 Sean Sullivan is a Curriculum Manager for Grand Canyon Education, with a background in Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Sean’s experience in managing the curriculum development team at GCE has allowed him to demonstrate problem-solving and strategic-thinking skills, in order to navigate complex educational challenges to provide effective solutions. Sean leads his team of curriculum developers, instructional designers, and curriculum editors to effectively collaborate across departments, building strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders including educators, administrators, and industry experts. Sean is passionate about the work of the Canyon Center for Character Education in its goal of promoting and advancing character education among school leaders, educators, and professionals as well. |
 Dr. Matthew Gerlach is the first vice president of the Office for Character, Virtue, and Ethics and serves as Director and Endowed Chair for the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership. Since 2001, Dr. Gerlach has taught in high school, university, and seminary settings in the fields of theology, philosophy, and interdisciplinary courses and programs. Inside and outside the classroom, whether in his teaching or in administration, his work has focused on the integral development of students in their intellectual, moral, spiritual, and professional dimensions. Dr. Gerlach has developed extensive higher educational leadership experience in creating, directing, contributing to, and overseeing academic departments and formation programs, including an innovative interdisciplinary studies program, global studies programs, online and continuing education programs, and a Humanities honors program. He is married to Michelle (Gacioch) Gerlach and they have four amazing children. He enjoys hiking the bluffs of Winona, MN, which they now call home. |
 Maureen V. Spelman currently serves as a professor in the North Central College educational leadership program, as well as the coordinator for character initiatives related to the Kern Family Foundation Grant. She has held P-12 professional roles ranging from that of an elementary and junior high school teacher to department chair and principal. In the 20+ years Dr. Spelman has been in higher education, she has taught in a variety of education undergraduate and graduate programs and held roles ranging from adjunct instructor to full professor. In addition, she has co-authored numerous grants to support professional development and coaching programs for educators and school leaders in the Chicago metropolitan area. Her vision is to build the capacity of school leadership candidates so that they can go forward and bring Cultures of Character practices into the heart of their school communities. |
Robert Vera, MBA, serves as the Founding Director of Grand Canyon University’s Canyon Ventures Accelerator Studio where he is also a professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The accelerator studio serves as a model for the selection and rapid development of startups. Robert is the Co-Creator of the STAR® model of Corporate Innovation. This universal model empowers organizations to discover and launch new market-dominating products, services, and solutions. The STAR® model’s universal blueprint for innovation is taught to learners in Grand Canyon University’s Doctor of Business Administration program. Robert earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston College, a master’s degree in business administration from Grand Canyon University (GCU), and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Organizational and Industrial Psychology at GCU. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, he moved to his home in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000. Robert serves his Arizona community on a number of boards, including a former Honorary Commander of the 161st Arizona Air National Guard Copperheads Air Tanker Squadron. Robert is married and the proud father of two teenagers, he attends Living Stream Church, speaks decent Spanish and is working to learn Portuguese. |
 Dr. Shelly Hogan holds a D. Min from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and serves as fulltime faculty with Grand Canyon University in the College of Theology as well as a professional consultant for GCE and an advisory member on various boards. She developed E5 Life Strategies, Inc., a non-profit organization that is committed to training emerging leaders and bringing healing and wholeness to the Body of Christ through transformational retreat encounters, teaching, coaching, and personal ministry. Dr. Hogan is ordained with the |
Dr. Kara Chism is the Director of the Master of Science in Instructional Leadership program for Samford University’s Orlean Beeson School of Education, assistant professor in the educational leadership graduate program, and a consultant for the character education non-profit, The Hope Institute. She spent 21 years in public education as a teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle school, high school, and district office levels prior to her current position. Her professional interests include character development in schools, preparing future administrators and supporting schools in their work to educate students. |
 Nathan Hollis II For over 25 years, Nathan Hollis II has served in a variety of capacities across private, public, and non-profit settings. He has been a classroom teacher (grades 1-4), mentor teacher, curriculum designer, and administrator in higher education. Currently, Nathan is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to his professional roles, Nathan has diverse service experiences in the field. He has actively participated on and led several, state executive boards including the American Lung Association of Arizona (ALAA), the Arizona School Association (ASA) Higher Education Division, and The Education Coalition. Additionally, Nathan has mentored novice teachers as a member of Profound Gentlemen, which is a national organization focused on retaining and nurturing male educators of color. Also, he has provided presentations at several national, state, and local conferences on a broad range of topics. Nathan has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s in early childhood education, and a master’s in business administration. He is state certified as an elementary public educator and endorsed in early childhood education. Nathan is currently pursuing a PhD in psychology with an emphasis cognition and instruction from Grand Canyon University. His dissertation topic explores how African American fathers describe their influence on their sons in post-secondary education. |
 Nancy Erickson is the associate program director of character and virtue education in the school of education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She received a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA , a T.E.S.O.L. certificate from University California Davis, and received a M.A. in Education Administration from California State University in Los Angeles. Her passion for education is seen through her experience as a classroom teacher, special education paraprofessional, assistant principal, field placement coordinator, and student teacher mentor and supervisor. Her honors include being named Teacher of the Year. Nancy received a fellowship for the M.A. in Character Education at the University of Birmingham (UK). She also serves as a Minnesota State School of Character Evaluator for Character.org. |
Dr. Mary Lombardo is a member of WGU’s Character Core Project team and serves as the Co-PI and Senior Program Designer. She has previously worked in higher education as Associate Chair, Program Coordinator, and Associate Professor in teacher education, and her research agenda includes building teaching self-efficacy through mentoring among pre-service and novice teachers. She has worked on several grant-funded projects providing professional development to university faculty and K-12 teachers regionally, nationally, and internationally. Prior to her experiences in higher education, she began her career as a middle school special educator where she was involved in creating, implementing, and serving as a teacher leader for character development initiatives. She is certified in Equine-assisted learning and psychotherapy and the founder of a non-profit equine organization to support mental health and wellness. She earned a graduate degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University, a doctorate in Curriculum Leadership from Northern Illinois University, and is pursuing an additional graduate degree in Character Education. |
 Lance Forman is an Associate Professor and Director of the Educational Leadership Program at Lipscomb University. While his official capacities involve working with aspiring school leaders, he serves the College of Education in a number of ways in including supporting the Ed.D. program, training current school leaders in partner districts across the state, and providing educational content and resources for the Ayers Institute for Learning and Innovation. He earned his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Ed.D. in Leadership and Professional Practice from Trevecca Nazarene University. Forman is passionate about developing great school leaders and helping districts build an internal pipeline of leadership talent. His areas of professional expertise include school leadership, culture development, talent acquisition, development, and retention. |