RiseUP Leadership Forum

• Values clarification
• Strength assessment
• Emotional intelligence
• Assertive communication
• Executive presence
• Leadership mindsets
• “Both/and” thinking
• Networking skills

• Builds a diverse pipeline of committed talent for middle and senior management
• Provides a research-based executive education for key employees
• Enables program graduates to serve as inclusive leaders and champion others to advance a more diverse workplace

Wendy Smith, Ph.D.

Professor of Management, Co-founder – Women’s Leadership Initiative Lerner College

Wendy believes that leadership success comes from living in the AND. She works to help leaders be compassionate and competent, assertive and engaging, committed to family and committed to work. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review and in prominent academic journals. Her book Embracing AND: How to Tap the Power of Paradox for Growth will be published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2021. She earned her Ph.D. at Harvard Business School.

Sarah Baker Andrus

Assistant Director of Lerner Career Services, University of Delaware

Sarah Baker Andrus is an executive career coach and assistant director of Lerner Career Services at the University of Delaware. She has built leadership development and training programs in the corporate world and served in senior recruiting and talent roles for Vector Marketing, overseeing their North American recruiting efforts, along with external relations, crisis communications and public relations activities. She also served as director of marketing for Dove Chocolate Discoveries, a division of Mars Chocolate. Prior to joining the University of Delaware, Sarah started Avarah Careers, a consulting and coaching company dedicated to helping people find a great career fit and helping businesses build great teams. In addition to her current role focusing on graduate students in Lerner’s MBA, M.S., and Ph.D. programs, Sarah teaches Communicating, Branding and Career Networking in the MBA program.

Monica Eboda, MBA, CSP

President and CEO, ImagineX International LLC and Owner, PrideStaff Wilmington, DE

Monica Eboda is an international executive coach and leadership consultant who brings over 25 years of business leadership experience. Her focus is helping executives, women in business and emerging leaders unlock their potential, discover their true passion and ascend to extraordinary levels of performance. In 2011, she was named a Woman of Influence by the National Association of Women’s Business Owners (NAWBO). In 2019, Monica was named a “Talent Person of the Year” finalist by Delaware Business Times (DBT) in partnership with Delaware Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Monica has numerous certifications and training including Coach Master ToolKit (CMT-WBECS 15 months), GAP International: Executive Challenge Course, and Executive Mastery.

Adam Foley, Ph.D.

Adam recognizes the intersections of social justice, education and leadership, and strives to engage in dialogue and facilitate action around these points of intersection. As an intersectional social justice feminist educator and scholar, they are committed to the development of equitable, inclusive communities that foster belonging and psychological safety. Adam brings over 20 years of higher education experience in leadership development, social justice education, and sexuality and gender research and scholarship. They regularly consult with leaders in education, business and the non-profit community to assess and implement more equitable and inclusive communities, policies and practices. They earned their Ph.D. in multicultural education at Iowa State University and embrace the importance of life-long learning as key to a growth mindset.

Barbara Roche, M.S.

Managing Partner, Barbara Roche & Associates

After many years as a consultant helping organizations advance their employee engagement efforts, Barbara launched her own company in 2005 to combine her three favorite jobs: workplace learning, organizational development, and coaching. She is a certified facilitator with the NeuroLeadership Institute, and author of Commit to Confidence: 30 Strategies to Help Women Step Up and Stand Out.

Amy Stengel

Head of Human Capital, Best Egg

Amy Stengel currently serves as the Head of Human Capital for Best Egg, a FinTech located in Wilmington, Delaware. She comes to this role by way of a varied and winding career path that began out of college as a high school English teacher but included stops as a paralegal, corporate lawyer, institutional business leader in banking, coach, consultant and Program Director in higher ed. Along the way she has continued to pursue the opportunities that bring her closer to her passions and skills. She holds a JD from Temple University, a BA from the University of Delaware and certifications in Diversity and Inclusion and Inclusive Workplace Culture as well as DiSC, iMAP and DecisionWise 360. Outside of work she sits on the Board of Communities in Schools of Delaware and the Advisory Board for the Women’s Leadership Initiative.