MRAZ
Shari Mraz has more than 18 years of experience in customer service,
sales and marketing with a number of consumer and industrial companies.
She has developed effective training and promotional tools for field
sales and marketing. Shari’s belief in the importance of customer
satisfaction has been the key in her success at developing effective
working relationships with all aspects of businesses, from
manufacturing to sales.
Her areas of specialty include customer service, sales, marketing, and customer relationship management.
Shari has held a variety of management, sales, marketing, and
customer service positions with Boise Office Solutions, Avery-Dennison,
Hoffer Plastics, US Precision Glass, Nitto Kohki USA, and S-B Power
Tool.
She received her BS in Business Administration from Illinois State
University, and her MBA in Marketing from De Paul University of Chicago. JOESEPH V.RAFFA, Ed.D.
Dr. Joe Raffa has over 25 years of experience in leadership,
management, and technology development; his education includes a
doctorate in Education: Leadership Studies from the University of San
Diego, as well as a master of science and bachelors in industrial
management and engineering.
Dr. Raffa has served in executive, program, and project management
positions for the University of California, San Diego, ARINC Research,
General Dynamics, and Ideal Manufacturing Company. As Captain, US Army,
he was awarded the ARCOM for his tour of duty with US Army School
Europe. Joe serves on the Boards of various San Diego organizations. He
has also serves as the Executive Director of the San Diego County
Cancer Navigator - recipient of the NACO (National Association of
Counties) Achievement Award, and is founder of the Center for
Leadership Education (CLE).
Joe’s passion outside management consulting has been the application
of science and technology to health issues – with a focus on cancer
research. In 1990 he co-authored and presented a paper on cancer
information networking at the Venice conference on preventive
strategies in medicine. In 1992, his vision of a national cancer data
base was launched by the American Cancer Society and today it provides
invaluable data to Physicians and Healthcare. In 1994, he was honored
with the distinction of “Cavaliere Ufficiale” (Knighthood) from the
Republic of Italy for his collaborative leadership and contributions to
advancing research. STEVEN SCHULTZ, Ph.D.
Steven Schultz, Ph.D., has more than 20 years experience providing
training in writing, communications, and leadership. Steven has
conducted in-house writing seminars to improve the writing skills of
technical and business professionals in a variety of industries
including; engineering, finance, technology, telecommunications,
education, government, manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare, and
retail.
Steve’s training programs have comprised both traditional on-site
training and electronic distance learning through CDs and on-line
instruction. As an editor and writer, he has helped companies improve
their client correspondence and project documentation, establish
in-house writing standards, and develop marketing materials for
responding to RFPs and promoting new business.
For technical projects, Steve writes specifications (developing a
new specification template for the Water Reclamation District of
Greater Chicago) and edits other high-profile projects, such as civil
design reports, airport master plans, stormwater management programs,
and environmental impact statements. He edited the EISs for major
development at Los Angeles, Seattle-Tacoma, Cincinnati-Northern
Kentucky, and Chicago O’Hare airports. His work on proposals has
contributed to winning transportation-related projects in Arizona,
California, Ohio, Hong Kong, and Canada. He also writes and edits
engineering articles for publication.
Steve has taught at several universities—in their English
Departments, graduate schools of business, and corporate training
divisions. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois
and was a Class Merit Scholar at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
His Ph.D. in English is from the State University of New York at
Buffalo.
JEFF TOISTER
Jeff Toister has over ten years of training and organizational
development experience in a variety of industries including
hospitality, call centers, and nonprofits.
His primary area of expertise is helping organizations achieve
“World-Class” customer satisfaction. Jeff consults in several
areas that contribute to service delivery such as leadership
development, performance management, employee selection, job design,
and new hire training.
He was previously the Director of Training and Development for Ace
Parking Management, Inc. Jeff and his team provided internal
consulting services to help operations improve performance in addition
to running Ace’s customer service and leadership development
initiatives. His background also includes working for catalog
companies such as Chadwick’s of Boston, where he ran the call center
training team for two large call centers. He started his training
career with AIESEC, an international nonprofit organization that
provided its clients with international recruiting services.
Jeff is a nationally recognized member of the training and
development community and is actively involved with the American
Society for Training and Development (ASTD). On a national level,
he participated in the pilot version of ASTD’s credentialing program as
a team leader for the group that evaluated portfolio submissions.
Locally, he serves on the Board of Directors for the San Diego chapter.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from
Boston University. He is also a certified Professional in Human
Resources (PHR).
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