Board of Directors

Congratulations: 2012-2014 Board of Directors -- Voting has ended in ISPI's annual election.

Your new Board Members are Lisa Toenniges (President Elect), Lucy Surhyel Newman (International Director), Cathy Brown (Director), and Brett D. Christensen (Director). The new Board begins at the conclusion of the 50th Anniversary conference in Toronto.

The following Board members retain their seats: Jack Phillips, PhD, Steven Kelly, CPT, Ingrid Guerra-Lopez, PhD, Immediate Past President Judith Hale, CPT, PhD, and April S. Davis, CAE (ex officio).

All of our elected officials are capable, experienced, and eager to serve you as a member of ISPI's Board of Directors.

Read about the new Board of Directors below.

President-elect
Lisa Toenniges, CPT, MEd

International Director
Lucy Surhyel Newman, CPT, DBA

Director
Cathy Brown
Brett D. Christensen, CPT, MSc, CTDP

Read below to learn more about each elected official. 

Thank You Nominations Committee
ISPI would like to thank the members of this year's Nominations Committee for their hard work. The committee consisted of Anne Apking (Chair), Barbara Gough, Lynn Kearny, Kery Mortensen, and Matt Peters.
 

Lisa Toenniges, CPT, MEd
President-elect 2012-2015

Lisa is owner and CEO of Innovative Learning Group (ILG), a custom learning and performance support S-Corporation servicing Fortune 1000 companies. A dynamic and respected leader, Lisa has more than 20 years' performance improvement experience and has consulted with 75-plus companies about their learning strategies and solutions.

Lisa's entrepreneurial spirit, positive outlook, and hands-on leadership style are the drivers behind ILG's rapid growth and tremendous success as a multimillion dollar, certified woman-owned business. ILG was born out of her passion for building a business, providing for her employees, and doing what is right for clients.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

ISPI Experience

• 2010-2012 Board of Directors, Treasurer
• 2010 Conference chair
• 2007-2009 Michigan Chapter president
• 2008 Chapter Leaders' Workshop chair
• 2007 Chapter Partner Committee
• 2007 Conference presentation proposal reviewer
• 2004 Michigan Award of Excellence judge
• 2004 Award of Excellence recipient for outstanding performance aid
• 2003-present: Certified Performance Technologist
• 1993 Michigan Award of Excellence program chair
• 1988-present: International and Michigan member
• Presented at five International conferences and 15 chapter meetings

Work Experience

• 2004-present: Owner and CEO, Innovative Learning Group
• 1994-2004: Consulting services director, Triad Performance Technologies
• 1993-1994: External performance consultant, Ross Roy
• 1986-1993: Internal performance consultant, General Motors Corporation
• 1984-1986: Public school educator, Tawas Area Schools

Accomplishments

• 2011 Crain's Detroit Business, Cool Places to Work winner
• 2011 MarCom, Gold award, ILG website
• 2011 Hermes Creative Platinum award, Informal Learning Series e-blasts
• 2010 National Association of Women Business Owners of Greater Detroit, Rainmaker of Year, and one of Top 10 Michigan Business Women
• 2010 Corp! Magazine, Michigan Economic Bright Spots award
• 2010 Central Indiana ASTD Best in Class award, Managing the Learning Function
• 2009 Corp! Magazine, Entrepreneur of Distinction award and Best of Michigan Business award
• 2007 Crain's Detroit Business, Small Business award
• 2005 ASTD Infoline, "Managing Training Projects" and ASTD Links, "Not Just Good Project Management--The Best Project Management!"
• 2004 Brandon-Hall.com, "Managing Large-scale Initiatives, Principles and Fundamentals for Success"
• Guest speaker at university classes on HPT
• Panelist at chamber of commerce and entrepreneurial incubator organizations on running a small business
• Mentor to people transitioning into HPT

GOALS ALIGNED TO ISPI GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

My goals as President-elect will be to:

• Collaborate with the Board and staff to:
• Prioritize current strategic initiatives
• Identify actions to complete each initiative
• Help implement actions with deliberate focus, discipline, and intentionality
• Hold individuals accountable
• Ensure we apply proven HPT principles (and 10 Standards)--which we know work in organizations, with processes, and with individuals
• Provide continuity to the Society by leveraging my continuous involvement at the Society level since 2007 and the chapter level since 1993
• Leave the Society well on a path of growth and sustainability so we all have a thriving professional association for the foreseeable future

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Lucy Surhyel Newman, CPT, DBA
International Director 2012-2014

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Lucy has over 24 years of experience derived from a development finance institution, four banks in Nigeria, the Performance Improvement Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria, and FITC where she has been CEO since May 2009. Lucy is also chairman, FSS2020 Human Capital Development Implementation Committee; member, Sub-Committee on Ethics & Professionalism of the Nigerian Bankers' Committee; and member, Executive Committee, West African Bankers' Association.

Her skills include organizational design, leadership development, corporate governance, alliance structuring, and corporate turnaround. She deploys these skills to gain alignment of strategy, structures, processes, systems, and people to optimize individual and corporate performance in both the private and public sectors. Her qualifications include:

• Doctorate, Business Administration, University of Phoenix, Arizona
• MBA and BSc, Business Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
• Alumni, Centre for Creative Leadership, Colorado Springs, CO--Leadership at the Peak and Leadership Development for HR Practitioners programs

Lucy joined ISPI in 2004; became a Life Member in 2010; became a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) in 2008, recertified 2011. Her ISPI volunteer roles include:

• Member, International Task Force and the CPT Finance Team.
• Reconnected the Nigerian ISPI team and created the West Africa ISPI plan.
• Initiated ISPI at PwC Nigeria's PI Practice and FITC, which lead to adoption of ISPI as a professional association for staff, resulting in new ISPI memberships from both institutions.

Over the past 10 years, Lucy has written over 15 articles, two books, and a book chapter. She has facilitated many local and international seminars and workshops. Lucy had 79 ISPI recertification points in 2011, even though she needed only 15. She enjoys travelling and meeting people across cultures. Within the past 10 years, Lucy has visited Amsterdam, The Czech Republic, United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa officially and for leisure. Within the U.S., she has visited Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, St. Louis, New York, Washington, DC, and New Jersey.

GOALS ALIGNED TO ISPI GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

My background, qualifications, and experience represent ISPI's future and an underserved segment of our membership--corporate members outside of North America. HPT is on the threshold of a new era--one in which the HPT practitioner facilitates a performance culture, based on strategic alliances and partnerships across various stakeholder groups, given emerging and highly diverse workplace challenges across sectors and regions, globally. As International Director, I will focus on:

• Growing ISPI organizational membership categories
• Advocating for organizational members' full or part sponsorship of their employees' individual memberships, conference attendance, certification, and lifetime membership at retirement
• Encouraging research partnerships between ISPI and organizational members
• Promoting the CPT through pre-certification stages to integrate HPT practitioners from graduate schools to employees and independent consultants
• Enhancing CPT as an ISPI brand icon by industry cluster groups
• Leveraging technology, volunteer mentoring options, and existing income sharing arrangements to provide professional network support to small firms, in openings with organizational membership opportunities

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Cathy Brown
Director 2012-2014

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Cathy's involvement with ISPI has helped her to forge lasting relationships and gain knowledge and experience that contributed to her professional success. She is pleased to give back to the Society to which she owes so much, and honored by the invitation to run for ISPI Board Director. Cathy understands that in working with volunteers, success is achieved through influence, collaboration, and staying open to new ideas.

Cathy has been active with ISPI and promoting HPT in the workplace for 15-plus years, starting at the chapter level in 1996 in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Chapter. After serving the DFW Chapter in key roles such as director, membership chair, special programs, and president, the chapter recognized Cathy for her leadership with a special award in 2003. She also received a leadership award from the ISPI president in 2008.

Cathy is a passionate advocate for ISPI and HPT practices. As an internal HPT practitioner in the travel, technology, and retail industries, Cathy champions HPT and ISPI in the workplace through presentations, guest speakers, networking sessions, and bringing colleagues to the annual conference. Cathy's efforts at The Home Depot resulted in its current standing as an organizational member of ISPI.

Examples of Cathy's contributions to the Society include:

• Chair for THE Performance Improvement Conference 2011 planning committee
• Education Chair for THE Performance Improvement Conference 2010
• University case study competition judge in 2010
• Chair, Honorary Life Member Committee in 2007
• Member of the Chapter Partnership Committee in 1999 and co-developed the Chapter Leaders' workshop
• Repeated service on the ISPI Nominations Committee, committee chair in 2006
• Member of the Award of Excellence Review Committee in 2011, 2005, and 2003
• Member of the Proposal Review Committee in 2000

Cathy is the Senior Program Manager/Instructional Architect for Industry Leadership Development at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in Atlanta, GA. Prior to that, she served as curriculum manager for The Home Depot University and was an internal performance consultant at Sabre, Inc. She has a MS in instruction and performance technology from Boise State University.

GOALS ALIGNED TO ISPI GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

As an ISPI Board Director, I would use my work ethic, passion, perspective, and innovative thinking to help the Society realize the current strategic goals.

• I would work to communicate ISPI's brand and message so that our value proposition is clear, even to those outside of our profession.
• I would encourage the Board to develop an evaluation strategy for our key programs, including development, tracking, and reporting of member satisfaction metrics.
• I would work to develop a global leadership and membership pipeline for ISPI by exploring the idea of succession planning and mentoring new members, to list just two ideas.
• I would support the exploration of new ways to increase revenue, for example, by offering services and products that add value to members and their clients.

I am eager to help the Society grow and to take on future challenges so that, ultimately, we will be recognized as the champion and leading resource for performance improvement.
  

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Brett D. Christensen, CPT, MSc, CTDP
Director 2012-2014

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Brett has been in the learning and development field in the Canadian Forces (CF) since 1993, shifting to performance improvement in 2006. His most recent qualifications and achievements follow:

• 2006 Certified Training Development Professional (CTDP)
• 2007-2011 Served the Armed Forces Chapter (AFC) of ISPI
• 2007 Canadian Society of Training Development Gold award for e-learning
• 2009 Served on the ISPI Strategic Taskforce
• 2009-2011 Conducted education sessions at THE Performance Improvement Conference
• 2010 "Excellence in IPT Award" Boise State
• 2010 Master of Science, Instructional and Performance Technology, Boise State
• 2010 AFC of ISPI Chapter of Merit
• 2011 Certified Performance Technologist (CPT)
• 2011 AFC of ISPI Chapter of Merit
• Published twice in each PerformanceXpress and the Performance Improvement journal

GOALS ALIGNED TO ISPI GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

My first goal is to increase the brand recognition of ISPI and the CPT designation. To achieve this, marketing alone is not enough. ISPI ought to stand out from other societies who increasingly adopt the language of performance improvement, but not necessarily the practice. To realize this, ISPI must, first, continue to strengthen its relationship with practitioners and academics who share the second principle of our code of ethics, Validated Practice. Second, to advance the reputation of the Society as THE authority for performance improvement, new avenues for innovative research must continue to be sought out. Of all the committees and taskforces in ISPI, there is only one dedicated to research. A strong reputation based in science will increase the value of the CPT designation for certified practitioners, those seeking the designation, and those in search of the CPT guidance in the workplace. More effort is needed here.

My second goal is to increase the resiliency and sustainability of ISPI to ensure it thrives for all those that will follow us for the next 50 years. My best learning comes from doing. One of my current areas of work is centered on organizational learning, lessons learned, and knowledge management. My growing experience in this area will be of significant value to the Society in the management of its knowledge for use by the Society as a whole. Another area that I am passionate about is the relationship between "International" and the chapters. My experience serving the Armed Forces Chapter has shown me the value that each group holds for the other. The chapters are the grassroots of the Society and one of the main sources from where we draw future leaders. Improving the mutual support of the chapters and ISPI through improved strategic alignment and a simplified governance structure will contribute to the long-term sustainability of our Society.

The amount of support and learning I have received through ISPI is immeasurable. It is my professional home. To be given the occasion to serve ISPI on its Board of Directors is an opportunity to pay forward a small portion of what I have received.
 

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