Coming up in Edutainment | December 2024
We connect students around the world to primary source experts from a wide variety of topics and subjects. For more information, visit edutainmentlearning.com.
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Despite being born with Osteogenesis imperfecta type 2/3 and having a mere 5% chance of surviving birth, Coach Dan McCarty has defied the odds, enduring over 300 bone fractures and undergoing three major surgeries. At 21 years old, he is a follower of Jesus, a distinguished baseball coach, mentor, public speaker, and innovative content creator. Over the past four years, Coach Dan has made a significant impact on the collegiate baseball scene. His strategic insights and leadership skills were instrumental in transforming the Wilmington College Baseball program, earning him the title of 2022 Assistant Coach of the Year by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. He further honed his coaching abilities as the Associate Head Coach with the High Point-Thomasville HiToms during the summer of 2023. Beyond the baseball diamond, Coach Dan is a passionate advocate for individuals, channeling his energy into powerful public speaking engagements. His commitment extends to mentoring athletes through personalized programs designed to empower athletes (10 and up) who are facing challenges on and off the field. Emphasizing faith-based leadership and character development, Coach Dan helps people recognize and harness their innate strengths for personal, spiritual, and athletic growth. Coach Dan is currently enhancing his spiritual and leadership skills by pursuing an Advanced Certificate in Ministry and actively contributing to the Care Team at Central Church in Henderson, NV. He also hosts the “Catching Up With Christians” podcast, creating content that sparks critical discussions related to faith, sports, and resilience. Coach Dan’s survival and thriving beyond the grim prognosis given at birth is a profound testament to the power of faith and perseverance. Through his dynamic baseball coaching, speaking engagements, and mentorship program, he shares his journey and motivates others to pursue a life filled with purpose and passion.
Chad Wolf is the lead singer of Carolina Liar a Swedish-American pop rock band. Chad is originally from Moncks Corner, South Carolina; other members originate from Stockholm, Sweden.
Mayor Romero serves with her fellow council members as the legislative branch of the Henderson community, responsible for setting policies and making decisions for many aspects of local government for Nevada’s second largest city, recognized as one of the best places to live in America and one of the nation’s safest cities. Mayor Romero represents the City of Henderson on the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, Civilian Military Council, as one of the Chief Local Elected Officials overseeing the Board of Workforce Connections and as the Council representative to the Henderson Audit Committee. Prior to her elected service, Mayor Romero served the City of Henderson for 25 years in several capacities, most recently as the Henderson Redevelopment Agency Manager from 2007 until 2016. In this role, Romero lead a team of professionals who indelibly changed the face of the Downtown Henderson/Water Street District and other maturing areas of the city. Her responsibilities included managing all services and activities of the Redevelopment Agency and the five Redevelopment Areas, which include Downtown, Cornerstone, Tuscany, Eastside and Lakemoor. As manager of the Redevelopment Agency, Councilwoman Romero oversaw the renaissance of the Water Street District, resulting in new housing and retail opportunities, jobs and entertainment venues. Additionally, she oversaw the creation of both the Eastside and Lakemoor Redevelopment Areas, the completion of infrastructure improvements in Tuscany, and the negotiation of Owner Participation Agreements for tax increment reimbursement for the Cadence, Union Village and Henderson Hospital projects, each of which is expected to bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment to the city. She serves on the Community Advisory Board for Henderson Hospital. Mayor Romero worked with local businesses to form the Water Street District Business Association and brought the Super Run Car Show to Henderson in 2000, which annually generated millions in visitor spending in Henderson. She led the creation of the Farmers Market at the downtown events plaza in 1999, and managed the Agency’s creation of numerous financial assistance programs that have successfully encouraged business owners, residents and developers to reinvest in aging areas of Henderson. A native of Henderson, Romero graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Upper Iowa University and is the owner of Michelle Romero Consulting, which specializes in Redevelopment, Economic Development and Planning issues. Married to her husband Ben Romero since 1986, Mayor Romero has four sons who were raised in Henderson and nine grandchildren.
Jean-François Manzoni (JFM) is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Development at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), where he served as President and Nestlé Professor from 2017 to 2024. His research, teaching, and consulting activities are focused on leadership, the development of high-performance organizations and corporate governance. At an organizational level, JFM studies the content of change (including the use of levers such as strategy, structure, and systems), the management of the change process and the role of leaders therein. His work in this area has appeared in several books, articles, and over 30 cases – four of which received Case of the Year awards. He also acted as content expert in the development of the Change Pro Simulation®, a groundbreaking computer-based change management simulation. At an individual level, he studies how leaders can create a caring, high-performance work environment. This stream of research has led to several articles and a book entitled The Set-Up to Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail (with Jean-Louis Barsoux). The book, which builds on Manzoni’s and Barsoux’s initial Harvard Business Review article introducing the term “set-up-to-fail syndrome”, received two Book of the Year awards, and is discussed in undergraduate, MBA, and executive development programs all over the world. On the corporate governance side, JFM focuses on interpersonal dynamics within the boardroom and between management and the board. His research examining the impact of interpersonal dynamics on increasingly diverse boards of directors received the Research Award on Leadership and Corporate Governance from the Association of Executive Search Consultants. A Fellow and Senior Accredited Board Director of the Singapore Institute of Directors, he served (2018-2024) on the board of Keppel Ltd. Over that period, Keppel transformed from an international diversified group to a global asset manager and operator, and received the Best Managed Board Award among large listed companies at the 2023 Singapore Corporate Awards. JFM also previously served on the Boards of AACSB International (the world’s largest business education alliance) and Singapore’s Civil Service College, among others. In addition to his years at IMD (2004-2010 and 2016-now), JFM previously served on the faculty of INSEAD (in Fontainebleau and in Singapore), where he founded and directed for four years the PwC Research Initiative on High Performance Organizations. He later directed INSEAD’s Global Leadership Centre, supporting leadership-related coaching, teaching and research activities throughout the world. A citizen of Canada and France, JFM received his doctorate from Harvard Business School. He had earlier graduated from L’École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal and worked with Ernst and Young in Montreal before receiving an MBA from McGill University. The recipient of several awards for excellence in teaching , JFM is a frequent keynote speaker and discussion partner for business leaders, including through the IMD CEO Dialogue Series in which he holds frank and insightful discussions with CEOs of various organizations. He has also performed consulting, top management team support, and leadership development work for several international organizations, which has led him to work in more than 30 countries over the years.
Joe Cortez is an American former boxing referee who has officiated in many important world title bouts. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Edutainment Learning? Edutainment Learning is an online educational platform that connects students and teachers to primary sources of learning from a wide variety of subjects. Our goal is to provide students access to in-person conversations with industry leaders, historical figures, athletes, musicians, and more.
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