John Michel is a widely recognized expert in culture, strategy and individual & organizational change. An accomplished unconventional leader and proven status quo buster, John has successfully orchestrated several multi-billion dollar transformation efforts. He has dedicated over 26 years of service to America as a former United States Air Force Brigadier General and former Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer and President of MV Global for MV Transportation, the largest privately help transportation company in the United States. John’s work has been featured in a wide variety of articles & journals, including Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, National Geographic, Joint Forces Quarterly, Huffington Post, Switch and Shift and Innovation Excellence.
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John E. Michel
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Perry Jobe SmithPerry Jobe SmithFounding Member
A lifelong entrepreneur and avid learner, Smith has created, operated and scaled a wide variety of successful hospitality and retail businesses including Polly Esther’s and Culture Club entertainment venues as well as multiple retail locations of the popular Right-On Futon in Chicago, IL. Most recently he founded, built and scaled the Matchbox Food Group which currently has 15 units in California, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, DC. In 2013-2014 Smith founded Emerson Byrd, LLC and The Avalon Institute, innovative incubators dedicated to mentoring, assisting and investing in small business start-ups and professional development. He has a particularly strong interest in developing millennial leadership strategies, strategic coaching tools and elite performance for clients in the DoD and amateur and professional athletics. Perry Smith graduated from Lehigh University with a BA in History in 1987 and received an MA in Communications from New York University. At Lehigh, he was a member of the 1-AA Football team, the Phi Alpha Theta Historical Honor Society and Chi Psi Fraternity. At NYU, Smith was an assistant to the Sports Information Director, graduating with honors in 1992.
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Matthew T. FritzMatthew T. FritzFounding Member
Matthew T. Fritz is a leader and mentor in the field of complex organizational change, emotional intelligence, and organization strategy. A successful DoD senior-acquisition program manager and test leader, Matt has earned documented success in the areas of test and evaluation, assessment, technology development and flight operations. He has specialized experience in cost, schedule and performance management and is an active duty Field-Grade Officer with command-experience in the United States Air Force. Matt is also a certified acquisition professional, as well as a certified Emotional Intelligence Trainer/Practitioner. He is the Author of an instructional book entitled, “Leveraging Your LinkedIn Profile for Success” and actively blogs with other military leaders at GeneralLeadership.com, as well as his personal blog at AdvancedVectors.com.
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Mishe SerraMishe SerraFounding Member
Mishe Serra is a proven leader and expert in educational design and social perception. As a thought leader and entrepreneur, her unique academic and business background bring together the diverse worlds of design, leadership and applied social psychology. Her experience includes nearly 20 years of dedication as a public and private school: teacher, administrator, consultant, and senior level leader. With her masters and doctorate in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Urban Superintendents Program, much of her educational leadership has focused on scaling complex change within some of the nation’s largest urban school districts. Mishe’s current work is also informed by her post-doctoral study of neuro-feedback; she is committed to rethinking and accelerating leadership development for leaders at all levels and across all generations.
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Sonal DahiyaSonal DahiyaFounding Member
Sonal has twenty years of extensive and diverse experience in accounting & finance roles. Sonal began his career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and then moved into the start-up world during the high-tech boom of the late 1990’s. Sonal has balanced and enhanced his entrepreneurial experience through internal audit roles with a Fortune 500 company (Macy’s) and both for profit and not for profit international organizations. While Sonal is a “numbers guy”, he has a strong interest in understanding operations and business strategy, allowing him to speak to the numbers in a non-technical way. The controller at a Fortune 500 company referred to him as an auditor that “understands” – a testament to his ability to think outside of the check boxes and apply intelligent reasoning to the “rules”. Sonal was instrumental in maintaining financial stability and profitability as the head of accounting and finance for a highly successful restaurant group in the Washington D.C. metro area. He helped the business grow from annual revenues of $13M to $50M in his 4 years with the company. Sonal received his Bachelor of Science from Tufts University and his MBA from Boston University. When he is not “crunching numbers” or studying leadership and business strategy, Sonal can often be found passionately cooking for his family and friends.
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Joe DingmanJoe DingmanFounding Member
Joe Dingman is an accomplished leader and recognized expert in team building and complex organizational change. After serving more than 20 years in the US Air Force, Joe became the architect, operations, and business development lead for MV Transportation’s Patriot Express – the first scalable, multi-million dollar on-demand ground transportation system for the Department of Veteran Affairs. While in the Air Force, he served in multiple senior leadership positions to include the Air Force senior advisor to the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense and commanded a worldwide mobility airlift squadron. Joe is a graduate from the US Air Force Academy and holds Master’s degrees from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy as a McConn scholar and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Joe is active in his local community in multiple capacities and is the co-founder of the Department of Defense Corporate Coalition.
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Mike KlintworthMike KlintworthFounding Member
Mike Klintworth has spent a quarter century in the United States Air Force, serving in a myriad of operational, management and strategic level positions. His experiences span from air traffic controller to executive level leader of large, multi-national and geographically separated organizations of more than 3,000 personnel. Mike’s numerous accolades, to include two at the national level, validate a sustained record of success in leading, team building, affecting organizational change and managing human resources in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments. He is a sought-after leader, motivational speaker and contributing author for The General Leadership Foundation.
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Chris LumChris LumFounding Member
Chris Lum is a high achieving Millennial who is widely recognized for his empowering leadership style, delivering high-impact projects, and for possessing a relentless work ethic. He has over three years of experience in the field of Supply Chain Management for large retail and automotive companies; His leadership on numerous corporate projects resulted in more than 500K cost savings for his employers. He has also worked extensively within collegiate athletics in developing student-athlete’s leadership skills and implementing systems for achieving high performance with players and coaches. Chris recently completed a Master’s of Engineering in Technical Entrepreneurship at Lehigh University where he also received his undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management. He is currently dedicating his time to three separate ventures including: a summer project with a start-up company in the TechTown Detroit Accelerator, organizing and coaching quarterback camps, and delivering Millennial Leadership by a Millennial workshops for high-profile organizations that desire better Millennial engagement and empowerment.
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Erin MatyusErin MatyusFounding Member
Erin Matyus joins the Avalon team with more than a decade’s-worth of experience in leading, motivating, and managing Millennials. As a current collegiate athletics and leadership coach at Lehigh University, Erin is responsible for recruiting top talent from across the country, helping those individuals develop into better versions of themselves, and empowering them to be active, passionate members of their community. A Millennial herself, Erin’s extensive work with teams of young people while managing the expectations of often-older Administrators and age-variant coworkers has given her an inside track on the challenges that working across generations can present. She is excited about the opportunity to use her leadership training and tackle those challenges head-on through Avalon’s services. Prior to her time at Lehigh, Erin worked in the nonprofit sector after graduating from the University of Maryland in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in Animal Science. She was a three-year captain of UMD’s varsity Cross Country and Track and Field programs and currently resides in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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Holly MichelHolly MichelFounding Member
Holly Michel is passionate about bringing out the best in others. A trained Classical Acupuncturist and expert in Professional Dynametrics Program, she has worked with numerous non-profit, veteran, and faith-based organizations. Holly currently serves as the Chief Joy Officer at The Covering House, a facility providing refuge and restoration for sexually exploited and trafficked children and teens. She is also a sign language instructor and has spent numerous years working with and for the hearing impaired. In addition to being an avid exercise enthusiast, Holly has completed advanced training in Classical Five Element Acupuncture, Medical Anthropology, as well as reflexology and neuromuscular therapy. Holly is also an award winning artist, kick-boxing instructor and private pilot who enjoys spending time with family and friends.
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Cameron GottCameron GottFounding Member
At a Glance: I’m a coach, blogger and speaker who will help you understand your brain wiring better so you can lead more effectively. Beyond just energy and adrenaline, we work together to locate hidden motivators and take an informed, strategic and proactive approach so you can take your game to the next level.
My key mantra is diversification. As a coach’s coach I have been in the field for 18 years. A life-long learner, I develop coaches in an accredited training program and also mentor student-coaches. The models I develop for teaching are the same I use with my clients. Overall, I show you how resourcefulness and resilience lead to truly meaningful results.
Speaking : Key Speaking credentials include: International Coach Federation, National Association of Professional Organizers and ADHD Coaches Organization.
Key Audience and Focus: All of my professional efforts (coaching, writing and speaking) are designed to support the Global Creative – leaders who are global in vision and creative in action. To that end I specialize in ADHD and follow-through and speak about mindfulness, accountability and breaking the urgency cycle. -
Chris BaileyChris BaileyAssociate Member
Chris Bailey is the Vice President of Operations for minute man,™ and an Associate Member of the Avalon Institute. Chris’ strengths include planning and executing operations models, budgets, staffing, new openings, coding and marketing. In addition, he is highly skilled in community outreach, zoning, permitting and business development. He has been a restaurant owner and operator in the Arkansas market since 1994, beginning his career at Pizza Hut in Little Rock. He has enjoyed successful tenures at Mazzio’s Italian Eatery and Larry’s Pizza as well as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, with average sales of $1.75 million per unit, earning accolades for Highest Profit Margin for a franchise ever recorded.
Chris resides in Sherwood, Arkansas and maintains deep ties to the community. He has helped raise funds for local schools and charities such as Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, and CARTI. He has served on local corporate committees including: The Franchise Committee, Technology Committee, Back Office Software Committee, and Market Champion Committee (1 of 5 members nationally.)