Connecting the Dots

Dr. Sarah Womack is a distinguished researcher and consultant in the field of Industrial Engineering. Her Ph.D. in the department of Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor focused on the intersection of lean manufacturing practices and ergonomics. She has published peer-reviewed articles, presented as guest speaker at conferences and universities, and facilitated copious workshops on lean manufacturing. She has established herself as a leading scholar and consultant of one of the world’s most coveted management systems, the Toyota Production System. She spent eight years on a journey in various leadership roles of “learning by doing” under some of the world’s greatest lean thinkers at Toyota. Applying Toyota’s management thinking, she consults across an array of industries with an innovative and practical approach to continuous improvement, organizational transformation, and operational excellence - coaching at every level from the C-suite to the shopfloor. She continues to learn and collect a patchwork of stories to teach and inspire others on their operational excellence journeys. In addition to her writing, consulting, and speaking engagements, Sarah is passionate about traveling the world and immersing herself in diverse cultures. * Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3 [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3] * CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org [CEOD@bmhcc.org] if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Kim Olson entered the healthcare field in 2005 and has since held progressive roles in Health Information Management, Performance Excellence, and most recently, as Director of Medical Staff Office and Provider Enrollment operations, where she led initiatives to streamline credentialing workflows and improve cross-functional collaboration. She’s most energized at the crossroads of data science, leadership, and healthcare transformation—where she inspires teams to think holistically and find renewed meaning in their work. Currently, she’s focused on advancing data-driven strategies that help teams think big picture and truly enjoy the work they do. Outside of work, Kim is grounded by her faith, fueled by coffee, and happiest spending time with her family or in nature. * Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3 [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3] * CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org [CEOD@bmhcc.org] if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Prof. Christian van Nieuwerburgh (PhD) is an academic, consultant and executive coach. He is Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology at the Centre for Positive Health Sciences at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences (Ireland) and Consulting Professor for Growth Coaching International, a provider of coach training and consultancy for the education sector. In recognition of his contributions to the fields of positive psychology and coaching, he is Principal Fellow of the Centre for Wellbeing Science at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education of the University of Melbourne (Australia) and Honorary CollectivEd Fellow of the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University (UK). Christian is a certified executive coach and is well published in the academic literature on the topics of coaching and positive psychology. He has authored, co-authored and edited numerous books in the field of coaching, most notably An Introduction to Coaching Skills: A Practical Guide (2014, 2016, 2020). His latest books are Your Essential Guide to Effective Reflective Practice (2025, with David Love) and Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection (2025, with Robert Biswas-Diener). Follow Christian on Instagram (@coachonamotorcycle), on his YouTube channel (@coachonamotorcycle) and on his website (coachonamotorcycle.com). Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener is a psychologist who researches positive topics as wide-ranging as happiness, friendship, hospitality, and friendship. His studies have taken him to Greenland, India, and Kenya. Robert has published more than 75 academic papers and has a citation count in excess of 28 thousand. Robert is also interested in applying positive psychology, especially to coaching. He is an ICF-certified coach and a Gallup certified strengths coach, and he trains coaches at his company, Positive Acorn. * Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3 [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3] * CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org [CEOD@bmhcc.org] if you have any questions about claiming credit.

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 NYU * Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3 [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3] * CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org [CEOD@bmhcc.org] if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Andrew Brodsky—a Harvard Business School doctoral graduate, award-winning business professor, management consultant, and expert in virtual communication at The University of Texas at Austin—has dedicated his career to unraveling the intricacies of virtual communication. Diagnosed with cancer as a teenager, his treatment led to a lifelong immune deficiency, which has resulted in years of his life being confined primarily to the virtual realm. This personal experience has given him a unique understanding of the challenges and nuances of communicating from a distance. * Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3 [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3] * CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org [CEOD@bmhcc.org] if you have any questions about claiming credit.