Steve Gunderson is the President and CEO of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (CECU). Mr. Gunderson has held a number of leadership positions that have addressed the education and workforce investment challenges facing America’s citizens.

Mr. Gunderson was 23 when he was first elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature. After three terms in Madison, Mr. Gunderson served 16 years in the U.S. Congress and was a recognized leader on education, employment policy, health care, human rights, and agriculture issues. Following his career in public service, he was named the Senior Consultant and Managing Director of the Washington office of The Greystone Group, a strategic management and communications consulting firm. His portfolio centered around research, writing, speaking, and consulting on the jobs revolution in America.

He is the lead author of the book “The Jobs Revolution: Changing How America Works” and the sole author of “The New Middle Class: Creating Wages, Wealth, and Opportunity in the 21st Century.” Gunderson spent six years as President and CEO of the Council on Foundations. One of his many priorities at the Council was education and workforce investment. Under his leadership, the Council created a division for Public-Private Partnerships where the National Fund for Workforce Solutions operates.

Chris Myers joined Citizens Business Bank in August 2006 as President and Chief Executive Officer. CVB Financial Corp. (“CVBF”), the holding company for Citizens Business Bank, is the ninth largest bank holding company headquartered in California with assets over $8 billion. CVBF trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol ‘CVBF’. The Bank is consistently recognized as one of the top performing banks in the nation and offers a wide array of banking, lending and investing services through over 50 banking centers and 3 trust office locations serving the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and the Central Valley area of California.

The company has produced positive earnings in 163 consecutive quarters and paid a cash dividend in 113 consecutive quarters. For 2016, CVBF was ranked as the “Best Bank in America” according to Forbes’ America’s Best Banks. For the last four consecutive years, Bank Director ranked CVBF a “Top 5 Bank” in the U.S.

Prior to his tenure at Citizens Business Bank, Chris served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mellon First Business Bank. He is presently a Board Member for the California Bankers Association and the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Fink Center for Finance and Investments. Mr. Myers received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Harvard University in 1984 and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1991.

Dr. Joe Pace is an internationally recognized performance psychologist, educator, speaker and author. He presents seminars and workshops in the areas of student retention, faculty development, corporate cultural alignment, and personal and professional achievement. His background in teaching, psychology, and business aids him to deliver research-based information to a global audience from students and faculty, to corporate executives.

Dr. Pace has earned a Doctorate Degree in Education and Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Psychological Counseling, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. With his doctoral dissertation and over 30 years of research, he continues to provide industry leading, innovative success concepts for student retention and persistence techniques.

Dr. Pace, along with The Pacific Institute Founder Lou Tice, are the authors of the best selling textbook, Thought Patterns for a Successful Career, used by more than one million students in over one thousand Colleges and Schools world-wide. Additionally, he has authored four textbooks on professional development, designed for college students about to enter the workplace.

Dr. Pace, a former college president, was appointed by the Governor of Florida to the Florida State Department of Education’s nine-member licensing commission for private schools, serving on the commission for ten years, and elected chairman twice. On a national level, Dr. Pace served as Commissioner of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools in Washington, DC.

Currently, Dr. Pace serves as Chairman of the Board – Global Education, for The Pacific Institute and is an educational and psychological consultant for numerous colleges and organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Pace can also be seen weekly on the nationally syndicated television show “The Daily Buzz.”

Iraklis “Hercules” Notis has been in the IT industry for 15 years. He began his career at an early age as a consultant helping small businesses build and update their networks and security. After looking for a more fulfilling and challenging opportunity, he decided to join SEC in March of 2007. He has been an SEC Team Member for 11 years and the Director of Information Systems for 10 of those years. In 2014 Iraklis was inducted into SEC’s First Circle. Iraklis has earned his Associate’s Degree in Information Technology Networking from a private post-secondary college (Platt College). He currently holds industry regarded certifications from CompTIA, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Information Systems Management as well as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Irma Pirone has served the Private postsecondary industry for over 22 years. Irma is an alumni of North-West College, graduating from our Medical Assisting program over 25 years ago. Her role started in specializing in Education and student retention; she has trained over 250 faculty members with teaching and retention techniques that have helped thousands of students succeed. She came-up through the ranks as a student of Allied health, faculty member of several Allied Health programs, directed many Allied Health programs, Academic Dean, and most recently for the past 6 years, Director of Operations in a Campus Director role. Her undergraduate is in Business management and Master’s in Business Administration. In her current role she serves as the Executive Director for the largest campus of North-West College in Riverside. She is known for her quote “Treat every student as if they were the only student”. Her intense passion is to help each and every student reach their educational goal that will ultimately turn into a stable career.

Internationally known educational consultant and nurse educator, Tim Bristol, is a faculty member at Walden University, consultant for the Haiti Nursing Foundation and FSIL nursing school, and owner of NurseTim, Inc.

Dr. Bristol helps empower schools not only across the country, but also across the globe — at all levels of education and accreditation. He has led teams through initial program approval, interim reports, and reaccreditation as a faculty member, administrator, and consultant, and specializes in active learning for class, clinical, and lab environments.

Schools and government organizations around the world consult with Dr. Bristol to integrate new standards, introduce curricular innovations, make education more accessible, and develop strategic plans. As a faculty development and curriculum design specialist, he is an expert in bringing the evidence-base of nursing, healthcare, and education to students and faculty in the states, and as far away as Haiti.

Dr. Bristol also writes and contributes to numerous publications, and is known for his motto: “Today we will learn how to learn.”

Captain Dean Viana has been in the fire service for over 25 years and currently holds the position of Fire Captain/Paramedic for the Beverly Hills Fire Department.

Captain Dean also has certifications as Fire Chief Officer, Fire Officer, State and County Licensed Paramedic, Urban Search and Rescue, American Heart Association Instructor, and Hazardous Materials expert.

He has been assigned to presidential details for President Obama, President Clinton, President Ford, and Vice President Biden.

As a professional Fire Captain/Paramedic, he responds to emergency medical and fire alarms, trained in fire suppression, fire prevention, public education, participates in community service, and is certified to teach and educate paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and educators in fire/medical/disaster emergencies.

Captain Dean started Celebrity CPR in 2004 when he saw the need of educating the public in life saving skills. “After responding to thousands of people during emergency calls and seeing many times that nobody is rendering aid to save a life, I knew that offering private education to families and organizations was extremely important”.

Jeff Akens has been Corporate Director of Operations for Success Education Colleges since January 2017 where he supports the oversight of five campus locations.

Prior to joining SEC, Akens spent 23 years with Carrington College, part of what was then known as DeVry Education Group. He served as President of Carrington College where he was responsible for twenty multi-state locations, twenty on-site and online programs, 1000 employees, and 8000 students. Akens held a variety of leadership positions with Carrington including Director of Career Services, campus Executive Director, Regional Director of Operations, and President of Carrington College California.

Akens has been responsible for starting many new programs and campus locations, campus relocations, and many successful campus turnarounds. He has been fundamental to the strengthening of academic programming; student satisfaction, retention, and placement; and employee engagement and development.

Akens is a former board member of the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools, former member of the California Community College CEO Board’s Accreditation Workgroup II, and past president of the International Association of Business Communicator’s Sacramento chapter.

Akens holds a Master of Business Administration from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento. He currently splits his time between his two California homes in Sacramento and Chino Hills.

Elizabeth Keifer Herron, a founding partner of PEAC Student Loan Assistance, is currently a member of the executive management team of CARS. Elizabeth provides client services, community outreach, and is the chief compliance specialist for the family of companies. Serving on numerous committees for higher education associations, she presents at many workshops and conferences; her presence in Washington, DC enables her to access up-to-the-minute information on a variety of legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry. Prior to founding PEAC in 1992, Elizabeth was the chief lobbyist for the Career College Association (now CECU) and served as an experiential educator for Outward Bound Professional, facilitating corporate teambuilding workshops to improve organization efficacy. She received her BA with honors in Political Science and Economics from Douglass College of Rutgers University, and resides in Washington, DC with her husband and two boys.

A tenured human capital management professional with over eight years of experience in software sales and implementations, Mandy has been instrumental in helping organizations across the country engage their workforce using Paycom’s single database HR and payroll technology. Challingsworth, a graduate of the University of Iowa, leads a large team of transition representatives who help identify solutions to streamline business processes and train organizations on Paycom’s comprehensive HRIS suite. Mandy herself started as an implementation specialist, was promoted into management and now oversees the Western United States for all new client implementations. A dedicated wife and mother, in Mandy’s free time, she enjoys team sports at the beach and volunteering with youth in the community.