Beth Slazak is a seasoned CPS and Improv facilitator and trainer, with a public school and collegiate teaching background. Beth earned MS from the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College. She manages program and event logistics as Conference Manager for the Creative Problem-Solving Institute (CPSI), produced by the Creative Education Foundation.

Beth has trained teachers and business professionals at conferences around the world including: MindCamp, Toronto, Canada; CREA, Sestri Levanti, Italy; Florida Creativity Conference, Sarasota, FL; Creativity Expert Exchange, Buffalo, NY; Next Idea Conference, Litchfield, CT; Geneva Creativity Center, Batavia, NY; and CPSI, Buffalo, NY. She is President-Elect of the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor, where she also serves as Director of the 3-year certification program.

For nearly 20 years, Beth has been an educator. She has taught at: Lewiston-Porter Middle School (suburban school district, grade 6); Lackawanna High School (low income, urban school district); Our Lady of Black Rock (urban Catholic school, grade 4-8); Attica Central School (rural, middle school); Genesee Community College (Intro to CPS); Buffalo State University (CPS courses designed for first generation, and at-risk college students).

Beth is trained in CPS, Applied Improv, Faith and Creativity, Resiliency Training, Growth Mindset Training, Play and Creativity, Humor in the Workplace, Improv for the At-Risk Student.

Duane Wilson is the current COO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph’s County in Indiana, a former high school assistant principal, and a business consultant whose forte is integrating creativity and innovation into organizations. Duane has over 20 years of experience helping organizations, trainers, and educators achieve their goals by bringing creativity, clarity, and structure to complex and challenging problems. Duane is a Leans/Six Sigma Black Belt who blends analysis with creativity to drive results. He is relied upon as a facilitator, trainer, and coach for managers, teams, and employees at all levels. Duane uses a proven, research-based approach to his underlying process when helping clients solve problems.

In his previous role as Senior Program Director, Office of Continuous Improvement at the University of Notre Dame, Duane provided internal consulting services to campus units involved in Continuous Improvement. He is also an Adjunct Faculty Member of Beacon Health’s Pheil Innovation Center that aims to help for-profit and non-profit organizations develop Innovation as a core competency.

Duane serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Creative Education Foundation Board of Directors and is our go-to educator trainer on the Board. Duane’s work with CEF includes: CPS facilitation for the Manchester Essex Regional School District Administrative team and “Portrait of the Graduate” Steering Committee and two years working with the Stamford Public School System helping CEF train more than 300 elementary school teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators in CPS. Duane is a member of the Core Faculty of CEF’s Creative Problem-Solving Institute (CPSI) and is a key partner in developing live and virtual curriculum. He is a regular presenter at CPSI and other creativity and leadership conferences.

Veronica Lynagh is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the International Center for Creativity in Columbus, Ohio. She works with industry partners who are committed to innovative workforces and fusing together their industry needs with higher education today.

“Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much” – a quote by the famous teacher and scholar Helen Keller is a quote Veronica regularly uses as her “WHY” when working with passionate partners in the education space, we can make systemic change in education, but we cannot do it alone, we need one another.

Veronica is a serial problem solver and loves the challenge of “figuring it out” she has 15+ years of experience in sales, marketing and building educational distribution networks and is a big out of the box thinker and loves the challenge of finding unique solutions that do not fit the mold and solve to multiple audience needs at one time.

Veronica comes to the team from The Henry Ford and Invention Convention Worldwide; she is worked with educational change leaders and program directors in 10+ countries and over 25 states, who regardless of their differences shared the same vision that one day STEM Education would be accessible and available to all students regardless of their background and geographic location. Her strength is in building educational partnerships, content sharing, shared services, marketing and creating collaborative strategic visions and plans. Veronica is Chairman of the Board of Invention League and Invention Convention Ohio, a part of the Aspire2050 team and on the Lemelson InventEd Steering Committee. She lives in Cleveland with her 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

Robin Hilsmeier is the Executive Director of Invention League, the 501c3 non-profit education program that heads up Invention Convention Ohio. As passionate educator herself, Robin started her career as an elementary school teacher, then transitioned to corporate and non-profit management. Over the years she has also been a substitute teacher in both general and special education classrooms from preschool to high school. She has three teenage children and is very involved advocating for individuals with disabilities. In addition to an education advocate, Robin is also the co-founder of Rising Heights, Inc., a community for neuro-diverse adults that helps adults with disabilities thrive and reach their full potential.