Meet the Team
RL Associates
Heather, AnaLia and Irvine are veteran RL Associates. As long term certified RL Coaches and RL Trainers, they offer an extensive depth of knowledge and experience with the RL Model. All three have blended the concepts of RL into a broad offering of training and coaching services.
Heather Jelks
Resilient Leadership Associate
Heather O’Neill Jelks is a certified Executive and Somatic Coach, speaker, and associate at Resilient Leadership, LLC. She partners with non-profit executives as well as leaders in business, health care, and the federal government, such as the The Humane Society, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Holy Cross Health, and Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney, to help them elevate their individual and team performance and enhance their well-being.
She’s worked with Bob Duggan, Bridgette Theurer, and Jim Moyer to deliver RL training at the FDA and weaves RL principles and practices into all of her leadership coaching engagements. An avid runner and mindfulness meditation practitioner, Heather introduces her clients to leadership concepts and best practices that deepen resilience, wisdom, and well-being. She recently co-authored with Bridgette Theurer the book, Missing Conversations: 9 Questions All Leaders Should Ask Themselves.
AnaLia Medina
Resilient Leadership Associate
AnaLia Medina is a certified Executive Coach, strategy consultant, and associate at Resilient Leadership, LLC. She specializes in collaborative culture, helping leaders and teams bring their individual and collective best thinking and creative solutions to their toughest problems. With 20 years’ experience, she has a proven track record working with federal government leaders and decision-makers in the United States and globally, as well as private sector professionals specializing in health care, finance, law enforcement and regulatory affairs.
She has worked in various capacities including business development, leadership development, solutions consulting and training. Her clients have included Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Veterans Affairs as well as small for profit companies. AnaLia has a Masters Certificate in Leadership & Management and certifications in Conflict Resolution, Mediation, Project Management and CoActive Coaching.
Irvine Nugent PH.D., PCC
Resilient Leadership Associate
Irvine Nugent, Ph.D., PCC is an Executive Coach, speaker, trainer, and associate at Resilient Leadership, LLC. He possesses fifteen-plus years in senior leadership roles in organizations of various sizes, stages of growth and different sectors. As an executive coach, Irvine offers a unique combination of experience and skills to assist leaders and individuals reach the next level and fully realize their inner potential. Through active listening and observation, Irvine quickly gets to the heart of the matter with clarity and compassion.
Born in Northern Ireland Irvine brings to his practice a rich and varied experience. Growing up in a society torn apart by conflict and violence he has always been attracted to discovering ways to help leaders develop greater resilience in the face of chaos and change. He has been privileged to work with many different cultures, learning firsthand the challenges of effective communication and understanding. He is an ATD credential Master Trainer and Certified World Class Speaking Coach and has offered seminars on various topics of leadership all over the country.
RL Trainers
In the past two years, several of our best Certified RL Coaches finalized their in-depth study of Resilient Leadership concepts, practices and tools to become Certified RL Trainers. We are proud to recognize these professionals and welcome them to our team as we continue to expand our programs and services
Jennifer Bigelow Ed.D.
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Jennifer Bigelow is a successful school leader with over 20 years of experience in public and private schools. Jennifer has a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the North Carolina State University and specialized in organizational leadership in her program. She has presented to groups locally and nationally in the area of Catholic school leadership, organizational fit, collaborative leadership, and resilient leadership. Jennifer completed the Resilient Leadership Coaching Certification in December 2018. She currently serves as the Associate Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
Jim Burns
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Jim is a Managing Partner in Resilient Leadership LLC as well as a Certified RL Coach and RL Trainer. With both coaching and training experience in the Federal sector and the hospitality industry, Jim brings a unique mix of first-hand knowledge to his work. His engagements always include customized “real world” examples to clarify concepts and to demonstrate how recognizing and managing emotional process opens up possibilities for personal growth and for professional development that leads to bigger and better results for the organization.
Tracey Cairnie MS PCC
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Tracey Cairnie is a professional certified coach (PCC) and has a master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Tracey is a frequent trainer and consultant to corporations and federal, state and local government agencies, non-profit organizations, and individual executives, in various topics, including organizational and leadership development, communications, group dynamics and performance optimization. Tracey has nearly 30 years of experience working with clients involved in the fields of science, business, legal, finance, health care, and education, among others.
Christine Kopec
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Christine founded the Avante Leadership Group in 2009 to help organizations solve their communication-related issues for bottom-line business results. Her communication and team-building training programs have changed the lives of professionals at the US Army, Sandia National Laboratories, Lockheed Martin, Spectra Logic Corp, Long View Systems and more. Christine is a certified facilitator and award-winning authorized partner for Everything Workplace DiSC©. She is also certified in The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™ program based on New York Times bestselling author, Patrick Lencioni’s work, and a certified Resilient Leadership Coach.
Mike Nowland
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Mike Nowland understands that his purpose is to help managers be better, do better and live better! To achieve this, he uses the principles and concepts of Resilient Leadership to coach managers in new ways of seeing, thinking and leading their teams, and more importantly, themselves. He’s a persuasive and empathetic communicator with over 30 years of senior level experience in Leadership Development and Human Resources with companies like Marriott International, ResMed and Kisco Senior Living.
Faith Schneider
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Faith Schneider is an Executive Leadership Coach and organizational change facilitator with over thirty years of experience serving corporations, Federal Government agencies, and nonprofits. Faith served for 24 years in the U.S. Navy (Active and Reserve) including the first aircraft carrier deployment with women. Her first job out of college was with the Congressional House Banking Committee. Her introduction to organizational systems took place at a large science, technology and engineering company where she worked for nine years.
Marjorie Shonnard, MEd
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Over the past 25 years, Marge has served several organizations in a variety of executive leadership roles. Throughout her work experience, she has become increasingly aware of the impact that leaders have on the systems they serve.
During her leadership tenure, she had the privilege of working with two seasoned executive coaches who have had a deep impact on her effectiveness as a leader. The key insight she gained from working with theses coaches is that managing the emotional dynamics within the complex systems in which we live and work is the key to being a Resilient Leader.
At this point in her career, Marge is well equipped to combine her background in teaching, coaching and training to offer leaders at all levels of the organization the opportunity to deepen their understanding of themselves by discovering their strengths and experiential wisdom, and thus to bring their “best self” to every situation.
Dr. Katherine Bond
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Dr. Katherine (Kate) Bond has more than 30 years’ experience leading and managing health initiatives and teams in federal government, philanthropic, academic and non-profit organizations with global responsibilities. In 2020, she founded Network Strategies for Health, LLC, which supports organizations and individuals to map, strategize, act, measure and lead critical initiatives to improve health.
Born in Northern Ireland, Kate has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. She has acute insight into how social, cultural and emotional dynamics and networks influence behaviors, social systems and organizational culture and how to navigate them to improve lives.
As a leadership coach and trainer, she supports leaders to see, think and act with calm, clarity and conviction to achieve mission priorities. She builds relationships based on trust and openness, supporting leaders to build self-awareness and insight, to build from their strengths and to manage their own emotions and the dynamics in the systems they lead.
John Moyer
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Dennis Stiles
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Purpose
As a guide and leadership coach, Dennis’ focus centers on helping clients develop meaningful and purposeful direction by tapping into their true strengths and gifts. Finding the best in people is his goal.
Experience
Since 1986, Dennis has been a practicing dentist and part time university educator. He has held leadership positions on nonprofit boards, in community groups and in small business. Having served as a facilitator for strategic planning, and coached other leaders, Dennis has amassed a vast portfolio of leadership training experiences. Lifelong learning is a top priority for Dennis.
Key Insight
Love, connection, courage, and influence are four key core values that ground Dennis’s work. Resilient leadership and system thinking has been foundational in his coaching and facilitation method. System thinking allows leaders to navigate corporate cultures, families, and communities. It also allows leaders to be grounded by a deep understanding and awareness of how to bring calmness and clarity to their surroundings. As a result of this awareness, Dennis helps leaders see the spark of change and influence that they have on the hearts of the people they serve.
Capability and Offer
In this second half of life, Dennis is more hopeful than ever about the future. Having had experiences in teaching, caring for people, mentoring students and professionals has enabled him to see the benefits of coaching and leadership development. Dennis’ offer is simple and powerful: “to help my clients find their unique abilities and strengths through good conversation, connection and listening.”
Dr. Melanie Palmisano Ed. D
Resilient Leadership Trainer
Dr. Mel is a dedicated educational expert with over 35 years of experience as a teacher and administrator on the elementary, middle, high school and college levels combined with a doctoral degree in school leadership, certification as a school principal and supervisor of instruction, a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction, Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and secondary education, and certification as a student teaching supervisor.
In June 2022 Mel retired as Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Thirty Schools with an enrollment of approximately 15,000 Students. During her time as superintendent Mel led the initiative in the Diocese to achieve National Accreditation as a district through Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Cognia). She also has extensive experience in the development of programs focused on leadership, curriculum & instruction, governance (Board Training) and strategic planning with a specific focus on continuous improvement and operational capacity.
After 13 years in service as Superintendent of Schools Mel is now a leadership coach and continuous improvement consultant. She achieved her professional certification as a Resilient Leadership Coach and RL Trainer in 2021. Among her many strengths, she has a keen insight into how to guide leaders on the pathway to increased self-awareness and self-command so that they learn how to stay calm, stay convicted, and stay connected. Mel communicates these insights through sharing her true-life experiences in her coaching, training and presentations.