As a speaker, author, and social media entrepreneur, I have helped hundreds of organizations transform old perceptions about business leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have a gift for simplifying solutions for seemingly complicated challenges and incorporating those solutions into action. With over a decade of training businesses on social media marketing, my focus is now on training companies on gender inclusive language and the gender spectrum. In April of 2021 I became a certified #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion professional. All proceeds from my DEI training engagements & book sales go to the Association for Family and Community Integrity, a nonprofit in Houston, TX, supporting education and LGBTQI+ homeless youth. www.understandinggay.orgRead more if you would like to know more of my background:From my humble beginnings as an elementary school teacher & guidance counselor in Slippery Rock, PA, to managing sales teams for Fortune 500 companies, I embarked on the next phase of my career, working with small business' seeking to learn how to sell more stuff and founded Springboard Ventures, Inc. in 1999. As President of Springboard, I have trained & spoken on topics including; LinkedIn for Business Growth; Facebook for Business; Pinterest, Google+; Social Media 101; ‘Business Principles for Conscious Business Growth; and Gender 101 Education. I have published 5 books: "Get REAL, People! How to Use Social Media for Real-ationship Marketing", made it to #6 in Marketing of Amazon; book two, "Shedding Your Sales Shark. Lessons from a Recovering Shark for Social Media Marketing and Life" made it to #3; book three, Give to Grow, was in the top 10; and "Don't Call Me Ma'am: A Transgender Story of Living in a World Without Labels" made it to number 1. My 5th book, published in 2020, is A Field Guide to Gender Neutral Language, and also made it into the top 10 on Amazon. I have served on the advisory boards of technology companies, as a mentor & member of the Rice Alliance for Technology Entrepreneurship, the Houston Technology Center and MIT Forum, & worked with many entrepreneurial ventures in various stages of development. I am a founding member of The Greater Houston Partnership, Emerging Business Council and have served as a judge for the Rice Alliance SW Business Plan Competition and Texas A&M Technology Transfer Competition.Beginning my career in education, I was nominated as teacher of the year and launched the first state-mandated program for gifted students in PA.