Connecting the Dots

Michael Chad Hoeppner is the Founder and CEO of GK Training, a firm dedicated to giving individuals, companies, and organizations the communication skills to reach their highest goals in work and life.Michael has worked with some of the world’s most influential companies and leaders, across a wide range of industries, universities, and professional sectors. His corporate clients include: three of the top eight financial firms in the world, 45 of the AmLaw 100, and multinational tech, pharma, and food and beverage companies. He teaches his unique approach to communication at Columbia Business School, in both the MBA and PhD programs.Michael assists clients in every aspect of their communication: public speaking, business development, executive presence, interpersonal agility, Q&A, speech writing, email skills, and more. His individual coaching clients include varied professionals at the peak of their industries: US Presidential candidates, deans of Ivy League business schools, three of the managing partners of the 25 largest global law firms, founders of asset management firms with $100B+ under management, field officers of international peace keeping organizations, and visionaries in various fields, including the innovator who coined the term cloud computing, the most successful venture capitalist in the US for a consecutive 5-year period, and senior board members of the Special Olympics. Michael advised US democratic presidential candidates in the 2016 and 2020 races, including his role as senior communications strategist and debate coach for the Andrew Yang 2020 Presidential campaign. He also works with political aspirants at the beginning of their careers, including pro bono work for Vote Mama, an org that supports mothers with young children seeking first-time public office.His background in communication, training, and teaching is diverse and rich, having studied linguistics, theatre, speech, rhetoric, philosophy, and communications at the graduate and undergraduate level. His work in professional communications started two decades ago with achieving his Master of Fine Arts degree from NYU’s graduate acting program, studying with many of the preeminent vocal and performance teachers in the country. After NYU, Michael enjoyed a prolific first career as a professional actor: playing on Broadway twice, including working with stage legends like Nathan Lane; touring to 30+ US states; performing internationally, including at the 2009 European Capital of Culture; guest starring in prime-time network television; and originating roles in independent film.His passion then evolved, shifting to launching his first and still primary entrepreneurial venture, GK Training. As head of GK, Michael developed his unique, proprietary approach to communications training over a decade plus, an approach that utilizes kinesthetic learning to unlock rapid and lasting behavioral change. In that work he has created a suite of over 40 proprietary kinesthetic drills to address stubborn communication challenges like excessive filler language, lack of eye contact, slouching, talking too fast, and more with innovative tools that activate embodied cognition and circumvent thought suppression. Now entering its second decade, GK Training has clients in 43 industries across five continents.Michael’s work in academia at Columbia University spans disciplines. In addition to teaching in the MBA and PhD programs at the Business school, he designed the curriculum for the PhD program’s capstone communication course focused on entering the job market, as well as Executive Presence programs for the Law school. One of the GK online courses he designed is integrated into the Advanced Management Program summer curricula. His proprietary kinesthetic learning drills are featured in the curriculum of communication courses in the Management Division. He has coached over 15 members of the business school faculty. And in a bit of foreshadowing, one of his first jobs after college was copy editing for the Columbia National Arts Journalism program.He is the primary architect and visionary of GK Training’s: online training academy, which features 40+ total hours of asynchronous online courses; interactive practice app Question Roulette (iOS and android); and Virtual Reality training tool, Genuine Dojo. Hoeppner is currently working on a book that distills his approach and methods for a broad, global audience, as well as a v2 of the Question Roulette app, aimed at teaching social fluency to autistic and neurologically atypical teens and tweens.Michael’s accomplishments in written communication — though not as far-reaching as his work in the spoken word — is equally varied. It includes: stump speeches and debate openers for Presidential candidates; op-eds for celebrities and public figures (placed in publications like the Washington Post and Time Magazine); plenary sessions at NGO conferences; investor pitch decks for start-ups; and nuts-and-bolts editorial work like copy editing and proof reading for over 25 NYC-based publications when he first moved to NYC in 2000.Beyond his primary role as founder and head of GK Training, Michael dedicates time to mission-driven organizations focused on sustainability and non-partisan approaches to solving humanity’s most dire environmental challenges, including work with WWF, the Trust for Public Land, and climate-focused accelerators like SOSV’s IndieBio and the NYU Urban Future Lab.As a thought leader, Michael is one among the growing chorus of voices identifying the link between the physical aspects of spoken communication and broader issues of health and wellness.Michael attended Dartmouth College and Colorado College and graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in History and Philosophy. Michael received his MFA from NYULink to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Dr. Rob Bradsher is the Medical Director for the TeamHealth Hospitalist program at Baptist Memphis. He is from Arkansas and went to medical school at UAMS where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha. He has practiced in Memphis as a hospitalist since 2014 after completing his residency training in the Osler program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has built a distinguished career in both academic medicine and clinical practice, serving as Program Director for a large Internal Medicine residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center for many years before transitioning into hospital leadership. Dr. Bradsher has been recognized with numerous teaching and leadership awards, including UTHSC’s inaugural Program Director of the Year. Beyond healthcare, Dr. Bradsher is an unabashed family man, married to Allison and a proud father of 4 kids. He serves on the Board of Directors of the kids' school, Westminster Academy. He also loves tennis - as an avid recreational player, "tennis dad", and a big fan of the professional tours.With more than two decades in nursing and 16 years in leadership, Jodi Woods, MSN, RN, has dedicated her career to shaping both patient care and the growth of future leaders. Currently serving as Associate Chief Nursing Officer, she has spent 13 years at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis in roles of Manager and Director, where she led teams with a focus on collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Passionate about ensuring positive patient experiences and high-quality care, Jodi thrives on mentoring and empowering others to achieve their professional goals while driving excellence in healthcare delivery.Dr. Nirmit Kothari presently serving as Associate Chief Medical Officer at Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, TN. Dr. Kothari is a seasoned internist and hospital medicine specialist affiliated with Baptist Memorial Hospital–Memphis, with over two decades of medical experience.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Dr. Douglas Slakey is an internationally recognized transplant surgeon, author, educator, healthcare professional, and administrator. Doug is Professor and Chair of Health Systems Science at Belmont University and Leads the Belmont Collaborative for Health Systems Innovation. He founded Process Health Consulting, a healthcare consultancy focused on enhancing and optimizing operations and process flow, emphasizing complex system management strategies. He is an invited speaker at meetings around the world. He consults to help others improve patient care processes - improving safety, reliability, and patient-centric outcomes - always with compassion.Doug lives with his wife in beautiful Lake Tahoe, where they enjoy the outdoors, including hiking, skiing, and sailing. He has three children and five grandchildren.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Tyson Heaton is Senior Director of Co-Learning and Business Strategy and a Senior Coach at the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), where he partners with organizations worldwide to guide enterprise transformations and develop leaders who can build learning organizations. His Lean journey began in food and manufacturing operations at JBS, Schreiber Foods, and Greencore before spending more than a decade at O.C. Tanner, where he led supply chain operations, leadership development, and continuous improvement initiatives in partnership with Toyota’s TSSC. Today, Tyson focuses on how Lean thinking intersects with the future of work - helping leaders navigate the disruptive impacts of AI, automation, and shifting workplace cultures while keeping people at the center of improvement. He is also a Shingo Institute examiner and an advocate for building organizations that combine operational excellence with human capability development.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Zach Mercurio, Ph.D., is a researcher, author, and speaker who specializes in purposeful leadership, mattering, meaningful work, and positive organizational psychology.He wrote "The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose." His forthcoming book, "The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance," will be released by Harvard Business Review Press in 2025.Zach works with hundreds of organizations worldwide to forge purposeful leaders who enable mattering, motivation, well-being, and performance. Some of his clients include the U.S. Army, USA Wrestling, J.P. Morgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Marriott International, The Government of Canada, and The National Park Service. He also serves as one of author Simon Sinek’s “Optimist Instructors.”Zach earned his Ph.D. in organizational development from Colorado State University where he serves as a Research and Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychology's Center for Meaning and Purpose and as an Instructor in the Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change program.His research on meaningful work has been awarded by The Association for Talent Development, The Academy of Management, and The Academy of Human Resource Development.Zach lives in Fort Collins, CO with his wife, two sons, and two adopted dogs.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Jeff Wetzler has been on a quarter-century quest to transform learning opportunities and unlock human potential. Blending a unique set of leadership experiences in the fields of business and education, he’s pursued this quest as an international management consultant to executives in Fortune 500 corporations, as Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, and currently, as co-CEO of Transcend, a nationally recognized education innovation organization. Jeff earned a Doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Brown University. He is an Aspen Global Leadership Fellow and an Edmund Hillary Fellow. Jeff lives in New York with his wife, two children, and their puppy.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Charlie is an internationally renowned consultant, practitioner, author, speaker, and trainer, of Lean and Agile improvements spanning over 4 decades. Charlie has published 20 books to date, in healthcare, manufacturing, and a children’s book and received two Shingo Prizes. Seven of the books have been translated into other languages. There are more in the works. Charlie spent over 13 years with AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) and has been implementing TQM/ Lean Principles and Thinking since 1985. He was the first TQM/Lean Master and a Strategic Operations Manager for AlliedSignal where he received several special recognition and cost reduction awards. Charlie is an external consultant for the Maryland World Class Consortia (MWCC) and a co-author for the resulting World Class Guidelines in 1998. He has been a keynote speaker for the MWCC, Chinese Industrial Engineering Institute, China’s Benchmark Lean conferences, and Agile DEVOPS conference in Portugal and done several Lean/ Agile podcasts to date. He has put on training seminars for The Dark Report’s Quality Confab and Executive War College.Charlie started Business Improvement Group (BIG) in 1997, and along with his son and other partners, spent the last 28 years implementing successful Lean Implementations and World Class Kaizen events for small to fortune 100 companies across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Europe and Asia. He has taught Lean Thinking Principles to students from all over the world.Charlie is following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Charles W. Protzman, Sr. who, as part of the CCS, under the direction of MacArthur in 1949-50, along with Homer Sarasohn, taught CEO's of over 50 prominent Japanese Telecommunications Companies an eight-week course in American Industrial Management. It was Protzman and Sarasohn that then recommended Deming to JUSE, to continue their quality teachings leading to Deming’s 8-day Quality Course starting in 1950 and creation of the Deming Prize.Charlie has a BA and MBA from Loyola University in Maryland.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Morgan started his career as a fitter turner and raised up through the rank to officer in theNavy. Morgan has over 30 years' experience in Lean and 25 years in Six Sigma, apragmatic and experienced improvement Leader, delivering over $2.21Bn in hard savings toorganization, improving customer, staff experiences and improved Health and Safety. Thelegacy capabilities of Business Improvement have resulted in over 23 international awards, 3literary awards and chairing 27 international conferences around Business Improvement andTransformation. Morgan has led an organization to be the first bank to a Shingo award andsupported a mining site in Chile to Shingo Prize. He is also a Chartered Engineer, CertifiedMaster Black Belt, Lean Master, and Executive Coach. Morgan has leadership experience inmarine, manufacturing, government, military, mining, utilities, telecommunications, oil andgas, banking, and supply chain.Regarded as a thought leader in behavioural transformation and a highly regarded coachwith challenging the status quo and developing new thinking.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Keith Ferrazzi, is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Never Eat Alone, Leading Without Authority, Competing in the New World of Work, and his newest book, Teamship: 10 Shifts to Becoming a Dream Team. Keith is recognized as the world's top executive team coach, having coached the transformation of Fortune 50 corporations, the World Bank, fast growth Unicorns and even governments of entire countries. You've perhaps seen him on the Today's Show, or CNN, or read his columns in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, WSJ, Fortune, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine. Keith founded Ferrazzi Greenlight—a team coaching firm—and leads the greenlight research institute focused on team transformation. In addition to his mission of elevating human capital in the workplace, Keith is a passionate philanthropist and an advocate for transforming the foster care system.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Dave Garrison is the CEO of Garrison Growth, equipping leaders to generate buy-in and get the best results from their teams. Dave is a seasoned executive with experience as a board member at organizations like Ameritrade and as CEO of public and venture backed firms. A sought-after speaker and workshop leader, Dave has led hundreds of sessions for profit and non-for-profit organizations and for members of Young Presidents Organization both globally and locally. These sessions are top rated and have been attended by thousands worldwide. He has also been a guest lecturer at leading business schools. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.