West Marine

Barbara Burgess

View Linkedin Profile

Barbara is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Vision Realization Officer at the Wright Foundation, and is responsible for designing and leading the strategic vision for Wright.

Barbara is a corporate consultant, coach, trainer, and specialist in the areas of transformational leadership, transformative education, marketing, and employee empowerment. She has over 22 years’ experience marketing in a broad range of industries including healthcare, industrial supplies, association management, financial services, and consumer goods. Prior to joining Wright, Barbara was the Director of Internet Marketing for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and a Brand Manager for the Internet Commerce division of W.W. Grainger, a key member of the team who launched one of the first successful business‐to‐business websites. Previous to her experience at W.W. Grainger, Barbara held sales and marketing positions at Nestle Foods and Peiser’s Medical Supplies.

Barbara graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in French and business.

Dr. Bob Wright

View Linkedin Profile

Dr. Bob Wright is a highly successful entrepreneur, university co-founder and professor, world-class executive coach, and dynamic corporate consultant. He has spent over twenty years training, coaching, & consulting national & international business leaders from small entrepreneurial startups to Fortune 100s.

Dr. Wright specializes in helping corporate leaders and entrepreneurs across the country not only to build and grow their businesses, but also to thrive with purpose, mission, and robust, high-performing cultures. Clients coached and trained by Dr. Wright routinely achieve far beyond their original goals.

Dr. Wright is also sought-after in the area of transformational leadership having founded the Transformational Leadership Symposium, convening experts from around the nation to recognize cutting edge transformational leaders including Brad Anderson, former CEO of Best Buy, as well as the 2011 award recipient, Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Dr. Wright has completed a BA in Sociology, a MA in Communications, MSW in Clinical Social Work, and a Doctorate in Education, Leadership, and Change.

Richard B Lyons

View Linkedin Profile

Rich Currently operates as Managing Director for The Human Emergence Group (HEG) the consulting and training arm of the Wright Graduate University

After receiving his Kellogg School of Management MBA, worked as director of sales and marketing for TII Technical Education Systems developing enterprise software, internal sales, direct mail, advertising, and many more functions before moving on to Whitman Hart where he was a Principal and directed the consulting firm’s highest selling district before becoming Vice President at Divine

Generally regarded as the top ecommerce firm in the world, Lyons CG, the company Rich founded in 2003 was acquired by Capgemini where his work continued to be the frequent recipient of awards and recognition:

- 2020 Commerce Salesforce Commerce Cloud Partner for B2C
- Best and Brightest Companies to Work for (four times Crains Chicago business)
- Consulting’s fastest Growing Firms (3 times)
- Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty (four times)
- Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies (eight times)
- Top 25 Consultant 2016 Consulting Magazine finalist two times
- Delivery Partner of the Year 2015 Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Global Sales Partner of the year 2016, Global Delivery Partner of the Year 2017 (over much larger competitors such as Accenture, Sapient, Deloitte, and PwC)
- Innovator of the Year and Partner Excellence Award from Adobe Magento
- Recognized by SAP Hybris as a Global Delivery and America’s Partner of the Year finalist

Mike Zwell

View Linkedin Profile

A globally recognized Competency and Talent Management expert, Mike has helped hundreds of organizations achieve their potential and fulfill their mission by developing systems, processes and people.

Dr. Zwell has worked on both sides of the table, having founded and built several companies himself in addition to implementing solutions in other organizations. After teaching at Rutgers University, consulting, and writing a book, Mike began a career in executive search in 1980. He founded his own firm, Zwell International, in 1982, initially focusing on executive search in financial services. In the next few years, Mike developed groundbreaking tools for assessing leadership competencies and evaluating corporate culture and fit in executive searches. The use of these technologies catapulted him to the top of the profession, and by the mid-1990’s he was filling CEO and board positions as well as consulting for organizations on their human capital processes and systems. He continued developing and installing competency-based selection, performance management, and competency development systems in organizations and in 1998 founded Exxceed Inc. to automate those processes on the web. Exxceed was sold in 2006. Mike has culled academic research to develop the functional knowledge and skills that make him uniquely suited to help executives, management teams, and sales teams, and organizations optimize their performance and results. Clients include JP Morgan Chase; Lenovo; Lehman Brothers; the Chicago Public School System; SkillSoft; Robert Half International; JB Hunt; American Capital Strategies; Sanofi Aventis; RLI; MedSolutions; Fiserv; and many more.

Mike has written and spoken extensively on topics related to getting the best and the most from your human capital. In 2000 he published the highly acclaimed Creating a Culture of Competence (John Wiley & Sons) on how to create high-performing organizations. Boards & Directors published his article, “How to Hire the Right CEO”, in 1998, and recently reprinted portions of it in their 30th anniversary issue. His third book, Six Figure Salary Negotiation, was published by Platinum Press in 2008. Mike has a Ph.D. and master’s in Anthropology from Yale University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.

Mike Shereck

View Linkedin Profile

Mike Shereck is a seasoned executive and leadership coach that uses his training, insight, and experience to focus on transformative performance and sustainable change in today’s dynamic workplace environment.

Mike brings a unique background, with years of experience in both construction and manufacturing, as well as coaching. He is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF).

Mike’s approach combines pragmatism with an authentic grounding in the belief that anything is possible, in both life and business. Through leveraging his background in entrepreneurship, business development and sales leadership, Mike has developed a process that mobilizes executives out of their comfort zones and toward transformational results. His approach, a hybrid of ontological and facilitative methodologies, empowers leaders striving to make a difference in the lives of those they serve. Mike is not your “garden variety” leadership and executive coach. What sets him apart is the unrelenting stand he takes for his clients in unleashing their greatness and directing them toward the lives and businesses they desire. He is witness to major breakthroughs in self-discovery, work that shifts perspective, improves performance, strengthens interpersonal relationships, and liberates spiritual values.

Sally-Jo O’Brien

View Linkedin Profile

With over 25 years of experience as an emotional wellness expert and a facilitator of Dr. Brené Brown’s Dare To Lead™, Sally-Jo partners with leaders and teams, equipping them with the 21st Century toolbox required to bring courageous leadership to life in their organizations.

A fearless reinventor, Sally-Jo’s careers have been fulfilling and dynamic, from her start in Big Pharma and medical device sales to her first exciting pivot into a career in food in New York City. During this time, she earned a Culinary Arts degree, founded her culinary production company, and built her business as a sought-after Food Stylist for all media. It was there that she grew her love of collaborative teamwork as a trusted creative partner to Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies, news organizations, and celebrity chefs.

After becoming widowed with a young daughter, Sally-Jo pivoted again, leveraging her lifelong studies in human development with extensive coach & leadership training, launching her coaching and consulting business in 2011.

She now partners with leaders at all levels to provide customized executive coaching, leadership development, and mental fitness training as well as specialized grief leadership coaching.Sally-Jo focuses on growing our capacity to lead courageous conversations that pave the way for successful business outcomes. She is an advocate for co-creating positive workplaces where truth, curiosity, resilience, and humor are valued, and rewarded.