Deborah Biddle
The People Company
With a calm, level-headed approach, keen listening, insightful questioning, and a passion for individual and organizational belonging and thriving, Deborah Biddle influences individuals and teams to successfully rethink and redo the ways they engage with people and make decisions. Deborah is an Inclusion Institute Certified Diversity Practitioner, Inclusion Institute Certified Diversity Practitioner, National Diversity Council Certified Diversity Professional, Intercultural Diversity Inventory Qualified Administrator, Certified Talent Management Consultant, and a sought after Trainer and Speaker. She leads the diversity, equity and inclusion consulting, assessment, training, coaching and practitioner certification firm, The People Company LLC. Deborah works with organizations that want to leverage the power of change to heighten development and performance for their people. She designs and delivers thought-provoking and challenging experiences that help people THINK better, DO better and BE better at what matters most. Deborah serves as president of Madison Youth Arts Center Board of Directors, board member and Diversity Committee Chair of Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, board of directors vice president of Madison-Based Impact Christian Schools, advisory board member of Africasong Communications, Inc., United Way of Dane County Personnel Committee member, Unitypoint Health-Meriter Community Health Impact Committee member, Madison Downtown Rotary Racial Equity and Inclusion Committee member and Music Committee member, and Golden Life Member of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is also president of Reasonable Service Ministries, which serves people through bible teaching and Christian music. A graduate of Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, Deborah holds a master of business administration degree and a bachelor of arts degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also has an Activity Based Costing Certificate from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. Deborah is the devoted wife to Lloyd, Lead Pastor at River Valley Community Church, and mother of two sons, Jason, a human resource professional and Jared, a collegiate scholar.


George Bodarky
WFUV-FM
George Bodarky is the Senior Director of Content Strategy and Student Development at WFUV FM, an NPR affiliate station, based on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx. George was recently promoted from his role as WFUV's News and Public Affairs Director. George is a past president of Public Radio News Directors, Inc. (now Public Media Journalists Association and a past president of the New York State Associated Press Association. He also serves on the executive council of the Deadline Club. and is on the board of the New York Press Club. George is an award-winning journalist who trains undergraduate and graduate students at Fordham University in multiplatform journalism. George is also an adjunct professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He is widely known for his vocal coaching and journalism training. Over the years his students have won countless awards and have secured employment as anchors, reporters, writers and producers in commercial and public television and radio outlets across the nation. Prior to working at WFUV, George spent many years as an anchor, reporter and news manager in commercial radio and television.


Nancy Douglass
WLKG-FM
Nancy Douglass is the General Manager of WLKG, Lake 961FM. She celebrated her 20th anniversary at WLKG by purchasing the station. WLKG is located in Lake Geneva and covers southeastern Wisconsin and a bit of northern Illinois.


John McHugh
Kwik Trip
John McHugh is the Director of Corporate Communications, Leadership Development, and Training for Kwik Trip, Inc., based in La Crosse. In his role at Kwik Trip he has helped the company achieve recognition as a Top Workplace as listed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Des Moines Register.

Prior to joining Kwik Trip in 2004, John was an instructor and principal at Aquinas High School in La Crosse. He holds degrees from the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. John sits on the Boards of Trust Point, Better Life Insurance and Viterbo University.

He and his wife Maggie enjoy living at their log home near Sparta.


Sam Ness
From theater performer, to full-time busker and wanderer playing festivals and cafés, Sam Ness has shared the stage with acts such as America, Styx, Night Ranger, Chris Barron (Spin Doctors), and many others. Mixing Traditional Folk/Americana roots with a new-age Alternative Singer/Songwriter feel, Sam finds inspiration in the ancient cobblestone streets across the globe. Sometimes wild and dance oriented, other moments raw, emotional, and filled with moments of silence, Sam’s show changes every night. His percussive playing paired with an assortment of special effects including a loop system, have built a sound larger than most full bands.

Sam has taken home a handful of Madison Area Music Awards including Male Vocalist of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021), Alternative Album of the Year (Whispered on the Wind 2018), Madison Area Breakthrough Artist Second Runner up (2017), Cover Song of the Year (Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me 2020), Unique Performer of the Year (2021).

For videos and more information on Sam, visit: samness.us


Barbara Stewart
Barbara E. Stewart has been at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for 22 years. In her current position of Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, she is responsible for providing oversight for several campus diversity offices and provides leadership for campus-wide diversity initiatives such as the campus climate survey and the Diversity and Inclusion pillar of the campus strategic plan. Barbara served as Director of the office of Multicultural Student Services and in addition served as the Associate Dean for Campus Climate and Diversity in the Division of Student Affairs. Recently, Barbara was awarded the UW System Board of Regents Diversity Award in 2022. Prior to working at UW-La Crosse, Barbara worked in a variety of Higher Education positions in Iowa, Illinois, and North Carolina. She achieved her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. In addition to her administrative, responsibilities, she has taught undergraduate and graduate classes in diversity, advising and disability issues. She also provides training on many diversity and inclusion topics. She serves as a mentor, trainer and advocate for diversity and inclusion in the La Crosse and surrounding community.


Morgan Stewart
Morgan D. Stewart is an Admin Manager for Wisconsin Public Media (PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio). She works closely with the HR team, executive leadership, and staff developing, implementing, and evaluating organizational strategies in support of its public service mission. Stewart received her master’s degree in media studies and was an adjunct instructor at UW-Oshkosh, teaching the intersections of race, class, and gender in mass media.


Amy Tardiff
Report for America
Amy Tardif is the Corps Excellence Regional Manager for the Northeast at Report for America and an independent fact-checker. She fact checked the Peabody award winning podcast Believed. Amy is formerly a member of the Public Media Journalists' Association (PMJA) Editor Corps, the regional manager of StoryCorps in Chicago, and WGCU Public Media’s Station Manager and News Director where she also won a Peabody Award for her documentary Lucia’s Letter on human trafficking. She was the first woman in radio to Chair RTDNA, and she served five years on the PMJA board. Amy has also been managing editor for NPR's Next Generation Radio Project five times. She and George have been voice coaches together for more than a decade.


Tom Thibodeau
Distinguished Professor of Servant Leadership, Viterbo University
Distinguished Professor of Servant Leadership at Viterbo University and voted best professor in La Crosse in 2015. Tom Thibodeau is a nationally recognized speaker who provides leadership and organizational culture development consulting to health systems, corporations, college systems, school systems, large cooperatives, communities, and organizations of all sizes across the U.S. He has been actively serving the La Crosse community for more than 20 years through his leadership on a number of community boards and committees and as founder and active member at Place of Grace, a local Catholic Worker House.