Partners

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Will Sparks is the Dennis Thompson Chair & Professor of Leadership at the

McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, where he also

serves as the Director of the Office of Leadership Initiatives. He is a Visiting

Professor of International Management with Franklin University in Lugano,

Switzerland. In 2008, he founded the McColl School’s M.S. in Organization

Development (MSOD) Program and served as Director until 2013. He received

the Fuqua Distinguished Educator Award for excellence in teaching at Queens in

2003 and 2005 and was awarded the inaugural McColl School Leadership in

Teaching Award in 2009.

While on sabbatical from Queens in 2015-2016 he served as Global Vice

President of Talent with EnPro Industries, a $2B global manufacturing company

headquartered in Charlotte, NC. In this role he was responsible for corporate

leadership and talent management initiatives.

Will serves as the Managing Director for William L. Sparks & Associates,

LLC, a professional services firm founded in 1997 focused on leader and team

development, personal transformation and change management. He is serves as

a Partner with Peter Browning Partners, LLC, a consulting firm providing board

governance and executive coaching services to a variety of boards and senior

executives. He has consulted with a variety of international organizations in the

public and private sectors. He serves as a Director on the boards of the Dilworth

Center in Charlotte, NC, and The Project Appraisal Methodology (PAM) Institute

in Washington, DC.

Will has published numerous research papers and book chapters and has

appeared on several media outlets, including the CBS affiliate WBTV Channel 3,

News Carolina Channel 14, and on NPR. His TEDx Talk “The Power of Self

Awareness” was released in 2018. He is the author of “Actualized Leadership:

Meeting Your Shadow & Maximizing Your Potential” (2019, SHRM Publishing), which debuted as an Amazon #1 Best Seller is based on the “Actualized Leader

Profile,” a leadership assessment that he designed and validated and that has

been translated into nine languages. He is the co-author (with Peter Browning) of

the book “The Director’s Manual: A Framework for Board Governance” (2016,

Wiley).

He completed his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Development

under the direction of Dr. Jerry B. Harvey from The George Washington

University’s School of Business and Public Management, where his research

focused on group dynamics, organizational culture, and leadership.

Dr. John Repede serves as a Partner in William L. Sparks &  Associates where he leads the firms research, analytics and system  development efforts.

In addition, he serves as a Professor of Management Science and  Information Systems in the McColl School of Business and former Chair of  the Information Systems Department at Queens University of Charlotte.  Prior to his appointment at Queens University, he held academic  positions at Eastern Kentucky University and then at UNC-Charlotte,  where he introduced major changes in teaching methods and created  educational software.

In addition to his teaching and research, he is an industry  consultant and commercial software developer. John has extensive work  experience in both the private and public sectors. He has held positions  in municipal emergency services, retailing, health care, information  technology and non-profit foundations.

John has contributed research and has made presentations at numerous  national conferences. He has authored, co-authored and has been a  contributing author to sixteen textbooks in Information Systems and  Operations Management. He has published in the leading journals in the  Operations Management field and has successfully written grants. He has  served as a consultant and expert witness in civil and criminal  computer-related cases, including expert testimony for the Federal  Bureau of Investigation.

He received an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and an  Associate of Applied Science degree in Fire Science Technology from  Harper College. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from  the University of Illinois-Springfield, a Master of Business  Administration degree in Management Information Systems from the  University of Illinois-Urbana, and a Doctorate of Business  Administration degree in Management Science from the University of  Kentucky.

Dr. Repede is a member of the Charlotte Concert Band, an amateur ballroom dancer and a student of Yoga.

Erika  currently serves as Partner and Senior Consultant with William  L.  Sparks & Associates, LLC. Erika is a professional executive coach   and consultant in the Charlotte area. She founded her own consulting firm, Ascendry, in 2015, and has been focused on meeting the needs of her  clients and their organizations. She is also a student at George  Washington University pursuing a doctorate in Human and Organizational  Learning, focusing on leader behavior and development. She has   experience designing and implementing organizational development  programs around the world, researching the effects of change in policy, procedure, and leadership of organizations and identifying areas for   development and oversight to ensure smooth transitions. As a coach, Erika works with individual leaders to achieve a greater understanding   of themselves and those they work closely with to more effectively meet long term goals.

Erika  has worked with organizations around the country, including the   Presbyterian Church (USA), Novant Healthcare, Carolinas Healthcare   System, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Queens University of Charlotte.

She  received a Bachelors of Science in Integrated Marketing  Communications  from Winthrop University and a Master of Business  Administration from  the McColl School of Business at Queens University.

Jane  currently serves as Partner and Operations Manager with William L. Sparks & Associates, LLC. In this role she leads all of the  operational aspects of the business while simultaneously serving clients   in various consulting, facilitation and coaching roles. In addition, she currently serves as the Assistant Director of Leadership  Initiatives  in the McColl School of Business at Queens University of  Charlotte.
Her  work emphasizes leadership development for students, professionals, teams and organizations. She is certified in a variety of  assessments  including the Actualized Leadership Profile (ALP), the Group Culture Profile (GCP), ALP 360, Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), WorkPlace and School Place Big Five, and the Values Profile.

Jane earned an A.A. in Liberal Arts from Peace College, B.S. in Sociology at North Carolina State University, and an M.S. in  Organization Development, along with a graduate coaching certificate, from the McColl School of Business. 

Dr. Elizabeth Repede is an educator, consultant, and clinician in  integrative health and wellness. She is a board certified Family Nurse  Practitioner with a focus on integrative health. She currently serves as  the Nurse Practitioner for Health and Wellness at Comporium  Communications in Rock Hill, SC where she provides on- site medical  care, oversees the medical clinic, implements improvement processes, and  is actively developing and implementing programs designed to maximize  employee and corporate health.

Dr. Repede holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the McColl School  of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. She has also held faculty  appointments at the School of Nursing at Western Carolina University in  Asheville, NC, Eastern Carolina University, Gardner Webb University and  has been a faculty and consultant for the Birchtree Center for  Healthcare Transformation based in Massachusetts.

In addition to teaching and consulting, Dr. Repede has presented  numerous peer reviewed presentations at national conferences, has  authored or co-authored over 14 publications in professional journals  and book chapters, and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Holistic  Nursing. She travels extensively across the U.S. facilitating workshops  on resilience, integrative health, and transformation and change in  universities, major healthcare organizations, and retreat settings.

Dr. Repede has an extensive background in diverse healthcare settings  as a clinician, manager, and educator. She has experience in hospitals,  primary care, retail clinics, corporate wellness, and higher education.  Her research interests include resilience, psychoneuroimmunology, and  the interactions between human perception and healing.

She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of  Kentucky in 1987, Master’s Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from  the University of South Carolina (1993), and her PhD in Nursing with a  focus on the study of consciousness and healing from the University of  North Carolina at Greensboro (2009). In addition, she received her  certification in Medical Hypnosis in 2003 from the American  Psychological and Mental Health Association and a certificate as an  AcuDetox practitioner from the National AcuDetox Association in 2007.  Dr. Repede has extensive training in guided imagery, meditation,  Emotional Freedom Technique, dream work, and energy medicine.

Dr. Repede enjoys reading, yoga, and travel.