Discussion Leaders for Leadership by Design Summer Program
Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia
Karen K. Schultz is the Director of the Center for Public Service and Scholarship at
Shenandoah University. She received her undergraduate degree from The College of
William and Mary, her MBA from Shenandoah University, and her Ph.D. from Virginia
Tech. She has received the Teacher of the Year award, university-wide, and Teacher of
the Year from the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy and from the Student
Government Association. She serves on the Virginia Board of Nursing and the Virginia
Commission on Energy and the Environment. Public service is her passion.
Anne Lewis has worked in local government for twelve years and currently serves as the
Assistant City Manager for Harrisonburg, Virginia. She obtained her Master and
Bachelor degrees from Shenandoah University. She has also completed the Senior
Executive Institute (SEI) and Leading, Educating, and Developing (LEAD) Certificate
from the University of Virginia – Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. She is an
International City/County Management Association Credentialed City Manager. Anne
serves on the Virginia Local Government Management Association (VLGMA) Executive
Committee and the Shenandoah University Alumni Board. Anne is married with one
daughter who attends John Handley High School.
Sharen Gromling recently retired from Public Administration following nearly three
decades of service to the City of Winchester municipal government. She was responsible
for all human resource functions for the City’s 500 employees. She currently serves as
the Executive Director for Our Health, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to
connecting partners to community needs. She also serves as a lecturer and trainer in
human resource management for Lord Fairfax Community College Workforce Solutions.
She obtained her bachelors and masters degrees in Psychology from the University of
Richmond. Her passion is training and she is delighted to be a part of this year’s
Leadership by Design Summer Program.
Bernard J. Lewis, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in
Winchester. He has taught ethics and served as an ethical consultant in a variety of
settings over the past twenty years. He is a member of the Virginia Academy of Clinical
Psychologists ethics committee and conducts training workshops in ethics for the city of
Winchester.
Tracy Fitzsimmons, PhD, became Shenandoah University’s 16th president on July 1,
2008. Her undergraduate degree in politics is from Princeton University, magna cum
laude, and her master’s and doctoral degrees are from Stanford University in,
respectively, Latin American studies and political science. With regional expertise in
Latin America, Tracy Fitzsimmons has taught courses on development and disaster relief,
world politics, Latin American politics, global democratization, women and politics in
Latin America. Her published research on democratization, civil society and gender in
new civilian police forces has taken her across the world. She and her husband Chuck
have three children and live in Reliance, VA
Donna Eagle, SPHR, has over 20 years of human resource experience. She holds a
master’s degree in human resource management and development and enjoys teaching
human resource professionals, managers and supervisors the day to day implications of
employment law, leadership skills, and human resource best practices. She serves as an
adjunct professor at Lord Fairfax Community College and currently is the Director of
Personnel for Winchester City Schools. She has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and
research and wonders how the world existed BG - Before Google. Her favorite activities
include bombing down a mountain bike trail, being annoyingly positive, cooking and
entertaining friends, drinking sugar free caramel and vanilla lattes from Sheetz, having
hard belly laughs with her two teenage kids, and reading non-fiction self-help books as
part of her never-ending pursuit towards the unattainable goal of perfection. She simply
loves life and believes that happiness is a way of life, not a destination.
Bob Sellery is Researcher-in-Residence, Center for Public Service & Scholarship,
Shenandoah University. Bob comes to the Center after a career in executive search,
mostly in the nonprofit sector. He is studying leadership in nonprofit organizations, with
intent to publish case studies about transforming leadership examples. Bob’s
undergraduate degree is from Princeton University. His graduate M.B.A degree is from
Rutgers University.
Sarah Cotton, originally from the great state of Wisconsin, has spent the past 7 years
working in electoral politics around the country. Specifically, she has overseen the
fundraising operations for candidates at both the state and federal level. A graduate of
Marquette University, Sarah studied political science and international affairs, including a
six month study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. Passionate about service, college
basketball and poverty issues, Sarah currently lives in Washington, DC where she
serves as the Southern Candidate Services Director for the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee. There, she works with the fundraising operations of campaigns
for candidates and sitting members of Congress across the South.