Dr. Laura Lunsford is an expert in evaluation, mentorship, and leadership. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar (Germany), she has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles, case studies and chapters on these topics. She wrote the definitive guide for mentoring programs The Mentor’s Guide: Five steps to Build a Successful Mentor Program (2nd ed), co-edited the Sage Handbook of Mentoring, and co-authored Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Decision Sciences, and the Department of Education among others. Laura received the International Mentoring Association’s Hope dissertation award and is a certified IMA consultant. She held tenured positions at the University of Arizona and Campbell University. Dr. Lunsford has held numerous academic leadership roles and worked for the U.S. National Science Foundation as an evaluator. She regularly consults on effective mentorship and leadership through Lead Mentor Develop, LLC.

Maria LaMonaca Wisdom is assistant vice provost for faculty advancement at Duke University. Formerly a professor of literature and a graduate student adviser, she now holds a faculty appointment in the Program in Education at Duke. She is also a professional certified coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation.

David Law is an associate vice president at Utah State University (USU) and oversees the Uintah Basin campuses. He is a family studies professor. Law earned his bachelor's degree from USU, his master's degree in marriage and family therapy (MFT) from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and his Ph.D. in MFT from Brigham Young University. He has published in marriage and family therapy, family life education, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and mentoring in academia. He has received several awards for mentoring undergraduate students. Law has overseen the design, implementation, and evaluation of the faculty-to-student mentoring programs for the Uintah Basin campus and the USU statewide campus system. Law is co-editor of the recently published book Making Connections: A Handbook for Effective Formal Mentoring Programs in Academia. Law consults with the Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexica to develop mentoring micro-credentials.

Professor (Emeritus) Bob Garvey is one of Europe’s leading academic practitioners of mentoring and coaching. He is an experienced mentor/coach working with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts.

Formerly Head of Research at York Business School, UK, Bob has great experience in many different international organisations. Bob subscribes to the ‘repertoire’ approach to mentoring and coaching. He is in demand internationally as a keynote conference speaker, webinar facilitator and workshop leader.

Bob has a PhD from the University of Durham in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and has published many books and papers on mentoring and coaching. The latest being the Sage book Coaching and Mentoring: Theory and Practice (4th Edition) He is a founding member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and Honorary President of Coaching York (a social enterprise for coaching in the community). He has been awarded the EMCC’s Mentor Award for services to mentoring and a lifetime achievement award for contributions to mentoring. He is an active researcher and is currently researching the notion of coach maturity with an international team of researchers.

Dr. Levon T. Esters is the vice provost for graduate education and dean of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Penn State.

He is a nationally recognized scholar on mentoring, equity, and diversity in STEM-based agricultural and life sciences disciplines. His research focuses on the mentoring needs of Black graduate students, the STEM career development of students attending Historically Black Land Grant Universities, and graduate student development.

In 2024, he and Dr. Mary Beth Gasman co-authored a book, *HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities*. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Esters held leadership roles at Purdue University. He earned his B.S. from Florida A&M, M.S. from North Carolina A&T, and Ph.D. from Penn State.

Bethany Cockburn, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Management at Northern Illinois University. Her research focuses on the critical areas of life transitions, workplace stress, and the impact of relationships on work and non-work outcomes. A particular area of expertise is the transition to retirement, including its effects on identity, well-being, and social connections, especially for those leaving deeply meaningful careers. She also investigates how prior life transitions and relationship networks, including mentoring, influence the retirement process. Furthermore, her work examines the profound effects of stress on physical and mental health, as well as mortality. Her research has been published in leading academic journals.

Dr. Beth Tigges is a program director in the Division of Nursing at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).

She leads efforts to advance scientific programs focused on symptom science and self-management in underserved populations. Prior to joining NINR, Dr. Tigges was a professor at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing and has extensive experience in community-based participatory research and adolescent health.

Keith is husband to Viv, father to eight adult children (half by law J) and grandfather to seven. He is determined to be a diligent learner-leader, to live in loving relationships, aligned with truth, energized by grace, and attuned to wisdom from above. Imperfectly, he strives to be a person who humbly seizes opportunities to foster wellbeing, trust, and hope through relationships. Keith’s past and present roles have included: manager, international coach (Paralympics), high school teacher-leader and coach, educational administrator and director, cleric, organization and governance consultant, mentee/mentor, and professor of educational leadership and followership. Keith’s teaching, research and writing passions have focused on leadership integrity, leader and organizational development, as well as noticing, nurturing and sustaining wellbeing in communities of practice.

Dionne Clabaugh EdD loves working with people wanting to become resilient thoughtful humans! She is a facilitator, mentor, author, partner, parent, peace educator, musician, quilter, and gardener.

Dr. Dionne’s work is grounded in self-determination theory and promotes human development through engagement. She designs and facilitates mentoring, education, communication, cultural competence, life-span development, and women's intergenerational and intercultural relationships. Her higher education consultations build and assess mentoring programs to develop faculty mentors and educators who are self-aware, kind, and supportive humans. Dionne’s facilitation applies culture-centeredness, autonomy-supportiveness, reflective practice, appreciative inquiry, and collaboration to build self-directed learning environments. Currently her private practice and faculty work focuses on human development, mentoring, and sewing techniques so that one’s life may be more sincere and productive. Above all, Dionne seeks to promote deep learning and far transfer in ways that are respectful and generative for all.