Meet the Board

Faith Chapman

President

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Faith has been in the educational field for 20 years, both in business and in education. She has supported organizational goals though education, facilitation, assessments, needs analysis, intervention selection/design, leadership development, and performance improvement strategies.

She recently completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership: Human Performance Improvement from the University of West Florida. She chose this degree to complement her existing BS in Secondary Education from Indiana University and a MS in Leadership and Ethics from John Brown University.

Faith currently designs leadership curriculum remotely for Walmart Logistics in Bentonville, AR and has recently created her own organizational development company called Bridges Consulting. Her vision is to partner with profit and non-profit organizations to help them meet their goals. She resides in Pensacola with her husband and enjoys the outdoors, travel, adventures, and reading.

Wendi Ochs

Past President

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Wendi’s recent experience managing training in the non-profit industry gives her a unique understanding of the need for partnering, collaboration and excellent networking skills in today’s workplace. Her most recent focus has been improving feedback skills and helping organizations to better utilize their volunteers.

Wendi currently works as a training consultant for Taylor Performance Solutions, Inc, focusing on Sales, Customer Service and Leadership. She graduated from Manhattan College and is active in a number of community organizations. Wendi lives in Pensacola, is married and has two sons aged 16 and 13. In her spare time, she reads, travels and spends time with family and friends.

Liza Kittinger

Vice President of Membership

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Liza Kittinger currently works as the Training and Curriculum Development Specialist at AppRiver in Gulf Breeze, Florida, where she uses the ADDIE model to develop and implement professional, personal, and technical training programs for the organization at large.

Liza hails from Atlanta, GA, but received her Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology from the University of West Florida (UWF). Throughout her graduate career at UWF, Liza worked as an Organizational Consultant for UWF's administrative and financial departments, Baptist Hospital, The Table Group Consultants, and The Personnel Board of Jefferson County in Birmingham, Alabama. She has a background in conducting research, data analysis, strategic planning, needs assessments, and performance evaluations. In January of 2011, she obtained her Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certificate from the Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI).

Liza is married to Robert and has a cat named Winston. In her free time, she enjoys running, yoga, ballroom dancing, and traveling.

Jeff Harris

Vice President of Programs

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Jeff is President of SkillQ and leads the creation of eLearning and Corporate Communication products for clients across many industries including Healthcare, Financial Services, Power Generation and Not-for-Profit. SkillQ products are known for blending video, animation, and interactive exercises to achieve both training and communication objectives. SkillQ is an Adobe Certified Training Center and specializes in helping students employ digital media tools to improve business communication and deliver workforce learning.

Prior to launching SkillQ, Jeff founded the eLearning development program at The Home Depot. This group pioneered the use of Flash, and 3D modeling techniques in eLearning design. The products of this initiative changed the company's training strategy and earned several eLearning design awards. Jeff has been a session facilitator at national conferences including ASTD and Elliott Masie's annual "Learning" conference. Jeff is Vice President of the Pensacola Chapter of ASTD.

Norman Paulsen

Vice President of Technology

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Norman is a web design and development specialist that does consulting work with various businesses and organizations. With this position he helped design and implement the largest online continuing education program for private investigators, bail bondsman and crime scene photographers in the southeast.

Norman currently works with a small startup company, Ordercounter.com. The company is on the verge of major expansion and Norman is helping to facilitate that growth in his many areas of expertise, including onsite training and building virtual training modules.

In his spare time, you can find Norman out on the beach enjoying the surf or deep in the woods biking the UWF trails.

Patti Spaniola

Vice President of Communications

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During Patti’s extensive years of work in the hospitality and advertising industry, she has learned the value of treating people with respect, dignity and a smile. She spent 16 years as National Sales and Marketing Manager for Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, CO, she successfully developed relationships with corporations across the country, working with CEO’s, Presidents and decision-makers nationwide. In addition to her sales and marketing background, she has many years of conference and event planning experience for groups ranging from 5 to 500 participants.

Skilled at assessing and adapting to changing business environments, Patti is a strong communicator with the proven ability to strengthen corporate identity and promote a positive public image.

Patti currently is the Program Director of Continuing Education at the University of West Florida. She earned a B.S. in Speech with a focus in Organizational Management from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. with a focus in International Business from Regis University. She enjoys spending time with her family, walking on Pensacola’s beautiful beaches, and traveling.

Bob Laverty

Vice President of Finance

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Bob is relatively new to the Training and Development field, having worked in training for about 5 years. He is currently the Training Manager for Pen Air Federal Credit Union. Before assuming a management position, Bob worked in various positions as SME and Trainer.

Bob has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of West Florida. Having no formal background in training or workplace education, Bob joined ASTD in 2008 to improve his knowledge and share experiences with others.

In his spare time, Bob is a voracious reader and enjoys watching movies.

Mary Adams

Director of Social Media

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Mary Adams is a leading expert as an Educational Professional with more than twenty years' experience in developing training and educational divisions within Enterprise Corporations. Ms. Adams is passionate about creating a positive, team-oriented environment, while committed to identifying potential opportunities, and developing innovative measures for problem solving. Ms. Adams has achieved the highest level of successful growth with companies such as ExxonMobil, Entergy Corporation, CMS-Medicare/Medicaid, and Louisiana Health Care Association.

Ms. Adams earned her B.S. in Business Management from Louisiana State University and holds numerous professional and IT certifications in PMI, CompTIA, Novell, SANS, Adobe and Microsoft. Ms. Adams currently holds the position of Training Solutions Manager with H2 Performance Consulting in Pensacola, FL. Ms. Adams is working closely with the Managing Partners to continue their successful pathway into the next generation of Training Excellence.

Ms. Adams resides in Pensacola, FL with her family and two pet miniature goats, Lynyrd and Skynyrd.

Sarah Trenton

VP of Administration

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Sarah is a recent graduate of the psychology program at High Point University. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of West Florida.

Throughout her time at UWF, Sarah has worked with Portofino Island Resort, Baptist Health Care – Benefits Department, and Habitat for Humanity – Veterans Corps. She has completed work in training and organizational development, personnel selection procedures, job analysis, statistical data analysis, and performance evaluations.

In her free time she enjoys swimming, scuba diving, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Vera Polyakova

Director of Student Relations

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Vera is currently working as an Organizational Development Intern at Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola, Florida, where she facilitates and presents at new associate orientation, trains associates, and develops job aids and other associate resources.

She is a graduate student in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology M. A. program at the University of West Florida (UWF). Vera received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration from the University of South Florida. During her time at UWF Vera has participated in professional projects that focus on training and development, personnel selection, and organizational development.

Vera is originally from a very cold place, Siberia, Russia. In her spare time, Vera enjoys participating in outdoor activities, playing tennis, traveling, and just spending time with family and friends.