Member Recognition

On this page, we acknowledge service to the Learning Group by its members.  If you have a recommendation for member recognition, send it to the Coordinating Committee at cc@learninggroup.org. To be eligible for listing on this page, an individual must be a Learning Group member who has performed notable service to the organization in the past year.

We could use some assistance with this page. This new version features those honored in 2003 and 2004. We would like to cover previous years and invite volunteers to work on the material on that appeared on the old version of our web sites but that need editing before it can be published. If you are interested in this task, contact us at webmaster@learninggroup.org; your efforts will surely be recognized!

Bearing in mind, then, that this is a selection from among the many who have contributed to the Learning Group over the years, here is the current roll of honor:

August 2008

Polly Silva  – Polly joined in the Learning Group in January and quickly became active in our Worcester Local Area Group, working on program meetings, membership, and the Worcester branch of our Mentoring Program. She is an independent OD consultant.

June 2008

Jim Ognibene  – Jim has participated on program teams, served as a mentor in our Mentoring Program, and helped promote OD and ODLG. He is Director of Organizational Development at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

May 2008

Priscilla Goodman  – Priscilla joined the Learning Group in January, serving on the front desk at the front meeting and then stepping up to lead our Mentoring Program. She is an associate consultant at Genesys.

March 2008

November 2007

October 2007

August 2007

Steve Cummings - Steve joined the Learning Group in June and quickly became active, working on membership recruitment, program publicity and the Worcester Local Area Group. This month he joined the Coordinating Committee. Steve is President of Insights, specializing in creative fusion, creative dynamics and creative leadership. 

July 2007

Ed Dolan  - – Ed has been an active member for years, serving as a mentor in our Mentoring Program, presenting to our Jobs Group, being interviewed in our October 2005 newsletter, and serving on various program teams as facilitator and on the front desk.  He is Senior Development Consultant with the MIT Information Services and Technologies Competency Group. 

May 2007

Julia Geisman  - A long time member, Julia, whose practice is Millennium Learning, has been very active in our Mentoring Program, serving as mentor three times and hosting meetings. She has also been a program facilitator and will be co-facilitating the section on “Demonstrating Return on ROI” at our July “Promoting OD” program.

April 2007

Jade Watson  - Jade volunteered to become the leader our Jobs Group directly after her first Jobs Group meeting. Subsequent she joined our Coordinating Committee. Jade is studying organizational psychology at Cambridge College.

March 2007

Paul O'Leary - Paul is a long time member who was on our former Steering Committee and has contributed to many program teams, most recently co-facilitating at our January 2007 “Best Practices” meeting and presenting to our Jobs Group.

January 2007

December 2006

September 2006

Mindy Gewirtz –  Mindy inspired and facilitated our recent focus group for internals and has been a supporter of the Learning Group ever since joining last year. Mindy is President and Founder of Collaborative Networks.

June 2006

Lucille Petringa –  Luce joined the Learning Group at our March meeting and immediately volunteered to be our second Librarian. Already she has done much to promote and improve Library operations. Luce is an independent consultant with particular experience and interest in change management.

May 2006

Mindy Fried – Mindy joined the Learning Group in January. In February she co-facilitated the section on Leadership at our “Best Practice” meeting and in May she presented at our “OD Toolbox III” program. Mindy is Principal of Arbor Consulting Partners.

February 2006

Allyn Bradford – Allyn teaches in the Critical Creative Thinking graduate program at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He is the new leader of our Dialogue Group and has promoted Learning Group membership.

January 2006

Jonathan Mozenter – Jonathan is Organizational Development Consultant at the Volpe Transportation Center. He co-founded the Learning Group and has served on many program teams, most recently as facilitator for the November 2005 “Future of OD” and the January "Careers and Work" programs.

December 2005

Victor Rosansky - Victor joined the Learning Group this year and quickly became active. His most important accomplishment is serving as Videographer at meetings so that we will have a DVD program archive. Victor is President of Kularing Consulting and co-author of The Power of Alignment and other books.

August 2005

Wendi Braun - Wendi has served four times as location liaison and each time provided exemplary service. A member since 2002, she is Manager of Learning and Development for Tufts Health Plan.

June 2005

Lorri Lofvers - Lorri is a long time member who has made notable and excellent service on program teams. She has been a presenter at our November 2001 “OD Toolbox II” and June 2005 “Case Studies” programs and co-facilitated the sections on health care at our December 2003 and February 2005 “Best Practices” programs. Lorri is an experienced independent management consultant who leads projects and programs, solves complex problems, and implements successful change within organizations.

May 2005

Joe Turner - Joe attended his first meeting in 2004 as a future presenter and liked the Learning Group so much he joined. Indeed, he has become an advocate of organizational development and an important link between the OD and project management communities. He led our very successful April 2005 “Managing Projects” program and has presented versions of this to several project management groups. He has also since its inception was a member of our former Steering Committee. He has recruited members and promoted program follow up. Joe is Principal of Turner Consulting, a consulting practice that facilitates the preparation of project plans to ensure project success.

April 2005 

Rob Greenly -  Rob is Principal of The Greenly Group/Emerald Edge® Education, Consulting, and Coaching, which provides individual executive coaching, management and leadership development programs. A long-time member and strong advocate of the Learning, he has three times facilitated at our “Best Practices” programs, most recently for the section on biotech/pharmaceuticals at March 2 meeting.

March 2005

Eric Imperato - Eric is Principal Associate of Impart Associates and Program Manager for the Boston University the Boston University Master of Education in Human Resources Education program. He joined the Learning Group in 2003 and has twice served as location liaison, being instrumental in forming an alliance between the Learning Group and the BU program. In addition to consistently going the extra mile to ensure good program production, Eric has promoted Learning Group membership.

February 2005

Christopher McMullen - Christopher has been been active in the Learning Group since its inception was a member of our former Steering Committee. He has served on many program teams, mostly recently as a facilitator for the February 2005 “Best Practices” meeting and as a panelist for “Getting Work in OD II” in November 2004. He works as an independent consultant, with whose practice areas include diversity/multiculturalism, systems, and conflict resolution

January 2005

Michael Nagle - Michael is a long term member who most recently assumed the leadership position for our Speakers Bureau. In addition, he helped develop Learning Group programs, promoted membership, and contributed the name "After Thoughts" to our new post-meeting sessions. Michael leads the Michael Nagle Consulting Group, which partners with executives to break down barriers, create new thinking and implement breakthrough solutions.

December 2004

Kate Scott - Kate joined the Learning Group joined the Learning Group last year and quickly stepped up to become the new leader of our Mentoring Program. In accepting the award at our December 2, meeting she paid tribute to the empowerment philosophy of the Learning Group. Kate is a Human Resources representative at First Realty Corporation.

November 2004

Deanna Davis - Deanna has been our location liaison four times and has always gone the extra mile in such service, including responding to a last minute "emergency" request following the loss of a planned meeting place. In addition, she has helped recruit members. Deanna is Systems Training Manager at Investors Bank and Trust Company.

October 2004

Curdina Hill - Curdina has been active in the Learning Group since its inception. Most recently, she has served as facilitator for the September 2004 OD Books II meeting (on which occasion she drove the program materials to the meeting), for the December 2003 Communities of Practice III meeting and for the July 2003 Communities of Practice meeting. In addition, she has helped recruit members and supported Learning Group assessment and change efforts. Curdina is an organizational development consultant, and executive coach; her practice, ClearWays to Freedom, focuses on the design and facilitation of strategic planning and community planning processes, non-profit start-up, program development, management and team development, and particularly focuses on diverse or multi-cultural groups. 

September 2004

Marianne Mortara -  Marianne joined the Learning Group in 2003 and became active from the start. She has twice served as program facilitator (for Best Practices II in December 2003 and for OD Books II in September 2004) and is also a two-time presenter to our Jobs Group. Marianne is HR/OD Director for Shire, a Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company.

August 2004

Steve Frigand - Steve is a long-time member who has made many contributions. In particular he has served on three recent program teams: He co-facilitated the section on Biotech/Pharmaceuticals at our December 2003 “Best Practices” meeting and the section on Conflict Resolution at our March 2004 “Communities of Practice” meeting and was a presenter at our August 2004 “Co-Active Coaching meeting. Steve is founder of MetaView Consulting and Coaching and works as business process consultant and executive coach to help organizations to shorten the timeframe to results

July 2004

For this month, we issued an unprecedented team-based award to Consulting Alliance members, Nicole Collette, Hanna Fogel, Todd Harris, Bruce Hoppe, and Susanna Siu, This first Consulting Alliance team (called "Team One" in the expectation that there will be others to follow) proved a valuable model by exploring pro bono consulting as a means for improving members' skills and opening up markets for OD services. 

June 2004

Judy Otto – Judy was recognized for her endowment of the Learning Library. Her initial donation of books and related materials are responsible for the development of this important learning resource. Judy is an independent consultant whose practice is called Foundations for Change. As an adjunct faculty member of The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)/Rensselaer Learning Institute, she coaches participants in CCL’s Leadership Development Program.

May 2004

Jill Kanter –Jill has been a member of the Learning Group since 2002. She was a facilitator at the December 2003 Communities of Practice III meeting and the team leader for the May 2004 Peer Networking meeting.  Jill is a management consultant, speaker and writer with expertise in leadership development, team effectiveness and professional empowerment.  She has worked extensively with clients in large, dynamic organizations in the financial services and banking, hospital and healthcare, telecommunications, and high-tech industries, as well as institutions of higher education and  non-profits.

April 2004

D. B. Reiff –  DB is a long-time Learning Group member. In citing her this month, we noted in particular her leadership of the March 2003 “OD Books Meeting”. DB’s business practice is D B Reiff Communications, which offers communications consulting, coaching and training, facilitation and in particular the development of ombudsperson services.

March 2004

Mark Iorio - Mark joined the Learning Group is February and quickly become a leader. He established our Intern Program, which seeks intern options for OD practitioners at all levels within local organizations. In addition he is a member of our Coordinating Committee. Mark is a Human Resource Consultant with a professional and academic interest in High Performance Workteams and Leadership, who has worked in the biotechnology, hardware, software, and semiconductor industries, and possesses advanced academic experience from Harvard University, Antioch University, and George Washington University.

February 2004

Peter Smith – Peter presented our May 2003 program on Developing OD Consulting Skills and liked the Learning Group so much that he became a member. Together with Mike Halperin, he also did our November 2003 program on Mentoring and is leading our Mentoring Program. Peter is an organizational consultant with over sixteen years of experience working with senior managers, management teams, and other groups in such areas as organizational and team effectiveness, conflict management, work redesign, strategic planning and management, and coaching. He is also an associate faculty with the Organization and Management Department at Antioch New England Graduate School, where he has taught for fourteen years.

January 2004

Abby Yanow  – Abby has been a Learning Group member for four years and has been a team member for many programs, including OD Toolbox (March 2001) and OD Toolbox II (November 2001). She co-facilitated the section on Leadership at the July 2003 Communities of Practice. In addition,  Abby invented the Wall of Networking, which is used at meetings and on our web site.

November and December 2003

For these months, we honored two members who conduced an organizational assessment survey of the Learning Group as a result of coursework at Suffolk University's CAGS program in Organizational Development:

Joyce Atkinson - Joyce worked at Suffolk University for eight years, where she was Director of the Special Services Program at the Ballotti Learning Center. Together with previous award winner John LeBlanc, she surveyed current  Learning Group members. She was a member of our 2003 change team, has recruited members, and has facilitated at program meetings.

Evelyn Friel -  Evelyn holds an MS in Adult and Organizational Learning, and is presently doing some consulting work related to mentoring, team-building and coaching.  Her goal is to build a client base in Ireland, in addition to the U.S.  Her survey was of former members. In addition, Evelyn has also has helped to facilitate at program meetings.

October 2003 

Mike Halperin –  Mike joined the Learning Group in May 2003 and quickly taken on several positions of responsibility. He was a member of our change team and co-leader of our November 2003 meeting on mentoring. In the latter capacity, he also co-led the first round of our Mentoring program, and was co-leader of the November program team. Mike is principal of Halperin Consulting and holds an MPA in administrative theory and research methodology, an MA in economics, and a Doctor of Public Administration in organization theory and public policy from George Washington University.

September 2003

Josh Burdett – Josh would merit a place of honor in Learning Group history if only for his accomplishments in overseeing the development, launch and maintenance of the second version of our web site. In addition, his service on the Coordinating Committee at a critical time was instrumental in keeping the organization going in good order despite pressures that threatened its actual existence.

August 2003

Denise Visconti - A member since 1998, Denise has served as location liaison more than any other person. In this role, she has always "gone the extra mile" in providing service to the Learning Group and its presenters. Denise was also a presenter at our August 2000 meeting on "Personal Effectiveness During Change"

July 2003

Karen Sontag - Karen is a long time member of the Learning Group who is active on our Programs Team. She served as liaison for the February 2003 meeting on Future Search and for the June 25 program on Developing OD Skills; on the latter occasion, she picked up the food from the caterer in Boston and drove it to Waltham. Karen was team leader for our October 2003 program on “Getting Work in OD,” as well as the sequel program on that topic in November 2004. She has a background in dispute resolution and the aspiration of finding work in the organizational development field.

June 2003

In June we honored two new members of our Coordinating Committee:

Ginger Fitzhugh - Ginger joined the Learning Group in 2003 and volunteered for leadership almost immediately. She is presently Research Associate at the Center for Youth and Communities, Heller School, Brandeis University, from which she has a Master of Management. Although time commitments caused her to subsequently resign from the Coordinating Committee, her service came at a critical time and was important in keeping the organization afloat.

John LeBlanc - John also became a member in 2003 and quickly moved up to leadership. He was team leader for our  our July 2003 and December 2003 best practices programs (having originated the highly successful "small group" format for those meetings) and was a member of the Coordinating Committee and of the 2003 change team.

May 2003

Mal Watlington - After joining in 2002, Mal became a regular member and an important contributor to the former Programs Team. He has worked the front desk, taken notes, recruited members and attendees, and helped publicize meetings. When we had delivery problems March, Mal picked up the food from the caterer in Boston and drove it to Waltham. He was also co-leader of the team for the March 2003 OD Books program and co-facilitated at our March 2004 meeting. Mal is Principal of City Square Consulting, a small firm offering its clients the opportunity to understand and outflank their competitors, realize their revenue goals and pinpoint, measure and reduce the financial and personal costs of stress in the work environment. He is a frequent public speaker at national industry conferences, and has run workshops on organizational performance improvement in the US, Europe and Australia.

April 2003

Elin Anna Bjarnadottir - Elin Anna took the position of coordinator of our Jobs Group and brought this special interest group back to life. More recently, she joined the Coordinating Committee.

Carol Zulauf - Carol has been a program team leader three times in the past three years. In this role, she has pioneered in the development of such  refinements as pre-meeting surveys and after action reviews.  The January 2003 program that she led resulted in significant follow up action in the form of the re-establishment of our Dialogue Group. In addition, she has recruited members, helped us obtain meeting space, and participated in ongoing discussions on Learning Group needs and structure. Carol is Associate Professor of Adult and Organizational Learning at Suffolk University in Boston.  She also has her own consulting practice, specializing in leadership, team development, emotional intelligence, and systems thinking.

March 2003

Christine Van Roosen - Former member Christine was recognized here because, while the accomplishment occurred some time past ago, it was put into effect only relatively recently. In an earlier era of ODLG, Christine, a talented graphic artist, produced a logo design for the Learning Group. Only when we recently redid the web page did this contribution to light, and you can see the result in the top right hand corner of our web pages.