Development 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 development consulting initiatives.

Will serves as the Managing Director for William L. Sparks & Associates, LLC, a team of leadership development experts 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 Weed currently serves as Partner and Senior Consultant with William  L.  Sparks & Associates, LLC. Erika is a certified executive coach and organizational consultant with a passion for lighting fires under her clients. She is a doctoral candidate at George Washington University pursuing a degree in Human and Organizational Development. She is experienced in change, culture, and leadership of organizations and identifying areas for development and is trained in the use of several psychoanalytical tools, including the Actualized Performance Cycle and Workplace Big Five 4.0 Profile.

Erika has worked with organizations around the world, including the Presbyterian Church (USA), Charlotte Hornets, Novant Healthcare, EnPro Industries, Charlotte Leaders Under 40, Carolinas Healthcare System, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Queens University of Charlotte.  She has also worked with leaders in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., France, Germany, New York City, and Estonia. 

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 serves as the Operations Manager and Leadership Consultant with William  L. Sparks & Associates, LLC.  In this role, she leads the  operational aspects of the business while  simultaneously serving clients in various consulting, facilitation, and  coaching engagements.  In addition, Jane is the Program  Manager/Assistant Director of Leadership Initiatives in the McColl  School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte.

Her work highlights coaching and leadership development for individuals,  teams, and organizations. She is certified in a variety of assessments  including the Actualized Leader Profile (ALP), Group Culture Profile (GCP),  Actualized Leader Profile 360 (ALP360), Hermann Brain Dominance  Indicator (HBDI), Work/School Place Big Five, WorkPlace 360, and the Values Profile.

Jane  holds a M.S. in Organization Development, along with an Executive  Coaching Certificate, both from the McColl School of Business at Queens.  Her undergraduate degrees include  a B.S. in Sociology at North Carolina State University and an A.A. in  Liberal Arts from William Peace University.

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.