2021

Wendy inspires audiences to create more positivity, complain less and challenges us all to be a force against bullying by bringing more kindness to the world. Wendy has been featured in the Readers Digest, The Wisconsin State Journal and many TV appearances such as ABC, NBC, Wake Up Wisconsin, Channel 3000, Fox47 and more.

In 2016 Wendy Babcock teamed up with Will Bowen, #1 International Best Selling author and World Authority on Complaining, to help share his message of A Complaint Free World and Complaint Free Business. Not only is Wendy the only active Certified Complaint Free Speaker in the world – Wendy has also been named the Director of the Complaint Free Trainers Program.

In her personal life, she is a happily married mom of two adult daughters and a fur-mama of two dogs and three cats. Besides avoiding exercise like the plague – she finds enjoyment taking to the ATV trails with her husband on their UTV named “Chuck.” Wendy is an avid prankster and loves inspiring eye-rolls with her quick-fire wit and corny jokes.

Judy Goldsmith, a past national president of the National Organization for Women, also served as Campus Dean/CEO of UW-Fond du Lac from 1993-2002 and again from 2009-2010, in the interim position.  She was also a founder of The Humanity Project: Telling the Untold Story, an effort to combat racial injustice.

Goldsmith is a Wisconsin native, having grown up in Two Rivers.  After getting an MS degree in English at the University of New York in Buffalo, she taught English for 15 years, first at SUNY Buffalo and then returning to Wisconsin to teach at the UW Manitowoc, before becoming involved in the National Organization for Women.  She served in leadership positions at the local and state level of NOW, then was elected to the national board of directors, after which she moved to Washington, D.C. to serve first as executive vice president and finally as national president of the organization (1982-1986).

Godsmith also served on the Fond du Lac County Board of Supervisors for 20 years.

Illustrator and Fond du Lac native Samantha Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in illustration from UW-Eau Claire and holds certification in web development. They were the Fond du Lac Public Library’s Idea Studio 2019 summer artist in residence, conducting workshops on life drawing, concept character creation with 3-D printing and screen printing.

Nelson was also instrumental in the launching the Idea Studio’s Girls Who Code Club. Their creativity inspiration comes from their pet rats, beekeeping, reptile breeding projects, tarantulas and microfauna vivariums. They are an avid lover of non-traditional pets and educator on how to care and respect them.

Nick O’Brien is a community/economic development creative with a passion for building and activating people-centered communities. Following the first several years of his professional life as a TV sports reporter and anchor (which relocated him to the state of Wisconsin), Nick serendipitously collided with the realm of community and economic development when he was asked to manage a young professionals group in the central Wisconsin community where his journalism career had landed him. It didn’t take long for Nick to realize his passion for the work that it takes to drive place-based talent engagement and community-enhancing projects. Since 2015, Nick has built a professional career from his personal purpose in life — to connect people to people, people to place, and people to purpose. His work benefits cities and organizations through the use of grassroots community engagement and creative economic development projects, which has led him to serve on dozens of local, regional, and statewide committees and boards throughout Wisconsin. In addition, Nick has been fortunate to gain recognition as both a 20 Under 40 recipient and a Person of the Year in cities where he’s lived and worked.

Nick is the co-founder and principal of You Are Here, LLC, an engagement and experience design firm that enables him to share his energy and purpose with businesses, non-profits, and municipalities. You Are Here’s people-centered strategies and projects result in valuable outcomes such as higher levels of community engagement, creative activation of underused property, better-connected entrepreneur and talent ecosystems, and a culture of creativity and collaboration. Since 2017, You Are Here has created and led various initiatives in Wausau, Eau Claire, Milwaukee, and Sheboygan.

Shawn Anthony Robinson, PhD, is a Faculty Member at Madison College, a Senior Research Associate in the Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and serves on the Board of Directors with the International Dyslexia Association. Robinson graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services, a Master’s in Education from DePaul University, and a PhD in Language and Literacy from Cardinal Stritch University. Robinson has over 40 publications and has received several distinguished honors throughout his early career such as: the 2017 Alumni Achievement Award/New Trier High School Alumni Hall of Honor; the 2016 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from UWO; and the All-State Insurance’s 2005 Educator of the Year Chicago, ILL.

Dr. Robinson is the author, along with Dr. Inshirah V. Robinson, of the Dr. Dyslexia Dude book series. He is a sought-after speaker, both nationally and the state level, for various organizations and school districts. Robinson is also a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He is married to Dr. Inshirah V. Robinson, and is the father of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

In a career that began in 1967, Lynn Roethke reigns as one of the most accomplished American women judo athletes in the history of the sport. Lynn holds the rank of eighth degree black belt. This promotion made her the youngest eighth degree black belt and one of only two of the highest ranked woman in the United States.

Lynn was the first American woman to medal in judo at the Olympic Games, winning a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. She was also an Olympic team member in Barcelona in 1992. In 1987 Lynn was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, making her the first woman in the world to earn that honor. In 2008, she was inducted in the inaugural class of the USA Judo Hall of Fame. She was selected by the U.S. Olympic committee as “female athlete of the year” in the sport of judo in 1985 and 1987.

Winner of a silver medal in the 1987 World Championships, Lynn is also a two-time gold medalist in the Pan American Games. Her honors also include some 450 judo awards in competitions throughout the world. Lynn is a nine time U.S. Senior National Champion. Lynn is an honors graduate from Marian University holding a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and Sport and Recreation Management. She resides in Fond du Lac, and is owner/operator of Club Olympia, an adult co-ed fitness center, which recently celebrated its twenty second year anniversary. She is a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. Lynn teaches and coaches a judo program at her fitness club which has produced State, National and International Champions. She also conducts motivational seminars and clinics throughout the United States.

Veronica Scott-Fulton is Regional Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive of SSM Health. She is an accomplished Executive with proven success leading teams in the achievement of a vision for transforming and creating value in healthcare. She has expertise in lean leadership, strategic planning, innovation and process redesign, creating measurable and sustained results.

Paul Sunseri, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist who specializes in children’s mental health and is a pioneer in family therapy.  He is the founder of three community mental health agencies and has worked to improve the lives of countless children and families over the past three decades. Dr. Sunseri is also a researcher and has published original research on the relationship between family functioning and children’s mental health.  His most recent study (“Hidden Figures: Is the Key to Improving Children’s Mental Health through Better Family Functioning?”) is the largest research study ever conducted and shows that children and adolescents with serious mental illness benefit the most when their family as a whole is treated and family functioning improves. Dr. Sunseri is also the developer of Intensive In-Home Family Treatment (IIFT), an innovative treatment approach for children and teens in high conflict families for which traditional outpatient therapy has been ineffective.