FutureU™ Principals and Selected Associates

Gail Terry Grimes (CEO and chief creative officer) was an independent communications consultant to organizations for 25 years before launching FutureU with Claude Whitmyer in 1997. Over the years, Ms. Grimes has conducted interviews with many thousands of executives, managers, board members, and professionals, including physicians, nurses and allied health professionals. She has designed and delivered trainings on a range of client-driven topics. She has designed, delivered, and analyzed the results of employee and other stakeholder surveys. She has planned and produced countless written, spoken, video, event-based, and web-based vehicles for motivational, training, and planning purposes. She is well known as an articulate writer. She has supervised creative professionals, analysts, and trainers throughout her career. Today, Ms. Grimes draws on all these experiences to oversee FutureU's team of specialists and to assist organizational clients in the planning, implementation and analysis of communication and learning activities that will help them reach their ideal future.

Claude Whitmyer (co-founder, CIO, and chief community strategist) is a veteran business educator and organizational consultant who has served more than 2,000 clients in several hundred corporations, non-profits, and small businesses. His consulting focus has encompassed strategic planning, market research, corporate communications, executive and management coaching, instructional design and curriculum development for organizational learning and individual advancement, computer-mediation, management systems automation, and computer systems design. In the early 1990s he developed one of the first online graduate business programs in the U.S. Mr. Whitmyer has authored three books, In the Company of Others: Making Community in the Modern World (Tarcher/Putnam, 1993); Mindfulness and Meaningful Work: Explorations in Right Livelihood (Parallax Press, 1994); and Running A One-Person Business (Ten Speed Press, 1994, 2nd ed.).

Roberto Aponte, M.A. (consulting associate) brings to his work an in-depth combination of skills in communication technologies and their application for personal and organizational development. He is an experienced event producer and training facilitator who has also delivered training programs in team development, communications skills, and strategic planning for both corporate and non-profit organizations, including Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Mariott Hotels, Courtyard Residence Inn, and Kaiser Permanente. He previously spent 12 years with Mariott, culminating in a dual role as a manager providing audiovisual support and technical innovation for meetings, conferences and conventions as well as facilitation of training and organizational development workshops. Mr. Aponte holds a bachelor of science degree in speech communication from Emerson College in Boston and a masters of arts in business from the California Institute of Integral Studies, one of the first online masters degree programs. Mr. Aponte is fluent in Spanish and English.

Sylvia Cowan, Ph.D. (senior consulting associate) has more than 30 years of experience working in the field of education and professional development with educational institutions and the intersection with private and public sectors. She has taught and provided professional development seminars to more than 2000 educators. She directed training services and developed an international network of trainers for two major intercultural consulting firms serving Fortune 500 companies. She conducted a major international development training project for 492 professionals—university professors and business owners/managers in a variety of industries—and led international projects on conflict resolution and multicultural understanding for leaders in human services, education and government.

Hidetake Enomoto (consulting associate) singlehandedly introduced career coaching to his native Japan. In a culture that has not traditionally valued individual fulfillment, his seminars and workshops on the meaning of work struck a chord with professionals there. Following his success with coaching in Japan, Hide spent several years researching eco-villages, living for three years at the Findhorn intential community in Scotland. He is currently involved with the Transition Towns green metro movement in Japan.
          Mr. Enomoto is available for cross-cultural workshops and teleconferences on new developments in the Japanese workplace, community building, and eco-villages. He is author of Coaching (PHP, 1999) and translator of the Japanese edition of Jessica Lipnack's and Jeffrey Stamps' Virtual Teams.

David A. Ferrera, M.A., (consulting and training associate) is a member of FutureU's virtual team-building project. Mr. Ferrera also works with senior management teams as a meeting facilitator, strategist and team performance specialist. He has successfully developed and delivered multi-day strategy sessions for groups as large as 50 people. He has been educating adults in for-profit and non-profit training programs for more than ten years, drawing on his varied background in information technologies, training development and training delivery. He has delivered keynote speeches on change management, and on the future of the training development field. He holds a Masters of Arts in Business and a certificate in Organizational Development and Transformation, from the California Institute of Integral Studies. In addition to his work with FutureU, Mr. Ferrera's private clients include Birkenstock USA, Whole Foods Market, the Yosemite National Institutes, Black Rock City L.L.C., and the National Coalition for Environmental Education.

David M. Fetterman, Ph.D. (consulting associate) is Director of Evaluation, Career Development, and Alumni Relations at Stanford University. From 1993 to 2003 he was Director of the Master of Arts in Policy Analysis and Evaluation in Stanford's School of Education. Prior to that he was a Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research. David is a past-President of the American Evaluation Association. In addition, he is a past president of the American Anthropological Association's Council on Anthropology and Education. Formerly, Fetterman served as a senior administrator at Stanford, a Senior Researcher at RMC Research Corporation, and a Director of an Anti-poverty program. Dr. Fetterman has extensive online teaching experience and has developed numerous research and education courses for partial or full online delivery. Currently he is developing a new form of evaluation called empowerment evaluation, which is designed to help people help themselves. Dr. Fetterman has contributed to numerous journals and encyclopedias and has authored several books, including Speaking the Language of Power: Communication, Collaboration, and Advocacy.

Christian Forthomme, MBA (consulting associate) is best known for his work on visioning, change management and social responsibility in international business, academia and professional training. He is founding president of Real Change Network and co-founder and former principal of WDHB Consulting Group. He launched John F. Kennedy University's pioneering Master of Business Administration program in Organizational Leadership, which prepares experienced managers to implement positive change strategies. In his native France he designed and facilitated a nine-month training program for high-potential managers on leadership and change management. He also contributed to the development of training operations for France's leading economic newspaper group. In 1994, he was profiled as an innovative entrepreneur in Merchants of Vision: People Bringing New Purpose and Values to Business (Berrett-Koehler).

Thomas J. Hargadon, M.S., LL.B. (consulting/faculty associate) consults on the convergence of visual computing with high-band-width telecommunications, providing strategic analysis of the multimedia development market, the delivery alternatives for interactive television, the cable television industry's involvement with alternative telecommunications, and the impact of new telecommunications architectures and standards on enterprise networking. His clients include Fortune 500 firms, the U.S. Government, and the MIT Research Program in Communications Policy. Mr. Hargadon publishes The Inside Report on New Media and writes regularly on related subjects. At the New School for Social Research, he has taught Advanced Topics in Telecommunications online to graduate students around the world. He recently served as principal investigator in studying the economic impact of broad-band cable and telephone architectures on the European Community. Mr. Hargadon holds degrees from Harvard Law School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, where he was Henry Kissinger's research assistant during the 1960s.

Patricia Ryan Madson (senior faculty associate) is a veteran senior lecturer in Drama at Stanford University, head of the undergraduate acting program, director of Stanford's first Summer School in Improvisation, and coordinator of the university's Creativity Initiative, an interdisciplinary alliance of faculty interested in the benefits of the creative process on education. Ms. Ryan Madson has taught workshops on creativity and team building for Hewlett Packard, Apple Computers, Adobe Systems, IDEO, Price Waterhouse, Foothill College Health Services, and Stanford. She has lectured widely on creativity and improvisation, notably for Sun Microsystem's Japanese Division, the National Association of Drama Therapists, the Western Psychological Association, and the Duke University East Asian Studies Center. She is currently working with FutureU CEO Gail Terry Grimes to design our new program in organizational creativity.

Susan Marcus, Ph.D. (executive associate) is a specialist in planning and strategy, with a current focus on innovative applications for the World Wide Web and effective Internet strategies for business and business education. Clients recognize her as a skilled facilitator and organizer of complex projects on tight deadlines. Dr. Marcus has designed and directed marketing surveys, focus group projects, needs assessments, studies on the outcomes of medical treatments, and computer software and clinical information systems. She developed a national online health information service for consumers and health care professionals and produced customized health information as source materials for audio tapes. Her graduate training in psychology and her 15 years of project management for business and government have prepared her to coordinate diverse client projects for FutureU .

Dean Michelson (senior executive associate) has gained considerable experience, knowledge and hopefully some wisdom as a catalyst for change, a leader and manager, an organizational effectiveness consultant, and an entrepreneur. Michelson has worked with numerous organizations, large and small, private and public, for-profit and not-for-profit, Fortune 100 and small family owned enterprises in the United States, Europe and China

Chris Mays (consulting associate) is an activist and advocate for open access to technology-mediated information sources. In 1996, the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded Mr. Mays the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for his development of the California Electronic Government Information Project, an extensive State knowledge base now available to the public over the Internet. A summa cum laude graduate of San Francisco State University, with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in small business entrepreneurial management, he is a librarian at San Francisco State University.

Dale S. Rose Ph.D., is an expert in psychometric measurement, evaluation research, and assessment-based human resources solutions. Previously, Dr. Rose held research positions with Ameritech, National Computer Systems and Acumen International. He has presented papers nationally to the Academy of Management, Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action.

Dr. Rose has taught undergraduate courses ranging from statistics to group dynamics and is currently adjunct faculty in the School of Management and Finance at California State University, Hayward, where he teaches Human Resources Management and Organization Development. He has also written book chapters and published articles in academic journals including Current Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Evaluation Review. Dr. Rose received his Doctoral degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from DePaul University with a minor in Organizational Effectiveness Technologies.

Steven Saltzberg M.S. (senior solutions consultant) leads FutureU's sales and marketing efforts seeking optimal solutions to meet our clients' needs. Prior to joining FutureU, Mr. Saltzberg was an independent consultant on distance learning and instructional technology programs and grants. Before that Steven was a Vice-President at Blackboard, and President and co-founder of madDuck Technologies, the creators of Web Course in a Box. He was also formerly the CIO at Randolph-Macon College and Director of the Multimedia Development Center and Academic Campus Computing Services at Virginia Commonwealth University. Saltzberg previously held positions in education, health care, and industry. Steve holds a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. He has presented nationally at conferences and workshops on a diverse range of issues in higher education. In addition Steve has taught several college level courses (statistics, calculus, computing, Computer Aided Instruction), and advanced algebra at the high school level.

Michael P. Stein, IN MEMORIUM

Paul Terry (consulting/faculty associate) was named Inc. Magazine's Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year in 1995. In 1994, he was awarded the Small Business Administration's Financial Services Advocate award. And in 1991, he was the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's Instructor of the Year. These honors are due in part to Mr. Terry's success as the consultant to San Francisco's highly regarded non-profit Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, where he has provided strategic program direction, curriculum development, and business incubation management since 1986. Under Mr. Terry's guidance, Renaissance has nurtured the development of more than 400 small businesses that have created 1,500 jobs and generated a total of $35,000,000 in sales. A longtime small business development consultant and business owner as well as a business educator and speaker, he is the primary course content developer for FutureU 's online training for entrepreneurs.

Barry Tuchfeld, Ph.D. (executive associate) is currently founder and principle consultant of The BT Group. Tuchfeld founded and directed one of the first graduate programs in assessment and evaluation that was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): the Center for Organizational Research and Evaluation at Texas Christian University. Today Dr. Tuchfeld focuses on the use of the Internet in e-learning initiatives, with a special emphasis on front end evaluations and strategic visioning. His experience includes national research projects as well as results-oriented projects that may involve surveys or non-statistical efforts like key informant interviews or focus groups. He has had considerable experience in developing value-added and consumer services for Internet-related businesses as well. Dr. Tuchfeld also co-founded a subscription database on health topics and, early in his career, was a research scientist at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina. He is the co-developer with Dr. Paul Landrum of the workshops on Aikido-based leadership principles and practices offered through FutureU .

Whitney Vosburgh (senior consulting associate for organizational branding and marketing) asks every client: "What business are you really in?" A crystal-clear answer, he says, is the key to maximizing ROI and market value. For 20 years Mr. Vosburgh has been applying his expertise in strategic planning, marketing, communications, and management consulting to effective campaigns for clients in the automotive, e-commerce, entertainment/media, finance/insurance, food/beverage, healthcare, publishing, technology, telecommunications, and travel/transportation industries. Organizations that have benefited from his efforts include American Express, Apple, AT&T, Avis, BBC, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chevron, Chrysler, Discovery Channel, Hilton, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Lufthansa, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Merck, MultipleScelrosis.com, Nabisco, New York Stock Exchange, Parkway Hospital/Mt. Sinai, Pepsi, Pfizer, Polaroid, Procter & Gamble, United Nations, U.S. Mint, Wall Street Journal, and Walt Disney. During the 1992 Olympics, Mr. Vosburgh was a special consultant to Merrill Lynch in North America and Europe on their sponsorship and corporate identity programs for the Games. His creative training is from the Parsons School of Design in New York (BFA), St. Martin's School of Art in London, the International Center of Photography in Paris, and the Hanna-Barbera School of Animation in Hollywood.