Institute for Innovative Leadership

Being raised on a farm in Northern Indiana, Tom learned the value of hard work and persistence. Obviously he played basketball, and eventually received a full scholarship to play for the renowned basketball program at the University of Kentucky. During his senior year Tom experienced what only a few are allowed, his team played in the “Final Four” for the NCAA national championship. That year future NBA superstar Patrick Ewing and Georgetown won the national title. In addition to sports, Tom simultaneously earned his degree in Business Administration.

The next ten years found Mr. Heitz working at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a commodity floor trader and broker. There he learned how to handle major finances and extreme stress. He transitioned into the field of financial planning and owned his own business as a financial advisor working with individuals and small business owners in Northwest Indiana.

In 2004, Tom again shifted his career and has committed himself to focus on assisting people in reaching their potential, living their dreams, and accomplishing their goals with a solid plan. With a focus on values driven leadership, communication and team building, he has developed a unique approach to extract and expand the obvious and not so obvious talents of individuals and teams. He takes his, "anything is possible", approach to individuals and teams who want to improve bottom lines, relationships and targeted outcomes.

During his work life he also trained with and was certified by the world’s largest coach training program, Coach U. He served on the staff of Coach U as a tele-class leader teaching coaches worldwide. He is self taught in the technology of today’s internet experimenting with blogs, websites, audio, and video.

Tom is married to his college sweetheart who was raised in El Salvador. He is a devoted father of two boys spending much of his time with their education and growth. In the community, Tom is a compassionate volunteer who devotes his time and expertise to several youth sports programs promoting an "old school" approach to both life and athletics. He is also a motivational speaker to various academic and athletic groups focusing on personal success.

Keith is a trusted coach and advisor to many business and community leaders. He was the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Innovative Leadership at Indiana University Northwest. He also served as Executive Director for the Northwest Indiana Entrepreneurship Academy, a program he founded, and as President of the Porter County Community Foundation. He has conducted hundreds of seminars in the areas of marketing, team building, sales, customer service, leadership, supervision, strategic thinking, communication, and motivation. He has taught at Indiana University Northwest, IVY Tech Community College, Purdue University Calumet, and Valparaiso University. Most recently he has served as a visiting faculty in the MBA program at Belarus State University in Minsk and at two universities in Lithuania. Keith is a faculty fellow at the Indiana University Tobias Leadership Center.

Keith Kirkpatrick is a true entrepreneur. He has been involved in the “start up” and ownership of several businesses: screen printing manufacturer, counseling agency, private business school, printing supply distributor, specialty gift production, and equipment importing. He has functioned as production manager for a Fortune 500 company, marketing coordinator for a sheltered workshop, sales manager for manufactured housing, construction general contractor, director of community services for a community action program, and director of education for a private business and technical college.

Keith received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Illinois State University and has continued his commitment to life-long learning taking graduate classes and seminars at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, University of Illinois-Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Ball State University. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a dedicated member of the International Leadership Association and was recognized for his accomplishments by the U.S. SBA with the 2001 Indiana Small Business Advocate.

In the community Keith is President of the Northwest Indiana World Trade Council, Chair of the Northwest Indiana Junior Achievement Advisory, Chair the Northwest Indiana University Leadership Consortium and serves on the boards of Junior Achievement of Chicago, Northwest Indiana Regional Workforce Board, Society of Innovators, Northwest Indiana Business Magazine Editorial Board, Porter County Vocational Education Advisory, Emmaus Midwest Crossroads Community, and IUN Center for Regional Excellence.

Keith has been a resident of Valparaiso, Indiana for nineteen years. He has two children; a son, Jamie, a Computer Engineer working in Peoria, Illinois and a daughter, Meghan, a graduate in International Studies from Indiana University-Bloomington working in Chicago. His wife, Becky, is actively involved in the community and is a social worker with the Valparaiso Schools. Keith is a devoted Christian leader serving in his church, Valparaiso Methodist, as a worship leader, choir member and Methodist Men’s Group member. Keith is proud of his small town roots in Southern Illinois.

At the community college she serves on the College’s Business Division Advisory Board, Marketing Sub-Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and Retention Committee. The Business Club and Kappa Beta Delta are served by her leadership as co-faculty advisor. Internships are energetically pursued through Trina’s contact with the business community. Trina also consults for the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research on special projects.

Trina received her Masters in Public Administration, specializing in Health Administration, from Indiana University. She holds a B.S. in Management, an Associate Degree in Law Enforcement from Calumet College of St. Joseph and AA in Fire Science from IVY Tech Community College. Continuing her commitment to lifelong education Trina is currently taking graduate courses at IU Northwest in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs toward her Certificate in Nonprofit Management. In addition she is a graduate of the 2006 Leadership Northwest Indiana Program and the Academy for Instructional Excellence.

Ms. Lynch-Jackson has 20 years of healthcare experience working in various continuums of healthcare. After administrative positions with St. Mary Medical Center in Gary and Hobart managing security and risk management, she became a Practice Manager for Ingalls Hospital and Humana in Chicago for six years. She then transitioned to a position where she served as the project manager and marketing director for a “start up” Alzheimer’s Specialty Residential Treatment Facility for Beverly Health Care. Trina has a depth of experience in hospital administration, mental health, managed care, nursing homes and assisted living.

Trina is a veteran of the Army, serving three years as a Military policewoman. She is deeply involved in her faith and with her church through many ministries, but primarily those that involve theatrical productions and guest visitors. Trina is a trained camerawoman on digital equipment and edits programming which means that she spends time working with the television ministry at her church.

Trina currently serves the community as a Facilitator for an Alzheimer’s Support Group at the Tolleston Branch Library, a speaker and trainer for Alzheimer Services of Northwest Indiana, a Rockford Chapter Member, volunteer, and fundraiser at the Operathon for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, board member for Volunteer Advocates for Seniors Guardianship at Saint Margaret Hospital, and a volunteer for the Friends of the Gary Public Library.

Ms. Lynch-Jackson is a powerful presenter and frequently provides educational programs in the areas of care giving and Alzheimer’s disease. She has written specialized articles for the third edition of Care Matters and the magazine, Assisted Living Today. Trina says “I am just an ordinary person doing extraordinary things.”

George retired from Amoco Corp. in 1992, with 25 years of service. He served in a number of corporate management positions, including director of public and government affairs programs and manager of Public and Government Affairs for Amoco Chemical Company. He was named the corporation's Senior Media Relations Consultant and Emergency Response Coordinator. His duties included senior executive training and development of the company's crisis communication plan, and he developed media, crisis communications and spokesperson training programs for companies in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Far East and Southeast Asia.

As a consultant, George has served such corporations as Chevron, Texaco, American Airlines, U.S. Steel, NIPSCO, Commonwealth Edison, Trump Casinos, Philip Morris, Motorola, Maytag, Arthur Andersen, American Veterinary Medical Association and Valspar Corporation. He also has conducted individualized image and communications training for senior executives, including presidents and CEOs, for a number of major corporations.

George has conducted crisis management, communications seminars and community relations planning for Chevron and Texaco in Singapore, Borneo, the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, Australia and New Guinea, and has consulted in Korea and Japan. He has served as a speaker and lecturer on emergency response planning, media relations, speaker training, senior executive leadership and business presentations.

George serves as consultant to Indiana University Northwest’s Center for Management Development. He also is an adjunct professor in IU Northwest’s Graduate School of Business and Economics and in the undergraduate School of Arts and Sciences. He is a founder and serves as an advisor to the university’s Institute for Innovative Leadership, and the Advisory Board for IU Northwest’s School of Business and Economics. George has provided leadership as project manager for the university’s Strategic Development plan and as board chairman for the NWI American Red Cross.

As a daily newspaper police reporter, he was named to the Police Hall of Fame in Port Charlotte, FL. As a corporate communicator, he has received numerous awards, including eight from the International Association of Business Communicators, and has received the Chicago Publicity Club's Silver Trumpet award. He has served National Public Radio as an on-air crisis communications expert. In 1984, he was a consultant to the team that prepared then Vice President Bush for his debate with Geraldine Ferraro. In the mid-1980s, he was assigned by Amoco’s chairman to work with former Presidents Ford and Nixon to produce a special program for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Before joining Amoco, George was a commercial charter pilot, flight instructor and crop duster; a newspaper reporter and editor; and a correspondent for the Associated Press. He has written articles for numerous trade professional journals, an international aviation magazine and one of his short stories has appeared in a literary review. George served in the U.S. Air Force.

The basis of Mary’s work is the belief that all employees work best in environments that honor and respect them as human beings and contributors to the health of the organization. She feels that tapping into the human spirit is the basis for creating sustainable performance at all organizational levels. Equity Checking®, a powerful tool for examining the impact of assumptions on the critical business choices is the foundation of her consulting practice. 

Mary served as a consultant to the Washington, D.C. based American Council on Education, Office of Women in Higher Education for fifteen years. She, along with Council Colleagues, was instrumental in delivering programs that focused attention on career opportunities for women interested in college presidencies. Dr. Stewart-Pellegrini received her Ph.D. with honors from Boston College in Massachusetts and a M.S. in Adult Education from Indiana University.

During the administration of Governor Tom Kean, she served on the State of New Jersey’s Joint Assembly Task Force on the 21st Century. She has filled faculty and administrative positions at Harvard University, Boston University, and Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Elmhurst College Graduate Center for Business and Economics and Columbia College Senior Seminar in Chicago. In 2004 she was invited to be a Senior Facilitator at the Assembly of 400 for the Parliament for World Peace Conference in Montserrat, Spain. The Montserrat Assembly discussions focused on four critical global issues - Religious Motivated Violence, Refugee Status, Water Rights and Debt Relief.

Dr. Stewart-Pellegrini is the co-author of Equity Checking: Managing Assumptions to Achieve Organizational Success and has been published in publications such as Profiles In Diversity, The Works, Black Enterprise Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. She is a frequent public speaker for education and business organizations, including Berkeley, MIT and Stanford Universities, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Banking System, the New York Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the Board of Directors of Partners in Community Building. She is active in her faith community and also volunteers with Chicago Cares Organization.

Mary grew up in a small farming town in southern Indiana and is delighted to be back home again in northwest Indiana. She is an avid reader, enjoys traveling with her husband Cliff, going to movies, and writing poetry. Mary has been newly appointed as co-facilitator, consultant and coach for Indiana University Northwest’s co-curriculum program, the Institute for Innovative Leadership.

Her passion for education and training is woven throughout her careers as director of continuing education at Purdue University North Central, vice president of human resources and training at Family Express Corp., and executive director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana.

Prior to starting his own consulting firm, Mr. Williams was Executive Director of the Gary Chamber of Commerce for a ten year period. He was responsible for overseeing Chamber operations, staff, membership, budget and fundraising. In this position he interfaced extensively with community leaders, business owners and organizations locally, regionally and state wide.

Mr. Williams served as Project Director of Globetrotters Engineering, Minority Business Development Center in Gary from 1983 to 1998. In this capacity he was responsible for overseeing a region wide business development group, managing staff and operations.

Mr. Williams has combined a background in business with a passion for art by operating his own art company, Carpenartistry. He is a metal/wood sculptor.

Mr. Williams has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Indiana University Northwest and has post graduate studies in computer science from Ivy Tech College. He has attended numerous business development training modules across the country and art schools in Northwest Indiana.